al-Samnaqani
- Died
- 746 AH
- Born in
- -
al-Husayn ibn Muhammad al-Samnaqani (d. 746 AH / 1345–1346 CE) was a Hanafi jurist from Khurasan and Transoxiana, best known for his legal compendium Khizanat al-Muftin (The Treasury of Muftis) .
Identity and Background
His full name was al-Husayn ibn Muhammad ibn al-Husayn al-Samnaqani . He was accorded the honorific title Husam al-Din by Hajji Khalifa, while a marginal note on the Hagia Sophia manuscript of his work records the title Badi' al-Din . His primary nisba traces to the town of Samnaqan in Khurasan . In some biographical and bibliographical entries, this nisba was corrupted as al-Samiqani or al-Sam'ani, though al-Samnaqani is established by the author's explicit statement in his own colophon . He is also mentioned with the regional nisba al-Naysaburi .
The exact year of al-Samnaqani's birth is not preserved in the historical records, though modern biographical studies place it approximately in the second half of the seventh century AH . He lived and pursued his scholarly career in Transoxiana .
Scholarly Career
Al-Samnaqani studied under the Hanafi jurist Hakim al-Din Muhammad ibn 'Ali al-Namusani, who encouraged him to compose his major reference work . He was also contemporary with the Transoxianan scholar Abu al-Barakat al-Nasafi .
As a jurist, al-Samnaqani focused on compiling substantive legal rulings (furu'), harmonizing narrations from early Hanafi authorities with the selected opinions (al-mukhtar) of later scholars while abridging divergent viewpoints . He completed the draft of his compendium Khizanat al-Muftin on Thursday, 7 Muharram 740 AH . In the introduction to that work, he also noted another legal commentary he authored, titled al-Shafi fi Sharh al-Wafi .
Death
Al-Samnaqani died in 746 AH (1345–1346 CE) . Other bibliographical references record him as having been alive in 740 AH (1339 CE) or having died sometime after that year, based on the completion date of his written work .
Answer updated
List of Works
Khizanat al-Muftin - Qism al-Ibadat (The Treasury of Muftis: Section on Acts of Worship) is a Hanafi legal compendium devoted to the legal rulings, fatwas, and derivative applications concerning Islamic ritual worship. Completed in draft on 7 Muharram 740 AH, the work compiles rulings derived by later jurists for novel questions while integrating foundational definitions, rulings, and positions transmitted from Abu Hanifah and his two companions.