what he quoted, without the slightest alteration. These very passages are indeed drawn from Shaykh al-Islam’s other works, a fact the discerning reader may verify from the marginal notes I have appended throughout this critical edition of the concise epistle.

Evidence demonstrating that this abridged treatise is taken from Shaykh al-Islam’s original work on fighting the unbelievers is as follows:

1 – The inscription on the manuscript’s flyleaf states: “This is a summarized epistle, excerpted from a foundational treatise by Shaykh al-Islam Taqī al-Dīn Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥalīm ibn Taymiyyah on fighting the unbelievers—whether the cause is their combativeness or their disbelief.”

2 – The abridger’s explicit practice of preventing any overlap between separate passages of the Shaykh’s words; hence, whenever he moves from one section to another he writes, “until he said …” or “then he mentioned ….”

3 – Anyone acquainted with and devoted to the writings of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah is certain