—one waged with force and severity. Although his discussion in this book is, on the whole, calm, whatever the immediate motive for composing it as a reply to their assault, he is nevertheless on the offensive in his defense, for the best defense is a good offense. (1)

Ibn al-Qayyim’s Hidāyat al-Ḥayārā accords with his teacher Ibn Taymiyya’s al-Jawāb al-Ṣaḥīḥ in that each was written to rebut what certain Christians had stirred up and the accusations they advanced. In both works—alongside the defense of Islam—there is an attack upon false doctrines and the establishment of proof against their adherents by scriptural, rational, and compelling arguments. Thus the subject matter of the two books and their general methodology coincide.

There is nothing objectionable in the author’s benefiting from his teacher’s book in many places and quoting some of its passages—this is evident in numerous sections. Yet this does not mean that Hidāyat al-Ḥayārā is an abridgment or digest of al-Jawāb al-Ṣaḥīḥ, as some might imagine, for each contains discussions not found in the other. A careful, deliberate study of the two works supports and confirms this.

That said, every book has its own personality and distinctive stamp, and one work does not make another superfluous, even if it complements it and intersects with it in many—or only a few—topics. (2) Allah knows best.

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