Sawn al-Mantiq wa al-Kalam an Fannay al-Mantiq wa al-Kalam

Sawn al-Mantiq wa al-Kalam ‘an Fannay al-Mantiq wa al-Kalam (Preserving Logic and Speech from the Arts of Logic and Speculative Theology) is a treatise by the Egyptian Shafi‘i scholar Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti (849–911 AH / 1445–1505 CE) arguing against the study of Aristotelian logic and speculative theology (kalam) and compiling the rulings and statements of earlier Islamic authorities who prohibited both disciplines Sawn al-Mantiq wa al-Kala…+1.

Background and Cause of Composition

Al-Suyuti recounts that around 867 or 868 AH, he had written an earlier work entitled al-Qawl al-Mushriq fi Tahrim al-Ishtighal bi-l-Mantiq (The Radiant Discourse on the Prohibition of Engaging in Logic), in which he compiled transmitted positions of Islamic scholars censuring and prohibiting logic Sawn al-Mantiq wa al-Kala…+1. In that earlier treatise, he noted that Ibn Taymiyyah had authored a work refuting the foundations of logic, though al-Suyuti had not yet accessed it at the time Sawn al-Mantiq wa al-Kala….

Twenty years later—around 887 or 888 AH—after al-Suyuti declared that he had attained the rank of independent legal reasoning (ijtihad), an interlocutor asserted that knowledge of logic was an indispensable condition for ijtihad and claimed that al-Suyuti was deficient in that requirement Sawn al-Mantiq wa al-Kala…+1. In response, al-Suyuti composed Sawn al-Mantiq wa al-Kalam to demonstrate both his thorough grasp of logic and his reasoned legal argument (ijtihad wa-istidlal) regarding its religious prohibition Sawn al-Mantiq wa al-Kala…+1. Because his argumentation against logic necessitated citing statements prohibiting speculative theology due to their close association, he chose the title Sawn al-Mantiq wa al-Kalam ‘an Fannay al-Mantiq wa al-Kalam Sawn al-Mantiq wa al-Kala….

Structure, Content, and Methodology

The work is written following the traditional method of Hadith scholars (uslub al-muhaddithin), relying on textual documentation, transmission chains, and thematic compilation Sawn al-Mantiq wa al-Kala….

In the work, al-Suyuti:

• Examines the origin of Greek logic and its historical entry into Islamic civilization, along with the subsequent integration of logical terminology into Islamic legal theory (usul al-fiqh) by later scholars Sawn al-Mantiq wa al-Kala….
• Defends the fatwa of Ibn al-Salah that prohibited engagement with logic and philosophy, arguing through exhaustive inductive survey (istiqra') that none of the Companions, Successors, or early mujtahid imams deemed logic permissible Sawn al-Mantiq wa al-Kala….
• Compiles textual rulings against speculative theology and logic across the four Sunni legal schools, citing figures among the Shafi‘is such as al-Shafi'i, Imam al-Haramayn al-Juwayni, Abu Hamid al-Ghazali in his later life, and al-Nawawi; among the Malikis such as Ibn Abi Zayd al-Qayrawani, Abu Bakr ibn al-Arabi, and Ibn Rushd; among the Hanafis such as Abu Sa'id al-Sirafi and al-Siraj al-Qazwini; and among the Hanbalis such as Ibn al-Jawzi and Ibn Taymiyyah Mawqi al-Islam Su'al wa J…+1.
• Transmits extensive passages from earlier sourcebooks, including Abu Isma'il al-Harawi's Dhamm al-Kalam, al-Ajurri's al-Shari'ah, al-Harith al-Muhasibi's al-Ri'ayah, and Muhammad ibn Isma'il al-Bukhari's Khalq Af'al al-'Ibad Sawn al-Mantiq wa al-Kala…+1.

Relationship to Related Works

During his preparation of the book, al-Suyuti acquired Ibn Taymiyyah’s major polemic against Greek logic, titled Nasihat Ahl al-Iman fi al-Radd ‘ala Mantiq al-Yunan (Advice to the People of Faith in Refutation of the Logic of the Greeks), spanning twenty gatherings (kurrasah) Majmu al-Fatawa+2. Al-Suyuti abridged Ibn Taymiyyah's text into an independent summary titled Jahd al-Qarihah fi Tajrid al-Nasiha (The Exertion of Talent in Abridging the Advice), which was transmitted alongside or appended to manuscripts of Sawn al-Mantiq wa al-Kalam Jahd al-Qariha fi Tajrid …+2.

Transmission and Modern Editions

The bibliographer Hajji Khalifa recorded the book in Kashf al-Zunun, stating that al-Suyuti listed it in his catalog of works under the category of jurisprudence (fiqh) Sawn al-Mantiq wa al-Kala…+1. The text was preserved in a tenth-century AH manuscript collection at the al-Azhar Library in Cairo (Majmu‘ 204) comprising 35 folios Sawn al-Mantiq wa al-Kala…+2.

The work was first edited by Ali Sami al-Nashshar and published in Cairo in 1366 AH / 1947 CE alongside Jahd al-Qarihah Sawn al-Mantiq wa al-Kala…+2. A second revised edition was prepared by al-Nashshar in collaboration with Su‘ad Ali Abd al-Raziq, sponsored by Abd al-Halim Mahmud and published in Cairo in 1390 AH / 1970 CE Sawn al-Mantiq wa al-Kala…+3.