al-Hawashi al-Sabighat ala Akhsar al-Mukhtasarat
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al-Hawashi al-Sabighat ala Akhsar al-Mukhtasarat (The Ample Marginalia on The Shortest of Epitomes) is a contemporary treatise of Hanbali jurisprudence by Ahmad bin Nasir al-Quaymi, written as an extensive gloss and explanatory commentary on Akhsar al-Mukhtasarat by Ibn Balban (d. 1083 AH / 1672 CE) .
Composition and Method
The book originated as a series of audio lectures delivered by al-Qu'aymi at a mosque in al-Hufuf in al-Ahsa, organized in coordination with the local branch of the Expatriate Guidance Office and the mosque's imam, Ahmad al-Thuwayni . The recorded commentary was transcribed, structured, and cross-checked with the assistance of students, notably Hamza Ya'qub al-Hanbali, after which al-Qu'aymi revised and edited the material .
In setting out the text, al-Qu'aymi adhered to the standard authoritative position of the Hanbali school (al-sahih min al-madhhab) with rare exceptions, supplied legal proofs (adillah) for major questions, and incorporated definitions, constraints, rules, and comparative distinctions (furuq) . Though formatted as marginalia (hashiyah), the commentary was composed to function as an explanatory work suited to beginner students while remaining useful for advanced scholars .
The author established a distinct technical apparatus marked at the end of discussions to indicate specific comparative and editorial classifications :
- Mukhalafat al-matin: points where the primary text of Akhsar al-Mukhtasarat departs from one of the two foundational late Hanbali reference works (al-Iqna' or Muntaha al-Iradat) .
- Mukhalafah: disagreements between al-Iqna' and al-Muntaha .
- Khilaf al-muta'akhkhirin: disputes arising among subsequent late scholars, such as Mansur al-Buhuti and Mar'i al-Karmi .
- Bahth: in-depth investigation of an issue synthesized across multiple references .
- Tahrir: legal refinement of unstated cases, expanded discussions, or deductive extrapolation (takhrij) of rulings for contemporary circumstances .
- Farq fiqhi: juristic distinctions between outwardly similar scenarios carrying different legal rulings .
Reception and Publication
The work received commendations from senior scholars. The Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, Abd al-Aziz Al al-Shaykh, provided an endorsement for the work, noting that most of the chapters on worship were read to him and highlighting its precise editing of the madhhab and deduction of contemporary questions . The Hanbali scholar Muhammad ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Isma'il praised it as a comprehensive and rigorous commentary that follows the method of Hanbali verifiers in expounding legal differences and refining rulings .
al-Hawashi al-Sabighat was published by the Asfar Project in Kuwait as its sixth release . Following the exhaustion of the first print run, al-Qu'aymi reviewed and expanded the commentary for a second edition dated 27 Muharram 1440 AH in al-Hufuf , and a third edition was published by Asfar in 1440 AH / 2019 CE .
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