Risalat Radd al-Rawafid

Risalat Radd al-Rawafid (Arabic: رسالة رد الروافض, "Treatise in Refutation of the Rawafid") is a theological and polemical treatise composed by the Indian Hanafi jurist and Naqshbandi scholar Ahmad al-Sirhindi (971–1034 AH / 1564–1624 CE) Risalat Radd al-Rawafid+1 to defend the companions of the Prophet ﷺ and refute Shi'i doctrines, particularly attacks directed against the early caliphs and Aisha Risalat Radd al-Rawafid.

Background and Context

Al-Sirhindi composed the work in response to an exchange between Shi'i authors and Sunni scholars from Transoxiana (Mā Warāʾ al-Nahr) during the siege of Mashhad by Abdullah Khan Uzbek Risalat Radd al-Rawafid. Transoxianan scholars had issued rulings declaring the Shi'a to be outside Islam and their lives and property permissible, to which a Shi'i response was penned leveling accusations of disbelief against the first three caliphs and disparaging Aisha Risalat Radd al-Rawafid.

Visiting Shi'i students brought these writings into India and disseminated their arguments within the royal courts and assemblies of princes and sultans Risalat Radd al-Rawafid. Although al-Sirhindi engaged in oral debates against these views, he recorded that his zeal for Sunni Islam and his Faruqi lineage impelled him to author a definitive written refutation Risalat Radd al-Rawafid. Biographical accounts note that he began writing polemical and theological works—including this treatise (also recorded as Radd al-Shi'a and Ta'yid Ahl al-Sunna) and Ithbat al-Nubuwwa—during his early scholarly career around the age of seventeen, after completing his formal studies al-Budur al-Mudiya fi Tar…+1.

Content and Method

The treatise begins with an overview of various Shi'i sects and their theological deviations before addressing specific polemical points Risalat Radd al-Rawafid. Among the groups described are:

• The Saba'iyya, followers of Abdullah ibn Saba, who claimed divinity for Ali Risalat Radd al-Rawafid.
• The Kamiliyya, who declared both the companions and Ali to be disbelievers over the succession and affirmed metempsychosis (tanāsukh) Risalat Radd al-Rawafid.
• The Bayaniyya, Mughiriyya, and Janahiyya, who held anthropomorphic views and notions of divine incarnation (ḥulūl) Risalat Radd al-Rawafid.
• The Mansuriyya, Khattabiyya, Ghurabiyya, and Dhammiyya, whose claims ranged from continued prophecy to antinomianism and extremist veneration of Ali Risalat Radd al-Rawafid+1.
• The Yunusiyya, Mufawwida, and the Isma'iliyya (along with the later revival under Hasan-i Sabbah), whose esoteric interpretations led to the suspension of legal duties Risalat Radd al-Rawafid+1.
• The Twelver Imamiyya, who asserted designated textual succession (al-naṣṣ) for Ali and the lineage of twelve Imams up to Muhammad ibn al-Hasan Risalat Radd al-Rawafid.

Al-Sirhindi evaluates the core arguments surrounding the companions and revelation Risalat Radd al-Rawafid. Transoxianan scholars had cited the mass transmission of the Prophet's veneration of the three caliphs and asserted that defying this veneration was an opposition to divine revelation Risalat Radd al-Rawafid. In response, Shi'i polemicists argued that the companions themselves had opposed the Prophet ﷺ on occasions such as the request for pen and paper during his final illness and the dispatch of the expedition of Usama ibn Zayd, concluding that if opposing revelation constitutes disbelief, the caliphs would be disqualified Risalat Radd al-Rawafid.

Al-Sirhindi responds by distinguishing between revealed divine speech and non-legislative, discretionary matters Risalat Radd al-Rawafid+1. Drawing on the Quranic commentary of Nasir al-Din al-Baydawi, he argues that verses such as وَمَا يَنطِقُ عَنِ الْهَوَىٰ ("Nor does he speak from his own inclination") specifically designate the revealed Qur'an rather than every practical act or statement Risalat Radd al-Rawafid. He demonstrates that the Prophet ﷺ could exercise independent judgment (ijtihād) in worldly affairs, citing Quranic admonitions such as those regarding the captives of the Battle of Badr Risalat Radd al-Rawafid+1. Citing Sayf al-Din al-Amidi through the commentary on al-Mawaqif, al-Sirhindi explains that the disagreements among the companions in these instances were based on differing legal reasoning aimed at protecting the community rather than opposition to divine revelation, and thus did not incur sin or disbelief Risalat Radd al-Rawafid.

Manuscripts and Publication

Manuscript copies of the treatise are preserved in libraries such as the Mahmudiyya Library in Medina and Masjid A'zam Khizanat al-Turath - Fihr…+1. The text has appeared in modern editions, including publications under the title Ta'yid Ahl al-Sunna in Karachi (1384 AH / 1964 CE) Mujam Tarikh al-Turath al….