al-Ahkam al-Kubra
- Author died
- 581 AH
- Editions
- Maktabat al-Rushd
al-Ahkam al-Kubra (The Great Book of Legal Rulings), also titled al-Ahkam al-Shar'iyya al-Kubra, is an extensive compilation of legal hadiths by the Andalusian traditionist Abd al-Haqq al-Ishbili (d. 581 AH / 1185 CE) . It is the foundational source text from which al-Ishbili later abridged his intermediate (al-Wusta) and minor (al-Sughra) collections of legal traditions .
Background and Composition
The composition of the book was prompted around 560 AH when Abu al-Hajjaj Yusuf ibn Muhammad al-Balawi (known as Ibn al-Shaykh, d. 604 AH) stopped in Bejaïa while traveling for the pilgrimage, studied under al-Ishbili, and urged him to compile a work dedicated to legal hadiths . When al-Balawi returned from his journey, he resided in Bejaïa for several months and received the completed work directly from the author . Transmitters of the book from al-Ishbili include Abu Muhammad ibn Hawt Allah, Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Hashimi, Ali ibn Abi Nasr al-Bija'i, Sahl ibn Malik, and al-Balawi .
Contents and Methodology
Al-Ishbili and subsequent scholars, including Ibn al-Qattan al-Fasi, referred to the original text as al-Kitab al-Kabir (The Grand Book) . In contrast to his abridgments, al-Ishbili recorded traditions with their complete chains of transmission (isnad), at times connecting them through his own direct transmission line back to the Prophet ﷺ .
The author drew his material from foundational hadith works, including Malik's al-Muwatta, the Six Books (or five of them), the Musnad of al-Bazzar, al-Kamil fi Du'afa al-Rijal by Ibn Adi, the Musannaf of Ibn Abi Shayba, al-Muhalla by Ibn Hazm, the Sunan and al-'Ilal of al-Daraqutni, the Musannaf of Qasim ibn Asbagh, and al-Hakim al-Naysaburi's al-Mustadrak . Alongside the quoted texts, al-Ishbili introduced the authors of these source collections, commented on the reliability of individual transmitters, and analyzed hidden textual and isnad defects ('ilal) .
Reception and Legacy
Because the complete work with full isnads did not circulate as widely as its abridgments, later scholars often applied the designation al-Ahkam al-Kubra to al-Ahkam al-Wusta when distinguishing it from al-Ahkam al-Sughra .
The traditions compiled in the work were critically evaluated by Ibn al-Qattan al-Fasi (d. 628 AH) in his Bayan al-Wahm wa-l-Iham al-Waqi'ayn fi Kitab al-Ahkam (Clarification of Delusion and Ambiguity Occurring in the Book of Ahkam) . Ibn al-Qattan's critiques were subsequently answered by Ibn al-Mawwaq, whose work was completed by Ibn Rushayd al-Sabti . Bibliographical sources describe the work as spanning around three volumes (as recorded by Katip Celebi) or six volumes (as noted by Muhammad ibn Ja'far al-Kattani) . It was published in five volumes (four text volumes and an index) edited by Husayn ibn Ukkashah in Riyadh (1422 AH / 2001 CE) .
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