Qam al-Dajajila al-Taainin fi Mutaqad Aimmat al-Islam al-Hanabila
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Qamʿ al-Dajājilah al-Ṭāʿinīn fī Muʿtaqad Aʾimmat al-Islām al-Hanābilah (Arabic: قمع الدجاجلة الطاعنين في معتقد أئمة الإسلام الحنابلة, "Subduing the Impostors Who Slander the Creed of the Hanbali Imams of Islam") is a contemporary theological treatise and polemical rebuttal authored by the Saudi scholar Abd al-Aziz bin Faisal al-Rajhi. The book was written to defend traditional Hanbali theology and the early authorities of Ahl al-Sunnah against criticisms leveled by Hasan bin Farhan al-Maliki.
Background and Purpose
The author completed the book on Wednesday, 20 Muharram 1423 AH (April 2002 CE) in Riyadh. It was composed as a detailed rebuttal to Hasan bin Farhan al-Maliki's publication titled Qirāʾah fī Kutub al-ʿAqāʾid: al-Madhhab al-Ḥanbalī Namūdhajan ("A Reading into the Books of Creed: The Hanbali School as a Model"). In that work, al-Maliki claimed to offer internal self-criticism of the Hanbali tradition while accusing Hanbali scholars and early traditionalists of various doctrinal defects, extremism (ghuluww), internal contradiction, anthropomorphism, bias in hadith transmission, declaring Muslims innovators or apostates unjustly, and harboring hostility toward Ahl al-Bayt (naṣb). Al-Rajhi wrote the book to demonstrate the incoherence of al-Maliki's arguments and to vindicate classical Sunni and Hanbali theological literature.
Structure and Content
The work opens with an introduction and a series of foundational methodological principles (muqaddamāt), followed by thematic chapters addressing specific claims:
- Methodological Preliminaries: Al-Rajhi establishes several theological premises before commencing the direct refutation. He argues that rulings such as excommunication (takfīr), declaring someone an innovator (tabdīʿ), or declaring someone astray (taḍlīl) are legitimate Sharʿī judgments grounded in textual evidence rather than arbitrary prejudice. He affirms that religious truth is unified and known through divine revelation rather than majority numbers or mere claims. He presents reports and citations from over five hundred early scholars and traditionalist imams who condemned the doctrine of the createdness of the Quran and the Jahmi negation of divine attributes. He also addresses the dangers of corrupt figurative interpretation (al-taʾwīl al-fāsid) as a primary cause of factionalism.
- Disputing al-Maliki's Identity and Claims: Al-Rajhi rejects al-Maliki's self-identification as a "Sunni, Salafi, Hanbali" critic, contending that his theological conclusions contradict orthodox Sunni tenets and mirror Zaidi, Mu'tazili, or Shi'i arguments. He argues that while al-Maliki claimed to restrict his criticism to "extremist Hanbalis," his critique in fact targeted foundational authorities of Ahl al-Sunnah as a whole, including Ahmad ibn Hanbal, al-Barbahari, Ibn Battah, and others.
- Thematic Refutations: The book quotes passages from al-Maliki's treatise verbatim and provides structured responses to each. Major topics include:
- Answering the charge of anthropomorphism (tajsīm and tashbīh) and explaining that affirming the literal attributes of God as reported in revelation does not imply resemblance to creation.
- Refuting the claim that Hanbali scholars manipulated biographical evaluation (al-jarḥ wa-l-taʿdīl) and compromised hadith criticism due to partisan theological bias.
- Defending the Hanbalis against accusations of naṣb, affirming their love and respect for Ali ibn Abi Talib and the Prophet's family alongside the rest of the Companions.
- Clarifying the methodology of classical creed works and defending the practice of narrating reports with their chains of transmission (asānīd).
- Rebutting political charges alleging that Hanbali scholars historically engaged in sedition or disloyalty to rulers.
Reception
The book carries a formal commendation (taqdīm) dated 15 Sha'ban 1423 AH by the Saudi scholar Salih al-Fawzan, a member of the Council of Senior Scholars and the Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta. Al-Fawzan praised the author's effort in invalidating al-Maliki's doubts and defending the creed of Ahl al-Sunnah.
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