Shamm al-Awarid fi Dhamm al-Rawafid
- Author died
- 1014 AH
- Editions
- Furqan Center for Islamic Studies
Shamm al-Awarid fi Dhamm al-Rawafid (Inhaling the Objections in Censuring the Rejecters) is a theological and legal treatise written by the Hanafi scholar al-Mulla Ali al-Qari (d. 1014 AH / 1606 CE) concerning the legal ruling on cursing the Companions of the Prophet and the critique of the Rafida .
Background and Occasion of Writing
The composition of the treatise was connected to the political and religious upheaval following the rise of the Safavid Empire in Iran and Khorasan during the 10th century AH, when public cursing of the Companions was instituted on pulpits . Al-Qari, who witnessed these events in Herat, recorded the executions of Sunni scholars who refused to comply, including his teachers Shaykh Mu'in al-Din al-Iji, the preacher of the Grand Mosque of Herat, and Hafid al-Taftazani, who were killed when Safavid forces led by Shah Ismail I entered the city .
The direct impetus for writing the work was a disagreement between al-Qari and a contemporary scholar regarding the legal classification (hukm) of one who curses a Companion . Following the principles of Hanafi jurisprudence (usul al-fiqh), al-Qari argued that such an individual is judged an unbeliever through probabilistic evidence (dalil zanni), whereas his opponent maintained that the ruling of disbelief is established through definitive textual evidence (dalil qat'i) . This debate caused an estrangement between the two, which al-Qari noted at the opening of the treatise .
Contents and Methodology
Al-Qari approaches the subject primarily through the framework of Hanafi jurisprudence and legal deduction, differentiating between definitive and probabilistic proofs . He states that reviling any of the Companions constitutes transgression (fisq) and innovation (bid'ah) by consensus; however, if the person believes such revilement to be permissible, deems it a rewardable act of worship, or holds that the Companions and the mainstream Sunni community were disbelievers, then they are judged an unbeliever by consensus .
Alongside the central polemical and creedal topic, the treatise touches upon broader jurisprudential questions, including the principles of legal reasoning (ijtihad) and the qualifications required for a jurist issuing legal rulings (shurut al-mufti) . The text draws predominantly on Hanafi legal manuals rather than general creedal treatises .
Manuscripts and Publication
The title is recorded in biographical and bibliographical dictionaries, including Kashf al-Zunun by Katip Celebi (Hajji Khalifa) and Hadiyyat al-Arifin by Ismail Pasha al-Baghdadi . In a copy held at Dar al-Kutub al-Misriyya, the title appears with a scribal error as Shiyam al-Awarid fi Dhamm al-Rawafid .
Surviving manuscript copies include an autograph manuscript written in al-Qari's hand preserved in the library of the Iraq Museum in Baghdad (MS 35194), as well as a copy preserved in Dar al-Kutub al-Misriyya in Cairo (No. 63 Tawhid) . The treatise has been published in modern editions, including a 1410 AH printing and a critical edition edited by Dr. Majid al-Khalifah in 1425 AH / 2004 CE .
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