al-Ashbah wa al-Nazair li-Ibn al-Mulaqqin
- Author died
- 804 AH
- Editions
- t al-Azhari
al-Ashbah wa al-Nazair (The Similitudes and Parallels) is a treatise on legal maxims (qawa'id fiqhiyya) and jurisprudence according to the Shafi'i school, authored by the Egyptian scholar Ibn al-Mulaqqin (d. 804 AH / 1401 CE).
Composition and Purpose
In the introduction to the work, Ibn al-Mulaqqin explains that studying legal maxims and parallel cases sharpens the mind and strengthens juridical discernment. He noted that while earlier scholars—such as Izz al-Din ibn Abd al-Salam, Shihab al-Din al-Qarafi, Ibn al-Wakil (as edited by his nephew Zayn al-Din), and his own teacher Salah al-Din al-Ala'i—had dedicated works to legal maxims, their treatises were not organized along the conventional chapters of jurisprudence. He therefore composed the book according to the standard thematic sequence of fiqh chapters to make the extraction and study of principles accessible, clarify points of disagreement, and state what is relied upon for legal verdicts when opinions conflict. The author recorded at the beginning of the text that he revised the book three times across a period of forty years.
Structure and Method
The work arranges legal maxims, specific principles (dawabit), and related theoretical points systematically under their corresponding substantive law chapters, beginning with ritual purity (tahara) and prayer (salah). Rather than isolating abstract maxims in independent theoretical sections, Ibn al-Mulaqqin embeds the rules and their derivative legal applications within each topical chapter.
The material synthesizes foundational maxims and jurisprudential distinctions from leading authorities of the Shafi'i school and broader legal literature, drawing extensively on works by Ibn 'Abd al-Salam, al-Qarafi, Ibn al-Wakil, Taj al-Din al-Subki, al-Ala'i, and Badr al-Din al-Zarkashi, as well as classical authorities such as al-Shafi'i, al-Qaffal, Abu al-Ma'ali al-Juwayni, Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, al-Rafi'i, and Yahya ibn Sharaf al-Nawawi.
Because of this chapter-by-chapter arrangement, three of the five overarching universal maxims—namely "matters are judged by their intentions" (al-umur bi-maqasidiha), "harm must be eliminated" (al-darar yuzal), and "hardship begets facility" (al-mashaqqa tajlib al-taysir)—are not treated under separate universal headings, though their branches, individual maxims, and applications appear dispersed throughout the relevant fiqh sections.
Reception
Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti cited the work in his al-Ashbah wa al-Nazair fi al-Nahw, remarking that Ibn al-Mulaqqin arranged his book on legal maxims according to the chapters of fiqh, contrasting it with other arrangements. A critical note recorded in later biographical literature states that he secretly extracted material from the al-Ashbah wa al-Nazair of Taj al-Din al-Subki. Ibn al-Mulaqqin himself frequently referenced the book across his other writings, including his hadith commentary al-Tawdih.
Printed Editions
The book has been published under two titles:
- al-Ashbah wa al-Nazair, edited by Hamad ibn Abd al-Aziz al-Khudayri and published by Idarat al-Qur'an wa al-'Ulum al-Islamiyya in Karachi (1417 AH / 1997 CE, 2 volumes).
- Qawa'id Ibn al-Mulaqqin aw al-Ashbah wa al-Nazair fi Qawa'id al-Fiqh, edited by Mustafa Mahmud al-Azhari and published by Dar Ibn al-Qayyim in Riyadh (1431 AH / 2010 CE, 2 volumes).
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