Ibn Uthaymeen and his work titled Sharh Alfiyyah Ibn Malik

In this study, the work titled Sharh Alfiyyah Ibn Mâlik by Ibn Uthaymeen, one of the leading Salafi scholars of Saudi Arabia, was examined. This commentary was written on the famous didactic poem Alfiyyah by Ibn Malik, which concerns the disciplines of Arabic grammar (nahw) and morphology (sarf). The study, which is qualitative in nature, employed the content analysis method. Composed of an introduction and two main chapters, the study approached Ibn Uthaymeen's commentary methodologically and analyzed in detail his use of examples, his citations of evidence (istishhâd), the issues on which he differed with the original author, his treatment of grammatical and morphological subjects, his views on grammatical causality (illah), and the sources he referred to. Ibn Uthaymeen followed the topical sequence of the Alfiyyah in his commentary. However, he did not comment on some grammar and morphology topics at all, while others he treated only briefly. He presented each couplet of the Alfiyyah with its number and then explained it under the heading al-sharh, using simple and clear language. At times, he went beyond grammatical matters and addressed religious and ethical themes. Ibn Uthaymeen most frequently cited the Qur'an as evidence, followed by poetry and hadith. He opposed rigid grammatical rules and adopted an approach based on ease and facilitation. He generally favored the Kûfan school but did not adhere to it fanatically. He based his discussion of grammatical causality on investigation (tatabbu'), induction (istiqrâ'), or transmission (samâ'), and he opposed overly abstract explanations of causality. Ibn Uthaymeen did not regard any individual as an absolute authority in grammar and presented a unique position of his own, disagreeing with the author on several points. These disagreements included issues such as "the position of the predicate of kâna", "the feminization of the verb", and "the genitive (mudâf ilayh) being the one described by the hâl". His Salafi perspective was clearly reflected in his commentary, especially in his sharp criticisms regarding the interpretation (ta'wîl) of creedal verses and his references to figures such as Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn Qayyim.