al-Sanani
Raf al-Astar li-Ibtal Adillat al-Qailin bi-Fana al-Nar
- Author died
- 1182 AH
- Editions
- Al-Maktab al-Islāmī
Rafʿ al-Astār li-Ibṭāl Adillat al-Qāʾilīn bi-Fanāʾ al-Nār (Lifting the Veils to Invalidate the Arguments of Those Who Posit the Annihilation of Hellfire) is a theological treatise by the Yemeni scholar al-Sanʿānī (1099–1182 AH / 1688–1768 CE) written to refute the notion that Hellfire will eventually cease to exist and to defend the perpetuity of the punishment of its inhabitants.
Background and Purpose
The treatise was prompted by an inquiry from a questioner seeking clarification on the theological dispute concerning the extinction of Hellfire and whether the polytheists therein would ever attain entry into paradise. In his opening remarks, al-Sanʿānī recorded that Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm al-Wazīr noted in al-Īthār the existence of earlier dedicated monographs on this issue by Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah, al-Dhahabī, and al-Wazīr himself. Having found only the discussion preserved in Ibn al-Qayyim's Hadi al-Arwah, al-Sanʿānī authored this detailed work to examine and rebut the arguments favoring the extinction of Hellfire, observing that dedicated treatments disputing those arguments were exceptionally rare.
Method and Content
Al-Sanʿānī's treatise systematically addresses the arguments advanced by proponents of Hellfire's cessation, focusing on the inclination toward that stance attributed to Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn al-Qayyim. He subjected the textual evidence and transmitted reports (āthār) cited in favor of Hellfire's annihilation to critical scrutiny, demonstrating that the narrations relied upon are either unauthentic or authentic but not explicit in indicating the extinction of Hellfire. At the conclusion of the text, al-Sanʿānī affirmed that he conducted his critique free of sectarian bias (madhhabī partisanship) and without following the theological doctrines of either the Ashʿarīs or the Muʿtazilīs.
Editions
The work was edited and verified by Muḥammad Nāṣir al-Dīn al-Albānī, who located the treatise as the third tract in an unnumbered manuscript majmūʿ (cataloged under number 2619). His edition, which included hadith verification and an extensive introductory study on the controversy surrounding the issue, was published by al-Maktab al-Islāmī in Beirut in a single 151-page volume in 1405 AH / 1984 CE.
Answer updated