al-Karabisi
- Died
- 570 AH
- Born in
- -
As'ad ibn Muhammad al-Karabisi (d. 570 AH / 1174 CE) was a Nishapur-based Hanafi jurist and scholar of Arabic literature, best known for his treatise on legal distinctions, al-Furuq.
Life and education
Abu al-Muzaffar As'ad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Husayn al-Karabisi al-Naysaburi bore the honorific title Jamal al-Islam. His nisba derives from the trade in karabis (cloth and cotton garments).
Al-Karabisi studied jurisprudence under the Transoxanian jurist Abu Hamid Muhammad al-Usmandi al-Samarqandi and studied Arabic literature and philology under Abu Mansur al-Jawaliqi. Biographical sources describe him as a righteous, devout scholar and skilled grammarian who possessed comprehensive knowledge of both substantive legal branches (furu') and legal theory (usul).
Scholarly contribution
Al-Karabisi made key contributions to Hanafi substantive jurisprudence through the genre of legal distinctions (al-furuq al-fiqhiyyah). His principal work, al-Furuq (also referred to as Talqih al-'uqud fi al-furuq), was arranged according to standard chapters of Islamic jurisprudence and examined 779 subtle distinctions between outwardly similar legal cases, establishing a model adopted by later jurists. He also authored al-Mujaz, a commentary on the Hanafi legal compendium Mukhtasar Abi Hafs (also identified in certain biographical transmissions as Mukhtasar Abi Ja'far).
Death
Al-Karabisi died in 570 AH (1174 CE), though some biographical registers place his death around the beginning of the seventh century AH, and a conflicting entry in bibliographical records gives 539 AH.
Answer updated
List of Works
al-Furuq (also known as al-Furuq fi furu' al-Hanafiyyah) is a specialized treatise on Hanafi substantive legal distinctions. Dedicated specifically to the genre of legal distinctions (al-furuq al-fiqhiyyah), the work distinguishes between outwardly similar cases within substantive law. It is arranged sequentially according to the standard thematic chapters of Islamic jurisprudence, presenting pairs of comparable legal questions and articulating the subtle doctrinal differences that lead to diverging rulings across 779 distinct legal distinctions.