Tathir al-Itiqad an Adran al-Ilhad wa Yalihi Sharh al-Sudur fi Tahrim Raf al-Qubur
- Author died
- 1182 AH
- Editions
- Maṭbaʿat Safīr
Tathir al-I’tiqad ‘an Adran al-Ilhad wa-Yalihi Sharh al-Sudur fi Tahrim Raf‘ al-Qubur (Purifying Belief from the Impurities of Deviance, Followed by Relieving the Breasts Regarding the Prohibition of Elevating Graves) is a composite theological publication bringing together two classical Yemeni treatises on Islamic creed (aqidah) and the prohibition of grave veneration: the first by Muhammad ibn Isma'il al-San'ani (1099–1182 AH / 1688–1768 CE) and the second by Muhammad ibn Ali al-Shawkani (1172–1250 AH / 1759–1834 CE) .
Contents and Themes
The volume unites two focused polemical treatises composed during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries AH to address popular practices surrounding tombs and shrines in Yemen and neighboring lands :
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Tathir al-I’tiqad ‘an Adran al-Ilhad: Authored by al-San‘ani, this work articulates the creed of the early generations (al-salaf) regarding pure monotheism (tawhid) . Al-San‘ani states in his opening that he felt compelled to write it upon observing people taking rivals alongside God, placing faith in tomb-dwellers, and following living individuals who falsely claim knowledge of the unseen and mystical unveilings (kashf) . The text establishes that God does not accept monotheism of divine Lordship (tawhid al-rububiyyah) without exclusive devotion in worship (tawhid al-ibadah), refutes the justification of seeking intercession through intermediaries, condemns circumambulating graves as an act of polytheism (shirk) analogous to pre-Islamic idol veneration, and dismantles the arguments advanced by grave-venerators .
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Sharh al-Sudur fi Tahrim Raf‘ al-Qubur: Authored by al-Shawkani, this legal-theological epistle examines the legal ruling on elevating graves and constructing domes or structures over them . Al-Shawkani marshals prophetic traditions prohibiting the elevation of graves, commanding the leveling of raised structures over them, and forbidding taking the graves of prophets and righteous persons as places of worship . He demonstrates how such practices constitute innovations (bida‘) that serve as pretexts (dhari‘ah) leading directly to major polytheism .
Structure and Editorial History
The joint edition prepared by Abd al-Muhsin al-Abbad gathers both texts in a single volume, accompanied by explanatory annotations and a substantial introduction organized into five thematic chapters :
- Biographical overviews of al-San‘ani and al-Shawkani and an introduction to both treatises, drawing upon the appraisal of Abd al-Razzaq Afifi .
- An exposition of the threefold division of tawhid into Lordship (rububiyyah), Divinity and Worship (uluhiyyah), and Names and Attributes (al-asma' wa-al-sifat) .
- The consensus of prophetic missions on calling solely to God’s worship, alongside the resistance mounted by their peoples through appeals to ancestral custom .
- The prohibition of erecting structures over graves or turning them into mosques, and how this leads to supplication and seeking deliverance (istighathah) from the deceased .
- The legal ruling regarding supplicating to tomb-dwellers and the conditions under which such acts constitute apostasy or disbelief (kufr) .
Independently, al-Shawkani's treatise Sharh al-Sudur also appears within his broader collection of legal responses, al-Fath al-Rabbani min Fatawa al-Shawkani, and was published earlier in Cairo within the anthology Majmu‘at al-Rasa'il al-Muniriyyah (1343 AH) . Al-Abbad's combined edition of both works was published by Matba‘at Safir in Riyadh in 1424 AH .
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