al-Ghurra al-Munifa fi Tahqiq Bad Masail al-Imam Abi Hanifa
- Author died
- 773 AH
- Editions
- Mu’assasat al-Kutub al-Thaqafiyyah
al-Ghurra al-Munifa fi Tahqiq Bad Masail al-Imam Abi Hanifa (The Elevated Forehead in Verifying Certain Matters of Imam Abu Hanifa) is a comparative legal treatise by the Hanafi jurist and chief judge Siraj al-Din al-Ghaznawi (d. 773 AH / 1371 CE) dedicated to examining and defending juristic positions associated with Abu Hanifa .
Background and Composition
The work originated when the Mamluk amir Sarghitmish al-Nasiri requested al-Ghaznawi to translate into Arabic al-Tariqa al-Baha'iyya, a Persian legal disputation work composed by Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (d. 606 AH) for Sultan Baha' al-Din . Sarghitmish additionally instructed al-Ghaznawi to supplement the text with supporting arguments and counter-responses upholding Abu Hanifa's legal views . Al-Ghaznawi complied by translating al-Razi's treatise and providing detailed legal reasoning on behalf of the Hanafi school, finishing the compilation in Sha'ban 759 AH (July–August 1358 CE) .
The text opens with the doxology: «الحمد لله على آلائه والشكر له على جزيل عطائه» ("Praise be to God for His bounties, and gratitude be to Him for His abundant gifts") . In classical and later bibliographical literature, the work is cited under variants of its title, including al-Ghurra al-Munifa fi Tarjih Madhhab Abi Hanifa ("The Elevated Forehead in Giving Preponderance to the School of Abu Hanifa") as well as al-Ghurra al-Munifa fi Tahqiq Ba'd Masa'il al-Imam Abi Hanifa .
Modern Editions
The work has been published in several modern editions, including:
- An edition introduced and annotated by Muhammad Zahid al-Kawthari, published in Cairo (1950) and reissued in Beirut by Maktabat al-Imam Abi Hanifa (1370 AH / 1950 CE; 2nd ed. 1409 AH / 1988 CE) .
- An edition published by Mu'assasat al-Kutub al-Thaqafiyya in Beirut (1st ed. 1406 AH / 1986 CE) .
Answer updated