Description

Tuḥfat al-ʻulamā’ (An offering for religious scholars) is ostensibly a tract addressed to the ʻulamā’ (religious scholars) of Afghanistan, asking them to actively discourage the suspicion held by their followers toward things foreign. It was written by order of the Afghan ruler Sher Ali Khan (reigned 1863–66 and 1868–79). Little is known of the author, ʻAbd al-Qadir Khan, although he is identified as a qāḍī (judge) indicating his religious authority. ʻAbd al-Qadir uses numerous quotations from the hadith literature to argue that practices originating with “non-believers” may ...