Kitab Al-I'tisam - كتاب الاعتصام

Book excerpt: Kitab Al I'tisam seems to have been written by Al Shatibi "May Allah (swt) have mercy on him" for his disciples and the scholars and students of knowledge, rather than for the laymen and commoners among the people. He underwent great difficulties to achieve this glorious task. The book is indeed a scientific encyclopedia, which includes a lot of benefits and unique issues, which make its holder and carrier dispense with anything else, in residence as well as on journey. He prefaced the book with a wonderful and concentrated introduction, in which he talked about the alienation of Islam, and the emergence and spread of the religious innovations, which motivated him to write his book, in the hope it would benefit the Muslims in the world and the hereafter. He divided the book into ten section, each including many chapters as required by content and in-depth explanation of the issues: 1. Definition and meaning of religious innovation 2. Condemnatino of religious innovation, and the evil consequences of its men; 3. Condemantion of religious innovations in general, and all changes made in the religion, in which he discussed the malicious allegations of the religious innovators and those of scholars who regard good or bad the religious innovations. 4. The appraoches of religious innovators in attestation; 5. The real and additional religious innovations, and the difference between them; 6. The rulings of the religious innovations, which are not of the same rank; 7. The innovation, whether it pertains to the acts of worship in particular, or includes also the normal habits; 8. The difference between the benefits which were not specifically addressed with Islamic text, and the appreciation; 9. The reason for which the sects of religious innovators broke away from the established community of the Muslims; 10. The straight path from which the religious innovators deviated