al-Fawaid al-Jisam ala Qawaid Ibn Abd al-Salam
- Author died
- 805 AH
- Editions
- وزارة الأوقاف والشؤون الإسلامية
al-Fawaid al-Jisam ala Qawaid Ibn Abd al-Salam (al-Fawāʾid al-Jisām ʿalā Qawāʿid Ibn ʿAbd al-Salām, "Substantial Benefits upon the Legal Maxims of Ibn 'Abd al-Salam") is a work of legal annotations and commentary by the Shafi'i scholar Siraj al-Din al-Bulqini (724–805 AH / 1324–1403 CE) on Qawa'id al-ahkam fi masalih al-anam by al-'Izz ibn 'Abd al-Salam (d. 660 AH / 1262 CE).
Composition and Transmission
The book originated as oral dictations delivered by al-Bulqini to his students during teaching sessions in which Ibn 'Abd al-Salam's Qawa'id al-ahkam was read aloud to him from beginning to end. As passages were recited, al-Bulqini dictated observations, clarifications, supplementary qualifications, and analytical critiques on points requiring investigation.
These dictations were recorded by his student Taqi al-Din Yahya ibn Muhammad ibn Yusuf al-Kirmani (762–833 AH), the son of the hadith commentator Shams al-Din al-Kirmani. Yahya al-Kirmani transcribed the commentary, read it back to al-Bulqini, provided marginal annotations, and collated the cited text against another manuscript of Qawa'id al-ahkam. Following the completion of the reading, al-Bulqini added an extensive handwritten certification (ijaza) praising al-Kirmani and authorizing him to transmit his works, and composed a poem exceeding fifty verses commemorating the completion of the glosses.
Content and Method
The work functions as an analytical supplement and critical gloss on Qawa'id al-ahkam. While its core focus centers on legal maxims (qawa'id fiqhiyya) and legal teleology (maqasid al-shari'ah), al-Bulqini's remarks extend across several Sharia disciplines, addressing issues of jurisprudence, legal theory, and textual evidence. His entries vary between supplying textual proofs for Ibn 'Abd al-Salam's assertions, refining definitions, adding legal stipulations, and advancing critical rejoinders against specific stances in the original text.
Within the edited text, references to "al-Shaykh" denote Ibn 'Abd al-Salam, whereas occurrences of "shaykhuna" represent interpolations by the scribe, Yahya al-Kirmani, referring to al-Bulqini. Because the work was transmitted as spontaneous dictation rather than a polished continuous treatise, certain passages exhibit complexity or abrupt formulation.
Manuscript and Publication
The work remained unpublished until it was edited by Muhammad Yahya Bilal Minyar from the unique surviving holograph manuscript transcribed by Yahya al-Kirmani. It was published in a single volume in 1434 AH (2013 CE) by the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs in Qatar, featuring an introductory study by the editor and a foreword by Ali Ahmad al-Nadwi.
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