al-Fawakih al-Dawani ala Risalat Ibn Abi Zayd al-Qayrawani
- Author died
- 1126 AH
- Editions
- Dar al-Fikr
al-Fawakih al-Dawani ‘ala Risalat Ibn Abi Zayd al-Qayrawani (The Near-Gathered Fruits upon the Epistle of Ibn Abi Zayd al-Qayrawani) is an extensive commentary on Maliki jurisprudence by the Egyptian scholar Ahmad ibn Ghunaym al-Nafrawi (d. 1125 AH / 1713 CE; other reports give 1126 AH or 1120 AH) . It serves as an elucidation of the classical primer al-Risalah by Ibn Abi Zayd al-Qayrawani (d. 386 AH / 996 CE) .
Composition and Purpose
The author, Ahmad ibn Ghunaym ibn Salim ibn Muhanna al-Nafrawi, was an al-Azhar-based Maliki jurist originally from Nafrah in Egypt . In the introduction, al-Nafrawi notes that scholars and students widely occupied themselves with al-Qayrawani’s al-Risalah—known by the titles Bakurat al-Sa‘d and Zubdat al-Madhhab—because it was the first concise manual to emerge in the Maliki school after the al-Tafri‘ of Ibn al-Jallab . Observing that none of the numerous earlier commentaries was entirely self-sufficient, al-Nafrawi intended to write a comprehensive work containing everything required for the study of the text, so that a teacher or student relying upon it would not need other commentaries .
Al-Nafrawi completed the compilation and drafting of the commentary in his own hand on the fourth day of Eid al-Fitr in 1122 AH (November 1710 CE) .
Structure and Method
Al-Nafrawi structured the work as an interleaved or blended commentary (sharh mamzuj / san‘at al-mazj), embedding the original text of al-Risalah directly into his explanations to ensure ease of reading and accessibility . He comments systematically on the text from its opening theological prologue through chapters on ritual purity, prayer, fasting, zakat, pilgrimage, commercial transactions, and other legal subdisciplines, elucidating linguistic terms, identifying foundational legal evidence, and resolving intricate points of jurisprudence within the Maliki tradition .
Reception and Manuscripts
al-Fawakih al-Dawani came to be recognized among the primary late commentaries on al-Risalah within the Maliki curriculum . Manuscript copies of the work are preserved in numerous institutions worldwide, including the National Library of France in Paris, the Bavarian State Library in Munich, the General Library in Rabat, the Ez-Zitouna Mosque Library and National Library in Tunis, the Municipal Library in Alexandria, al-Azhar Library, and the library of the Grand Mosque in Mecca . It has also seen multiple printed editions in Cairo and Beirut .
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