al-Fawaid al-Mardiyya bi Sharh al-Durra al-Mudiyya fi Ilm al-Qawaid al-Fardiyya
- Author died
- 1192 AH
- Editions
- Dar Raka'iz li-l-Nashr wa-al-Tawzi'
al-Fawaid al-Mardiyya bi Sharh al-Durra al-Mudiyya fi Ilm al-Qawaid al-Fardiyya (Arabic: الفوائد المرضية بشرح الدرة المضية في علم القواعد الفرضية, lit. 'The Pleasing Benefits in Explaining the Radiant Pearl in the Science of Inheritance Rules') is a legal commentary on the Islamic law of inheritance (farāʾiḍ) authored by the Hanbali jurist Abd al-Rahman ibn Abd Allah al-Ba'li (1110–1192 AH / 1698–1778 CE) .
Background and Composition
Al-Ba'li composed the work as a self-commentary on his own 119-verse didactic poem in the rajaz metre, al-Durra al-Mudiyya fi Ilm al-Qawaid al-Fardiyya . The poem itself was an abridgment and refinement of al-Rahbi's (d. 577 AH) celebrated inheritance poem, Bughyat al-Bahith (popularly known as al-Rahbiyya), aimed at removing extraneous material and formulating the rulings in accordance with the late Hanbali school . Al-Ba'li wrote this commentary at the request of his peers and students to clarify the expressions of the poem and uncover its intricate legal meanings . He completed its authorship in 1181 AH .
Content and Sources
The commentary systematically covers the core areas of Islamic inheritance law outlined in the poem:
- The causes, impediments, and categories of male and female heirs .
- The fixed fractional shares (farḍ): half, quarter, eighth, two-thirds, one-third, and one-sixth .
- Universal residency/agnatic inheritance (taʿṣīb), exclusion (ḥajb), and special inheritance cases such as the shared problem (al-mushtaraka), the co-inheritance of the grandfather with siblings (al-jadd wa-l-ikhwah), and al-Akdariyya .
- Mathematical resolution and arithmetic calculation of shares (al-ḥisāb and al-sihām), along with vested inheritances (al-munāsakhāt) .
- Complex cases, including hermaphrodites (al-khunthā), missing persons (al-mafqūd), unborn fetuses (al-ḥaml), and simultaneous deaths of related individuals in disasters such as drowning or collapsing structures (al-gharqa wa-l-hadma) .
Al-Ba'li primarily adheres to late Hanbali doctrine throughout his exposition, though he departs from the standard Hanbali stance on two specific matters: the inheritance of hermaphrodites and victims of simultaneous death . In compiling his explanations, al-Ba'li drew upon both Hanbali and Shafi'i legal and arithmetical treatises, including Mansur al-Buhuti's Kashshaf al-Qina' and Sharh Muntaha al-Iradat, Baha' al-Din al-Shanshawri's Fath al-Qarib al-Mujib (Sharh al-Tartib) and al-Fawaid al-Shanshawriyya, as well as Ibn al-Ha'im's (d. 815 AH) treatise on vested inheritances, Shubbak al-Munasakhat .
Manuscripts and Publication
The text survived in a unique manuscript preserved in the Zahiriyya Library (MS 15758, 21 folios), transcribed in 1182 AH by Muhammad Amin ibn al-Shaykh Hasan al-Azzazi during the author's lifetime, roughly one year after the book's completion .
The commentary was edited and published in one volume by Abd al-Aziz ibn Adnan al-Iydan and Anas ibn Adil al-Yatama, accompanied by an introduction by Salih al-Fawzan, and issued by Dar Raka'iz in 1439 AH (2018 CE) .
Answer updated