8vo. 213 pp of Arabic text, 309 pp of French text, text illustrations from original Arabic manuscript, 1 map, tables, edited by Juliette Rassi, publisher’s original wrappers, notes, index, copy in mint condition, Institut Francais Du Proche-Orient, Damascus, 2005.

Synopsis

There is no doubt that the revered rank granted to the Imams of Ahlulbayt [as] by Allah has always remained a thorn in the flabby sides of their [as] enemies, enemies have been given an esteemed position in the madhab of the Ahl’ul Sunnah particularly amongst the Nawasib, who on account of their loyalty to their heroes, have consistently sought to degrade or at least, suppress the true merits of Ahlulbayt [as] as a means of preventing questions being raised by the Ahl’ul bayt adherents to their clergy about the atrocities committed by their elders on Ahl’ullbayt [as]. Despite this atmosphere of animosity there still emerged some Sunni scholars who whilst not openly opposing their elders still attested to the exalted merits of the Imams of Ahlulbayt [as] which posed a serious problem to both open Nawasib as well as those Sunnies who had some elements of Nasibism flowing into their veins. The result was that these two categories of Nawasib went about criticizing such scholars or questioned their beliefs/credibility as a method of disowning them. One such unfortunate Sunni scholar who fell prey to such victimization was Shaykh Shams al-Din Yusuf ibn Qazghali al-Hanafi popularly known as Sibt Ibn al-Jawzi al-Hanafi. Nawasib (both past and present) while adhering to a couple of notables amongst their pioneer clergy, have tried their utmost to disassociate themselves from this great Hanafi scholar but in vain, due to the fact that apart from a few bigots, the remainder prominent Sunni figures deemed Sibt Ibn Jawzi as a Hanafi scholar but relied on his works as an authority source.