Ahkam al-Quran lil-Shafii - Jama al-Bayhaqi
- Author died
- 458 AH
- Editions
- t al-Shawami · tahqiq Abd al-Khaliq
Ahkam al-Quran lil-Shafii - Jama al-Bayhaqi (The Legal Rulings of the Quran by al-Shafi'i, Compiled by al-Bayhaqi) is a legal exegesis compiled by the Shafi'i jurist and hadith scholar Abu Bakr al-Bayhaqi (384–458 AH / 994–1066 CE), gathering the Quranic legal interpretations and hermeneutical principles of Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafii (150–204 AH / 767–820 CE) .
Background and Compilation
Although al-Shafi'i originally authored a dedicated treatise on the legal rulings of the Quran, that original composition was lost . Al-Bayhaqi sought to reconstruct al-Shafi'i's interpretive corpus by extracting his scattered discussions on legal rulings and foundational principles (usul) across both al-Shafi'i's surviving works—including Kitab al-Umm (The Mother Book), al-Risalah (The Epistle), and Ikhtilaf al-Hadith (The Disagreement of Hadiths)—and the transmissions preserved by his foremost companions . These disciples included al-Muzani, al-Buwayti, al-Rabi' ibn Sulayman al-Jizi, al-Rabi' ibn Sulayman al-Muradi, Harmala ibn Yahya, al-Za'farani, Abu Thawr, Abu Abd al-Rahman, and Yunus ibn Abd al-A'la . In his biographical work Manaqib al-Shafii (Virtues of al-Shafi'i), al-Bayhaqi noted that he gathered al-Shafi'i's statements on Quranic legal rulings and exegesis into two parts .
Structure and Methodology
Unlike traditional exegeses arranged sequentially by Quranic chapters (suwar), al-Bayhaqi organized the compilation topically by jurisprudence subjects, following the sequence of al-Muzani's Mukhtasar (The Abridgment) .
Al-Bayhaqi opened the work with fundamental theoretical chapters:
- Exhortation to learn the legal rulings of the Quran .
- Understanding general (al-umum) and specific (al-khusus) scriptural language .
- The Quranic obligation of adhering to the Prophet's Sunnah .
- Establishing the legal authority of solitary reports (khabar al-wahid) through the Quran .
Throughout the work, al-Bayhaqi divided substantive legal topics under standard fiqh rubrics (such as "What is transmitted from him regarding Zakat" and "What is transmitted from him regarding Fasting"), presenting al-Shafi'i's exact statements succinctly and corroborating the derived legal meanings with supporting prophetic traditions (sunan) . The text concludes with a prophetic narration concerning the sacred months: إن الزمان قد استدار كهيئة يوم خلق الله السموات والأرض. السنة اثنا عشر شهرا، منها أربعة حرم... ("Time has revolved in its form as the day God created the heavens and the earth. The year is twelve months, of which four are sacred..."), accompanied by al-Shafi'i's commentary on the naming of the month of al-Muharram .
Reception and Publication
The compilation was widely referenced by later Shafi'i authorities. Taj al-Din al-Subki praised it in Tabaqat al-Shafi'iyya al-Kubra (Major Biographical Generations of the Shafi'is), describing it as an exquisite and precious work among al-Bayhaqi's compositions . It was likewise cited by Zayn al-Din al-Iraqi in Tarh al-Tathrib and cataloged by Hajji Khalifa in Kashf al-Zunun (Removal of Doubts) .
The book was first brought to print through the initiative of Muhammad Izzat al-Attar al-Husayni, with footnotes by Abd al-Ghani Abd al-Khaliq and an introduction by Muhammad Zahid al-Kawthari, published in Cairo across two parts .
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