Abd al-Rahman ibn Qasim
- Died
- 1392 AH
- Born in
- -
Abd al-Rahman ibn Qasim (1312–1392 AH / 1894–1972 CE) was a Saudi Hanbali jurist, scholar, and editor known for compiling foundational reference works of Hanbali jurisprudence and theology .
Lineage and Early Life
He was Abu Muhammad Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn Qasim al-Asimi al-Najdi, bearing a lineage tracing back to the Asim branch of the Qahtan tribe ; his kunya is also reported as Abu Abd Allah . He was born in the village of al-Bir in the al-Mahmal district, located northwest of Riyadh, in 1312 AH, though another report places his birth in 1319 AH . He memorized the Quran in his youth and studied introductory religious sciences under local scholars before relocating to Riyadh to continue his education .
Education and Teachers
In Riyadh, he studied jurisprudence, creed, and Arabic under prominent Najdi scholars . His primary teachers included Abd Allah ibn Abd al-Latif Al al-Shaykh, Ibrahim ibn Abd al-Latif Al al-Shaykh, Hamad ibn Faris, Sa'd ibn Hamad ibn Atiq, and Abd Allah ibn Abd al-Aziz al-Anqari . He also studied under Muhammad ibn Ibrahim Al al-Shaykh, Muhammad ibn Mani', Sulayman ibn Sahman, and Muhammad ibn Mahmud .
Career and Scholarly Contributions
He devoted much of his scholarly career to collecting, copying, organizing, and printing classical texts and regional religious archives . He served for a period at the Government Press in Mecca and subsequently directed the Saudi Library in Riyadh before stepping down from formal administrative duties .
His scholarly output centered on extensive compilation and legal commentary . He gathered and arranged the responsa, letters, and treatises of regional scholars into the multivolume compendium al-Durar al-Saniyya fi al-Ajwiba al-Najdiyya . Alongside his son Muhammad, he collected and structured thirty-five volumes of Ibn Taymiyya's legal and theological writings in Majmu' Fatawa . In Hanbali jurisprudence, he authored Hashiyat al-Rawd al-Murbi', a comprehensive seven-volume supercommentary that substantiates legal rulings with scriptural reasoning and authoritative opinions .
Standing and Character
Biographers described him as an ascetic, devout, and principled scholar known for modesty and frankness . The historian Ibrahim ibn Ubayd al-Abd al-Muhsin recounted meeting him in the library of the Sacred Mosque in Mecca in 1361 AH, characterizing him as tall, tan-complexioned, energetic in manner, and humble .
Death
He died in 1392 AH (1972 CE) . His death was attributed to long-term health complications resulting from a traffic accident that had occurred in 1349 AH . A variant report dates his death to 8 Sha'ban 1372 AH .
Answer updated
List of Works
Hashiyat Kitab al-Tawhid (The Marginal Gloss on the Book of Monotheism) is a concise, selective commentary on Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab's Kitab al-Tawhid. Designed to facilitate study for students of religious knowledge, the work sequentially elucidates the base text's Quranic verses, prophetic traditions, and doctrinal points, addressing the monotheism of worship as well as God's divine names and attributes.
Hashiyat al-Rawd al-Murbi (Supercommentary on the Flourishing Meadow) is an extensive Hanbali legal supercommentary on al-Rawd al-Murbi, Mansur al-Bahuti's commentary on Musa al-Hajjawi's jurisprudential primer Zad al-Mustaqni. Composed as an analytical synthesis of earlier marginalia and authoritative reference manuals, the work substantiates legal rulings with textual evidence and reasoning while highlighting significant points of consensus and disagreement.
Hashiyat al-Ajurumiyya (Supercommentary on al-Ajurumiyya) is an Arabic grammatical work written as an explanatory gloss and commentary on Ibn Ajurrum's introductory syntax treatise, al-Muqaddima al-Ajurrumiyya. It systematically follows the source text through core topics of Arabic grammar, providing lexical and terminological definitions, expanded classifications, and detailed sentence parsing.
al-Durar al-Saniyya fi al-Ajwiba al-Najdiyya (The Brilliant Pearls in the Najdi Answers) is a multi-volume compendium of theological treatises, legal responsa (fatwas), letters, and polemical writings by the scholars of Najd from the era of Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab onward. The collection is arranged thematically according to standard Islamic disciplines, spanning creed, Quranic exegesis, jurisprudence, and doctrinal refutations.
Wazaif Ramadan (Duties of Ramadan) is a concise devotional treatise outlining the spiritual duties, merits, and acts of worship associated with the month of Ramadan. Formed as an abridgment of the Ramadan section from Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali's Lata'if al-Ma'arif supplemented with additional commentary, it gathers prophetic traditions, statements of early scholars, and poetic verses to encourage diligent devotion.
al-Ihkam Sharh Usul al-Ahkam (The Perfecting Explanation of the Foundations of Legal Rulings), also titled Ihkam al-Ahkam Sharh Usul al-Ahkam, is a four-volume work on legal hadiths and Quranic texts of jurisprudence. It serves as a comprehensive commentary on the foundational compendium Usul al-Ahkam, gathering scriptural evidence across acts of worship and commercial transactions to facilitate access to primary sources for students of law.
Hashiyat Muqaddimat al-Tafsir is a treatise and commentary on the principles of Quranic exegesis (usul al-tafsir) and Quranic sciences. Conceived as an explanatory gloss on the concise hermeneutical manual Muqaddima fi Usul al-Tafsir, the work clarifies foundational principles to help students grasp the meanings of the Quran and arrive at its intended divine meaning in accordance with the way of the early generations (al-Salaf al-Salih).
Hashiyat Thalathat al-Usul (The Marginal Gloss on the Three Fundamental Principles) is an explanatory theological commentary on Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab's creedal treatise Thalathat al-Usul. Composed to elucidate the concise expressions of the base text for studying and memorization, the gloss provides line-by-line clarifications of core Islamic monotheism, defines theological terminology, and elaborates on scriptural proofs regarding knowledge of God, Islam, and the Prophet Muhammad.
Tahrim Halq al-Liha – Wujub I'fa al-Lihya (The Prohibition of Shaving Beards – The Obligation of Letting the Beard Grow) is a legal treatise addressing Islamic jurisprudential rulings on growing, trimming, and shaving facial hair. Completed in Jumada al-Ula 1354 AH (August 1935 CE), the work details textual evidence from prophetic traditions and scholarly consensus establishing the obligation of leaving the beard in its natural state and the prohibition of shaving it.
Hashiyat al-Durra al-Mudiyya fi Aqd al-Furqa al-Mardiyya (Glosses on the Radiant Pearl Concerning the Creed of the Pleasing Sect) is a theological commentary providing verse-by-verse explanatory notes and analytical supercommentary on al-Durra al-Mudiyya fi Aqd al-Firqa al-Mardiyya, a didactic poem on Islamic creed by Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Saffarini. It explains the linguistic meanings and theological implications of the poem while aligning its creedal formulations with traditional Athari doctrine.