A Guide to Conclusive Proofs for the Principles of Belief (Arabic: الإرشاد إلى قواطع الأدلة في أصول الاعتقاد, romanized: Al-Irshad ila Qawati' al-Adilla fi Usul al-I'tiqad), commonly known simply as Al-Irshad ("The Guide"), is a major classic of Islamic theology. Its author, Imam al-Haramayn al-Juwayni, was the leading theologian of his time. His writings in the field of theology, especially Al-Irshad, represent a high point of the development of theology in the then contemporary Islamic world.[1]
It is intended to outline exactly what has been proven, what can be proven and how those things can be proven.[2] He focuses much of his attention on God and the fundamental Islamic principle that God is the only and all-powerful creator. He explains that we are often caught up in a temporally contingent existence, lost in continuity but that we should realize God's ability to interrupt this continuity at any time.[3] Al-Juwayni focuses a similar amount of attention on legal methodology and is particularly concerned with the methods for discerning difficult debates. He explains naskh "abrogation", for example, in great detail.[2]