Abstract

The Kitāb Takrīm al-ma‛īsha bi-taḥrīm al-ḥashīsha and the Kitāb Tatmīm al-Takrīm li-mā fi l-ḥashīsh min al-taḥrīm by Quṭb al-dīn al-Qasṭallānī occupy a prominent place in the Arabic literature scene on drugs in general and on hashish in particular. Its relevance is due to the fact that most of the Arab authors of subsequent centuries made use of these two epistles in drafting their treatises. That is why al-Qasṭallānī is the most frequently quoted authority in the aforementioned treatises. A close look at both epistles reveals a considerable amount of historiographic unknown data to date on Arabic writing devoted to hashish and prompts us to question other generally accepted data. Futhermore, the characterisation of al-Qasṭallānī's historic personality perfectly illustrates the arrangement of orthodox sufi stratum who were the most important defenders of the ideological fight against hashish consumption during the 13th century. At the same time, the study of the contents of their epistles offers us a clear image of the general ideological context in which the controversy among those Sufis who were against and those who were for the ritual consumption for hashish took place.