Description

The Beneficial Epistle & Decisive Proof on the Science of Devine Unity

Book Specifications

 

Attribute	Details
Title	The Refinement Of Souls
Format	[A5] Paperback
Type	Book
Publication Date	2021
Edition	1st
Publisher	Heritage Press
Author	Muhammad Salah al-Furfur
Translator	Amjad Mahmood
Language	English
ISBN	9780993475672
Length (mm)	220
Width (mm)	140
Depth (mm)	10
Weight (g)	157
Numbered Pages	82
Total Pages	94
Added to our catalogue on	24th November 2022

 

 

*** New In Stock (2022) ***

Book Description

The Beneficial Epistle, by the late Damascene polymath Shaykh Muhammad Salih al-Furfur, is a short, yet comprehensive text in mainstream Sunni theology and can be regarded as a summary of some of the more elaborate works in the field. For decades, it has been the primary beginners’ text, taught, studied and memorised as part of the curriculum of the prestigious al-Fath al-Islami Acadamy of Damascus, which was founded by the shaykh himself. With his succinct and lucid style, the author adequately explains the core tenets of faith that every Muslim should believe in, namely, Allah and His attributes, prophethood, the revealed scriptures, angels, divine decree and the Last Day. As such, the work serves as an invaluable introduction to Sunni creed for both students of theology and laymen alike.

Shaykh Muhammad Salih al-Furfür (d. 1407 / 1986) was one of the foremost Hanafi jurists and erudite scholars of his time in the Levant. He taught at several seminaries of learning and mosques, and authored numerous scholarly works on the Islamic sciences. He was one of the founding members of the League of Scholars (Rabitah al- ‘Ulama’) and established al-Fath al-Islami Academy in 1956 in Damascus, an institute that was to produce future generations of scholars and instructors

 

Contents

Transliteration Key

Translator’s Introduction

Author’s Biography

Author’s Introduction

Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jamä ‘ah: The Ash’aris and

• Maturidis
• Asha ris
• Maturidis

Sects that Oppose Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jamä ah

• The Mu’tazilah
• The Qadariyyah
• The Jabriyyah
• The Karramiyyah

Introduction to the Science of Divine Unity (Tawhid)

 

1 Foundational Principles and Divine Attributes

Section One: Faith (Iman) and Islam

• Faith
• Islam
• Increase and decrease in faith due to obedience and disobedience
• The mugallid
• The judgement pertaining to the utterance of the Two Testimonies of Faith (shahādatayn)
• Islam

 

Section Two: Allah Almighty and Majestic’s Entity, Attributes and Names

• An exposition of what is broadly necessary for
• Allah Most High
• That which is impossible in respect of Him Most High That which is possible in respect of Him Most High
• Epilogue: Nothing is obligatory for Allah
• His Glorified and Most High’s Magnificent Names
• Section Three: The Ambiguous Verses
• Acts of Slaves

 

2 Prophethood, Miracles and Revelation

Section One: Prophets and Messengers عَلَيْهِ ٱلسَّلَامُ

• An introduction to the wisdom in sending messengers عَلَيْهِ ٱلسَّلَامُ
• The first discussion: Belief in prophets and messengers The second discussion: The attributes of messengers عَلَيْهِ ٱلسَّلَامُ
• The third discussion: The number of messengers as who are agreed upon
• The fourth discussion: Inimitable prophetic miracles and preternatural phenomena

Section Two: The Divinely Revealed Scriptures

• The names of the divinely revealed scriptures

Section Three: Our Master Muhammad صَلَّى ٱللَّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِهِ وَسَلَّمَ

• The lineage of the Messenger صَلَّى ٱللَّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِهِ وَسَلَّمَ
• His children صَلَّى ٱللَّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِهِ وَسَلَّمَ
• Features unique to him صَلَّى ٱللَّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِهِ وَسَلَّمَ
• His most manifest miracles صَلَّى ٱللَّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِهِ وَسَلَّمَ after the Noble Our’an

Epilogue: Following Qualified Scholarship in Jurisprudence

 

3 Eschatology

Section One: Belief in Angels

• Disobedience to Allah is impossible for prophets
• The elite angels and humans

Section Two: Belief in Jinn

• Scriptural and rational evidence for the existence of jinn

Section Three: Belief in Other Matters of the Unseen Realm

• The spirit and intellect
• Our belief in the Throne, the Footstool, the Pen and the Tablet Our belief in Paradise and Hellfire

Section Four: Belief in the Final Day The judgement about belief in the Final Day Portents of the rising of the Hour Our belief in death

• Whoever is killed has died at his appointed term
• Those whose bodies do not decay in their graves
• The questioning in the grave and the Final Assembly
• The twelve categories of people who are not be questioned in their graves
• The terror of the occasion of the Final Assembly
• The Final Reckoning
• The Intercession
• Epilogue: The beatific vision on the Day of Resurrection

 

4 Degrees of Deeds

Section One: Good and Bad Deeds

• Repentance

Section Two: Major and Minor Sins

Epilogue

Conclusion