THE CONCLUSIVE ARGUMENT

FROM GOD
Shah Wali Allah of Delhi's
Hujjat Allah al-Baligha
TRANSLATED BY

MARCIA . HERMANSEN

New Delhi-1 10002

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments
Translator's Introduction

xiii
xv

The Conclusive Argument from God. Hujjat Allah al-Bligha

VOLUME I
The General Principles from Which Are Derived the
Beneficial Purposes Considered in the Rulings of
the Divine Law
Shah Wali Allah's Preface
Shah Wali Allah's Introduction

3
11

BOOK I The First Investigation: The Causes of

Religious Obligations and Requital

31

1. Absolute Origination, Creation of the Material World

and Divine Management
2. The World of Images (Warn al-Mithal)
3. The Highest Council
4. God's Customary Way of Acting
(Sunna)
5. The True Nature of the Spirit (Ruh)
6. The Inner Dimension of the Imposition of Religious
Obligations
7. How Religious Obligation is Derived from What
is Divinely Decreed
8. Why Religious Obligation Necessitates Requital
9. The Variations in the Natural Dispositions of People..
10. The Causes of the Thoughts Which Motivate
Actions
11. The Adhering of Acts to the Soul and Its Being Held
Accountable for Them
12. The Connection of Actions to Psychological
Attitudes
13. The Causes for Requital

33
37
43
49
53
57
60
69
73
78
80
84
87

viii

CONTENTS

BOOK II The Second Investigation: The Manner of

Requital during Life and after Death
14. Punishment for Acts in This Life
15. The True Nature of Death
16. The Variation of the States of People in the
Intermediary World
17. Concerning Some of the Secrets of the Events
of the Day of Assembly
BOOK III The Third Investigation: The Supports of
Civilization (The lrtifaqat)
18. The Manner of Discovering the
Irtifaqat
19. The First Irtifaq
20. The Art of the Proper Manner of Livelihood
(The Second Irtifaq)
21. The Management of the Household
22. The Art of Economic Transactions (Mu'amalat)
23. The Governing of the City-State (the Third Irtifaq)..,..
24. The Conduct of Kings
25. The Policy towards Assistants
.
26. The Fourth Irtifaq (the Caliphate)
27. The Agreement of People on the Principles of
the
Irtifaqat
28. The Conventions Current Among People
BOOK IV The Fourth Investigation:
Human Felicity
29. Concerning the True Nature of Felicity
30. The Differences among People in Felicity
31. The Divisions among People in their Manner of
Obtaining This Felicity
32. The Principles to Which the Attainment of the
Second Way Goes Back
33. The Way of Acquiring These, Qualities
34. The Veils Preventing the Manifestation of the Sound
Original Nature (Fitra)
35. The Way of Removing These Veils

91
93
97
101
106
113
115
119
121
123
127
129
132
134
137
140
142
145
147
151
153
156
161
165
168

CONTENTS

BOOK V The Fifth Investigation:

Piety and Sin

ix

171

36. Preface: Concerning the True Nature of Piety

and Sin
37. The Unity of God (Tauhid)
38. Concerning the True Nature of Associationism (Shirk)
39. The Categories of Associationism (Shirk)
40. Belief in the Divine Attributes
41. Belief in Predestination
42. Belief that Worship is the Right of God, May
He be Exalted
43. Honoring the Emblems of Allah, May
He be Exalted
44. The Inner Meanings of the Ablution and Full Bath
45. The Inner Dimensions of Prayer
46. The Inner Meanings of the Zakat
47. The Inner Dimensions of the Fast
48. The Inner Dimensions of the Pilgrimage
49. The Inner Meanings of Various Types of
Pious Actions
50. The Ranks of Sin
51. The Harmful Influences of Sins
52. The Acts of Disobedience of a Person which
Have an Impact on Himself
53. The Sins which are Between a Person and
Other People

241

BOOK VI The Sixth Investigation:

The Regulation of Religion

245

54. The Need for the Guides to the Paths and the
Founders of Religions
55. The True Nature of Prophecy and Its
Characteristics
56. The Explanation of the Fact that the Basis of
Religion (Din) is One and the Religious Laws
(Shara'i') and Codes (Manahij) Vary
57. The Causes of the Revelation of the Divine Laws
Relating to One Age Rather than Another, and to
One People Rather than Another

173
175
179
184
190
197
203
210
214
218
221
224
227
229
232
236
238

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250

257

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CONTENTS

xi

76. The Difference Between the Beneficial Purposes

(Masalih) and the Religious Laws
77. The Way the Community Received the Divine
Law from the Prophet
78. The Ranks of the Books on Hadith
79. The Manner of Understanding What is Meant by the
Utterance (Kalam)
80. The Manner of Understanding the Legal (Shar')
Meanings From the Qur'an and the Sunna
81. Judging Among Divergent Hadiths
82. The Causes of the Disagreement of the Companions
and the Successors Concerning Applied
Jurisprudence
83. The Causes for Disagreement Among the Schools
of the Jurists
84. The Difference Between the People of the Hadith
and Those Who Exercise Personal Opinion
85. An Account of the Condition of People Before the
Fourth Century and After

451

Bibliography

479

Indices

483

376
383
387
396
400
405

414
427
437

Qur'anic Citations

483

Hadith Citations-English

488

Subjects and Terms

496

Proper Names

503

CONTENTS

58. The Causes for Being Held Accountable for the

Codes (Manahij)
59. The Secrets of the Ruling (Hukm) and the Reason
for Legislation ('Ill)
60. The Beneficial Interests (Masalih) which Require
the Obligatory Religious Acts, the Pillars, the Proper
Behaviors, and Their Like....
61. The Inner Meanings of the (Appointed) Times
62. The Inner Meanings of the Numbers and the Fixed
Quantities
63. The Inner Meanings of Making Up (Qada)
(for Missed Religious Obligations) or Receiving
Dispensations (Rukhsa) (to Diminish Them)
64. The Establishment of the Supports of Civilization
(Irtifaqat) and the Reformation of Conventions
65. Rules which Bring into Effect Other Rules
66. Rendering the Ambiguous Precise, Solving the
Problematic, and Deriving Rulings from All-Embracing
Principles and So On
67. The Facilitation (of Religious Duties - Taisir)
68. The Inner Meanings of Encouragement
(to Righteousness) and Deterrence (from Sin)
69. The Ranks of the Community with Regard to
Arriving at the Desired Perfection or Its Opposite
70. The Need for a Religion which Abrogates the
Other Religions
71. Fortifying the Religion Against Distortion
72. The Causes for the Differing of the Religion of
Our Prophet, from the Religion of the Jews
and Christians
73. The Causes of Abrogation
74. The Explanation of What Had Been the Condition
of the People of the Jahiliyya which the Prophet
Reformed
The Seventh Investigation:
The Derivation of the Shari'a Laws from the
Reports of the Prophet
75. The Explanation of the Categories of the Prophet's
Knowledge

271
275

280
287
292

299
303
310

316
322
327
334
340
346

353
357

361

BOOK VII

371
373