Ruyat Allah li-Ibn al-Nahhas
- Author died
- 416 AH
- Editions
- al-Dār al-‘Ilmiyyah lil-Ṭibā‘ah wal-Nashr wal-Tawzī‘
Ruyat Allah (Arabic: رؤية الله تبارك وتعالى, lit. 'The Vision of God, Blessed and Exalted') is a theological and hadith treatise by the Egyptian Maliki jurist and hadith scholar Ibn al-Nahhas (323–416 AH / 935–1025 CE) concerning the beatific vision of God in the afterlife.
Subject and Content
The work is dedicated to establishing and defending the doctrine that believers will see God Almighty with their physical eyes in the Hereafter. Ibn al-Nahhas directs his arguments against theological groups that rejected the possibility of seeing God ocularly in both this life and the next, explicitly citing the opposition of the Mu'tazila, the Jahmiyya, the Khawarij, the Imamiyya, and factions among the Murji'a and the Zaydiyya.
The author compiles textual evidence through full transmission chains (isnad), recording Prophetic traditions on the topic, such as the narration of Abu Hurayrah regarding the believers beholding their Lord on the Day of Resurrection like seeing the full moon or the sun without obstruction. In terms of compilation method, the text focuses primarily on narrating reports with their respective chains, largely without providing exhaustive commentary on their individual degrees of authenticity.
Modern Publication
The treatise has been edited and published in modern print editions:
- An edition edited by Mahfuz al-Rahman ibn Zayn Allah al-Salafi, published by al-Dar al-Ilmiyya in Delhi, India (1407 AH / 1987 CE), and also published in the journal of the Islamic University of Medina.
- An edition edited by Ala' al-Din Ali Rida, published by Dar al-Mi'raj al-Duwaliyya in Riyadh (1416 AH / 1995–1996 CE).
Answer updated