Risalat al-Sijzi ila Ahl Zubayd fi al-Radd ala man Ankar al-Harf wa al-Sawt
- Author died
- 444 AH
- Editions
- ‘Imādat al-Baḥth al-‘Ilmī bi-al-Jāmi‘ah al-Islāmiyyah
Risalat al-Sijzi ila Ahl Zubayd fi al-Radd ala man Ankar al-Harf wa al-Sawt (The Epistle of al-Sijzi to the People of Zabid Refuting Those Who Deny Letters and Sound) is a theological treatise written by the traditionist scholar Abu Nasr Ubayd Allah al-Sijzi (d. 444 AH / 1052 CE) to affirm that God's speech consists of letters and sound (harf wa sawt) and to refute conflicting theological doctrines .
Background and Title
The treatise was authored after traditionalist scholars from the city of Zabid in Yemen contacted al-Sijzi regarding disputes with theological rivals over the nature of divine speech . The recipients had previously accessed al-Sijzi's larger theological work, Kitab al-Ibanah fi al-Radd ala al-Za'ighin fi Mas'alat al-Qur'an (also known as al-Ibanah al-Kubra), but found it difficult to extract arguments against their opponents due to the extensive chains of transmission (isnads) accompanying each point . In response, al-Sijzi composed this epistle as an abridgment focused specifically on the issue of letters and sound, omitting full chains of transmission to provide a direct polemical text .
The original manuscript manuscript bears the title al-Radd ala man Ankar al-Harf wa al-Sawt on its opening folios, though the work is commonly referred to in scholarship as Risalat al-Sijzi ila Ahl Zubayd . Later scholars cited it under various descriptive names, including "his well-known treatise to the people of Zabid regarding what is obligatory to profess about the Quran" and "his treatise on the Sunnah" .
Content and Method
The primary objective of the work is to argue that God speaks with letters and a voice/sound, drawing upon the Quran, the Sunnah, Arabic linguistic usage, and the consensus of the early generations (Salaf) . Al-Sijzi directs his critiques against rationalist theologians, specifically targeting figures associated with the Kullabi and Ash'ari traditions—including Ibn Kullab, al-Qalanisi, al-Salihy, and Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari—alongside the Mu'tazila .
Al-Sijzi articulates several epistemological and theological foundations:
- The obligation to accept textual revelation over speculative reason, noting that human intellect cannot overrule scripture and that the obligation to know God derives from revealed reports (al-sam'), not rational deduction alone .
- The consensus of Muslims that the Quran is the uncreated speech of God revealed in a clear Arabic tongue, having parts, verses, beginning, and end, which is recited and heard .
- The linguistic premise that speech in the Arabic language cannot exist without articulated letters and sound, arguing that departing from this understanding undermines the plain meaning of divine communication .
Reception and Editions
The treatise has been heavily utilized as a primary source for traditionalist (Athari) theological discourse. Ibn Taymiyyah cited extensive passages from it and from al-Sijzi's al-Ibanah across several works, including Dar' Ta'arud al-Aql wa-l-Naql, Bayan Talbis al-Jahmiyyah, and Minhaj al-Sunnah .
The work also drew direct opposition from Ash'ari theologians. Taqi al-Din al-Subki noted in al-Sayf al-Saqil that Imam al-Haramayn al-Juwayni wrote a refutation entitled Naqd Kitab al-Sijzi after examining a copy of al-Sijzi's work (referred to as Mukhtasar al-Bayan) while residing in Mecca .
The text was edited from manuscript by Muhammad Bakarim Ba'abd Allah and published by Dar al-Rayah in Riyadh (1414 AH / 1994 CE) and by the Scientific Council of the Islamic University of Madinah (1st ed. 1413 AH; 2nd ed. 1423 AH) . The manuscript transmission includes a transmission chain stemming from a student of al-Sijzi, Abu Muhammad al-Mufadda ibn Abd Allah .
Answer updated