Nashr Alwiyat al-Tashrif bil-Ilam wal-Tarif biman lahu Wilayat Imarat ma Saqat min al-Bayt al-Sharif
- Author died
- 1057 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Bashāʾir al-Islāmiyyah lil-Ṭibāʿah wal-Nashr wal-Tawzīʿ
Nashr Alwiyat al-Tashrif bil-Ilam wal-Tarif biman lahu Wilayat Imarat ma Saqat min al-Bayt al-Sharif ("Unfurling the Banners of Honor by Announcing and Identifying Who Holds the Authority to Reconstruct What Collapsed of the Noble House") is a legal treatise by the Meccan Shafi'i scholar Ibn Allan (996–1057 AH / 1588–1647 CE) addressing the legal authority and jurisdiction over the rebuilding of the Kaaba following its partial collapse in 1039 AH.
Background and Occasion of Composition
In Sha'ban 1039 AH, a catastrophic flood struck Mecca and inundated the Sacred Mosque, causing the collapse of the northern (Shāmī) wall of the Kaaba and damaging sections of its eastern and western walls. In the aftermath of the disaster, the ruler of Mecca, Sharif Mas'ud ibn Idris, sought a formal legal opinion (fatwa) from the local scholars regarding the ruling on rebuilding the collapsed structure and whether it was permissible to finance the reconstruction from the Kaaba's own assets, such as unallocated endowed lamps.
The scholars initially issued a verdict stating that the reconstruction was a communal obligation (farḍ kifāyah) incumbent upon all Muslims, and that the Sharif of Mecca possessed the authority to undertake the work and utilize the unallocated lamps. Ibn Allan initially agreed with this consensus, but he subsequently reconsidered the matter and concluded that the primary religious and legal obligation to rebuild the Kaaba was addressed directly to the supreme Muslim sovereign, Ottoman Sultan Murad IV, and only subsequently to his appointed deputy. When several scholars hesitated or refused to adopt his view, Ibn Allan composed Nashr Alwiyat al-Tashrif to set out his legal arguments.
Content and Related Works
In the treatise, Ibn Allan argues that the duty to reconstruct the House of God is directed to the supreme ruler (khalīfat Allāh fī arḍihi) and Servant of the Two Holy Sanctuaries, Sultan Murad IV, who holds the ultimate prerogative (wilāyah) over its restoration, followed by those whom he authorizes to carry it out.
When he learned that other scholars remained hesitant regarding his evidentiary basis, Ibn Allan wrote a supplementary treatise entitled al-Bayan wal-I'lam fi Tawjih Fardiyyat Imarat al-Saqit min al-Bayt li-Sultan al-Islam ("The Clarification and Notification Regarding the Direction of the Obligation to Rebuild the Collapsed Part of the House to the Sultan of Islam"). Nashr Alwiyat al-Tashrif formed part of a broader series of ten specialized treatises that Ibn Allan authored concerning the 1039 AH flood and the subsequent Ottoman reconstruction of the Kaaba.
Manuscripts and Publication
A contemporary manuscript of the treatise is preserved in the al-Ahqaf Manuscript Library at the Jami' Mosque in Tarim, Hadramawt (MS 2727, within a collective volume). It was transcribed during the author's lifetime on Tuesday, 25 Jumada al-Ukhra 1040 AH, by Umar ibn Ali ibn Ahmad ibn Umar al-Arshani al-Mawza'i al-Shafi'i al-Ash'ari, comprising 9 folios (18 pages, with 27 lines per page).
The text was edited by Muhammad Abu Bakr Abd Allah Badhib and published in Beirut by Dar al-Basha'ir al-Islamiyyah in 1422 AH / 2001 CE as part of the Liqa al-Ashr al-Awakhir bil-Masjid al-Haram series.
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