Ahkam al-Ahwal al-Shakhsiyya fi al-Sharia al-Islamiyya
- Author died
- 1375 AH
- Editions
- Maṭba‘at Dār al-Kutub al-Miṣrīyah bi-al-Qāhirah
Ahkam al-Ahwal al-Shakhsiyya fi al-Sharia al-Islamiyya (Rulings on Personal Status in Islamic Law) is a legal treatise on Islamic personal status and family law by the Egyptian jurist Abd al-Wahhab Khallaf (1305–1375 AH / 1888–1956 CE) .
Composition and Purpose
Khallaf completed the work in Rajab 1355 AH (October 1936 CE) . In his preface, he stated that his objective was to combine the authoritative doctrine of the Hanafi school (Abu Hanifa) with the legal rulings from other schools of jurisprudence that had been adopted for judicial practice in Egyptian Sharia courts . His purpose was to present legal rulings in clear and simplified language, attach each ruling to its textual evidence (dalil) and underlying legislative wisdom (hikmat al-tashri'), and document the substantive legal statutes adopted from other legal schools alongside their explanatory memoranda and administrative circulars .
Contents and Structure
The book is organized into comprehensive topics covering personal status jurisprudence and modern statutory enactments:
- Marriage (al-Zawaj) and its Preliminaries: Covering betrothal (al-khitba), the pillars, legal conditions, formulas, and classifications of marriage, as well as permanently and temporarily prohibited degrees of women (al-muharramat min al-nisa'), matrimonial guardianship (al-wilaya), legal agency (al-wakala), and spousal compatibility (al-kafa'a) .
- Marital Rights: Outlining the wife's rights over her husband—including the dower (al-mahr), maintenance (al-nafaqa), prevention of harm, and equitable treatment between co-wives—alongside the husband's rights of obedience and discipline, shared spousal rights, and marriages involving non-Muslims .
- Dissolution of Marriage: Detailing the types and rulings of divorce (al-talaq), divorce during terminal illness (marad al-mawt), delegation of divorce (tafwid), mutual divorce for compensation (al-khul'), judicial dissolution requested by the wife (due to non-maintenance, defects, harm, absence for one year or more without excuse, or imprisonment for three or more years), marital annulment (al-faskh), and the waiting period (al-idda) and its maintenance .
- Parentage and Child Welfare: Addressing the establishment of paternity (thubut al-nasab) through the marital bed, acknowledgment, or proof, comparing Hanafi doctrine with Egyptian court practice; foundlings (al-laqit); foster suckling (al-rada'a); and child custody (al-hidana) .
- Maintenance of Relatives and Legal Capacity: Examining the maintenance of ascendants, descendants, and extended kin; interdiction (al-hajr); financial guardianship (al-wilaya 'ala al-mal) in comparison with Egyptian Hasbi councils (al-Majalis al-Hasbiyya); and the legal status of missing persons (al-mafqud) .
- Gifts, Wills, and Modern Legislation: Expounding dispositions made during terminal illness, gifts (al-hiba), and testamentary bequests (al-wasiyya), concluding with the texts and provisions of Egyptian Law No. 25 of 1920 and Law No. 25 of 1929 .
Method
Khallaf's methodology integrates traditional jurisprudence with modern codification . Throughout the book, he systematically presents Hanafi rulings alongside comparative selections from other Sunni madhhabs where Egyptian legislation diverged from the dominant Hanafi view . He also draws direct comparisons between classical fiqh texts—such as the classifications of Ibn Abidin—and contemporary statutory provisions, illustrating the legal rationale behind each reform .
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