Ibn al-Qayyim’s Kitāb al-Rūḥ 137
I have found one fatwa (all are published online) in which Ibn Bāz
takes note of Ibn al-Qayyim’s leniency with regard to prayer and
Koran recitation at the gravesite. The fatwa^37 addresses the long-stand-
ing controversy within Islam whether acts of devotion are permitted
in the cemetery. The applicant has heard that Ibn Bāz forbids this,
and, moreover, that the mufti has demanded that anyone who allows
it should substantiate his view. To this end, the applicant writes to Ibn
Bāz that he has found proof in Kitāb al-Rūḥ; Ibn Bāz responds that
“whatever depends upon the sayings of individuals” carries no weight
at all if it contradicts the Koran and the Sunna. Thus, rather than chal-
lenging the authenticity of Kitāb al-Rūḥ, Ibn Bāz rejects its authority,
as he consistently rejects outright the right of anyone to rule against
the Koran and the traditional sources of legal authority.
I am not worried about the authenticity of the book (which I see
no reason to doubt). On the other hand, the allegations are of interest.
Neither Abū Zayd nor Salmān intimates why the authenticity of the
book has been called into question. Clearly, Ibn al-Qayyim’s endorse-
ment of practices that some groups of Muslims find to be both forbid-
den and reprehensible furnishes a strong incentive to deny that Ibn
al-Qayyim authored Kitāb al-Rūḥ. Given Ibn al-Qayyim’s very high
stature within those same groups, the easiest and most logical course
would be to reject the book as a forgery. However, the wide-rang-
ing use of philosophical or scientific idiom that is employed in Kitāb
al-Rūḥ may just as well have aroused the suspicion of some Salafī stu-
dents (ṭullāb).
6. Conspectus of the Book
We have already observed that the preface found in the various print-
ings is not found in any manuscript that we have seen. However, the
basic plan of the book is the same in all the manuscripts, and it indeed
conforms to the printings (similarly, spot checks of some passages
against manuscripts have not revealed any differences that are worth
noting here). Kitāb al-Rūḥ is divided into 21 “queries” (masāʾil) of
varying length. Some are subdivided into fuṣūl or contain supplemen-
tary fuṣūl on issues related to the theme of the chapter.
37 Ibid., fatwa no. 4296, Monday, 10 Rabi’a I 1429[/2008].
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