Translated by Marcia K. Hermansen, The Conclusive Argument from God is the master work of Shah Wali Allah of Delhi (1703-1762), considered to be the most important Muslim thinker of pre-modern South Asia. This work, originally written in Arabic, represents a synthesis of the Islamic intellectual disciplines authoritative in the 18th century.
In order to argue for the rational, ethical, and spiritual basis for the implementation of the Hadith injunctions of the Prophet Muhammad (saw), Shah Wali Allah develops a cohesive schema of the metaphysical, psychological, and social knowledge of his time.This work provides an extensive and detailed picture of Muslim theology and interpretive strategies on the eve of the modern period and is still evoked by numerous contemporary Islamic thinkers.
In the recent history of Islam, Shah Wali Allah stands as a bridge between the classical and contemporary streams of scholarship. Indeed, he has been
acknowledged as a precursor of the galaxy of luminaries that emerged in Muslim India during the last two centuries. The spiritual and intellectual successors of Shah Wali Allah left a perennial impact on the Muslim ethos of the subcontinent by their efforts for the revival of the true perception of Islam and the application of the teachings to the dynamic and diverse conditions of society.
In fact it would be no exaggeration to say that he ranks among the most towering personalities of Islam, comparable in some respects to intellectual giants like Abu Hamid al-Ghazali. His magnum opus, Hujjat Allah al-Baligha, is among the most profound works of Islamic scholarship.
