al-Hidaya fi Sharh Bidayat al-Mubtadi
- Author died
- 593 AH
- Editions
- Dar Ihya' al-Turath al-Arabi
al-Hidaya fi Sharh Bidayat al-Mubtadi (The Guidance: A Commentary on the Primer for the Beginner) is a foundational legal treatise and commentary in Hanafi jurisprudence authored by the Transoxanian jurist Burhan al-Din al-Marghinani (d. 593 AH / 1197 CE) , synthesizing transmission and substantive rational argumentation across the chapters of Islamic positive law .
Composition and Context
The author initially compiled an abridged legal primer entitled Bidayat al-Mubtadi, in which he combined the contents of two cornerstone texts of the Hanafi school: al-Jami' al-Saghir by Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Shaybani (d. 189 AH) and Mukhtasar al-Quduri by Abu al-Husayn al-Quduri (d. 428 AH), following the thematic arrangement of al-Jami' al-Saghir . Al-Marghinani subsequently wrote a massive commentary on that primer entitled Kifayat al-Muntaha, which reportedly spanned eighty volumes . Fearing that its excessive length would cause scholars and students to abandon it, he composed al-Hidaya as a more concise, intermediate commentary that retained fundamental principles while eliminating unnecessary verbosity ; he commenced writing it on a Wednesday afternoon in Dhu al-Qi'da 570 AH (another report mentions 573 AH) . According to Akmal al-Din al-Babarti, al-Marghinani spent thirteen years composing the work while continuously observing a fast that he kept concealed from others .
Structure and Scope
The work is organized according to the chapter order of al-Jami' al-Saghir . It spans all major legal categories, encompassing books on ritual purity (al-Taharat), prayer (al-Salat), poor-due (al-Zakat), fasting (al-Sawm), pilgrimage (al-Hajj), marriage (al-Nikah), suckling (al-Rada'), divorce (al-Talaq), manumission (al-'Itaq), oaths (al-Ayman), penal statutes (al-Hudud), theft (al-Sariqa), military campaigns and international law (al-Siyar), partnership (al-Sharika), pious endowments (al-Waqf), sales (al-Buyu'), currency exchange (al-Sarf), suretyship (al-Kafala), debt transfer (al-Hawala), judicial conduct (Adab al-Qadi), testimonies (al-Shahadat), retraction of testimony (al-Ruju' 'an al-Shahada), agency (al-Wakala), commodate loans (al-'Ariyya), gifts (al-Hiba), hire and leasing (al-Ijarat), contractual emancipation (al-Makatib), clientage (al-Wala'), duress (al-Ikrah), legal interdiction (al-Hajr), the authorized slave (al-Ma'dhun), usurpation (al-Ghasb), preemption (al-Shuf'a), partition (al-Qisma), sharecropping (al-Muzara'a), agricultural lease of trees (al-Musaqat), slaughtering (al-Dhaba'ih), sacrificial offerings (al-Udhiyya), reprehended practices (al-Karahiyya), reclamation of uncultivated land (Ihya' al-Mawat), beverages (al-Ashriba), hunting (al-Sayd), pledges (al-Rahn), homicides and injuries (al-Jinayat), blood money (al-Diyat), solidarity group liability (al-Ma'aqil), bequests (al-Wasaya), and hermaphrodites (al-Khuntha) .
Method and Terminology
Al-Hidaya serves as an exposition of the legal questions in al-Jami' al-Saghir and Mukhtasar al-Quduri . Al-Marghinani's method entails articulating the differing views among the three founding authorities of the madhhab—Abu Hanifa, Abu Yusuf, and Muhammad ibn al-Hasan—alongside the viewpoints of other legal schools, often detailing divergent transmissions and juristic reasoning . His standard approach is to frame the assertions and arguments of the two disciples (Abu Yusuf and Muhammad) before stating the position and comprehensive proof of Abu Hanifa in a manner that resolves the disciples' objections; deviating from this arrangement generally indicates a preference for the disciples' view .
The text employs specific technical conventions:
- The phrase al-Kitab ("the book") indicates Mukhtasar al-Quduri, and whenever a transmission differs from it, the author explicitly cites al-Jami' al-Saghir .
- Evidentiary formulas are systematically categorized: rational arguments are introduced by li-ma bayyanna ("due to what we have explained"), Quranic proofs by li-ma talawna ("due to what we have recited"), Prophetic hadith proofs by li-ma ruwayna ("due to what we have transmitted"), and opinions of Companions by li-l-athar ("due to the report") .
Reception and Scholarly Standing
Al-Hidaya achieved an authoritative status within Hanafi jurisprudence and served as a central text for teaching and legal fatwa across the Islamic world . It was widely praised in poetic lines, including the well-known verse:
"Indeed al-Hidaya, like the Quran, has abrogated the books composed before it in the law; so preserve its rules and follow its paths, and your speech will remain safe from error and falsehood" .
The hadith scholar Muhammad Anwar Shah al-Kashmiri remarked that no work across the four Sunni madhhabs matches al-Hidaya in summarizing juristic discourse, refined expression, and synthesis of essential legal matters . Commentators traditionally opened their treatises by citing their chains of transmission (isnad) linking back to al-Marghinani, such as through his student Muhammad ibn Abd al-Sattar al-Kardari .
Commentaries, Glosses, and Hadith Extractions
More than a hundred works—including comprehensive commentaries, super-commentaries, abridgments, and hadith evaluations (takhrij)—were produced around al-Hidaya :
- Major Commentaries: The earliest commentary is al-Nihaya by Husam al-Din al-Sighnaqi (d. 710 AH) . Other prominent commentaries include al-Inaya by Akmal al-Din al-Babarti (d. 786 AH) ; al-Binaya by Badr al-Din al-'Ayni (d. 855 AH) ; Ghayat al-Bayan by Amir Katib al-Itqani (d. 758 AH) ; Mi'raj al-Diraya by Qiwam al-Din al-Kaki (d. 749 AH) ; and Fath al-Qadir by Ibn al-Humam (d. 861 AH), which covered the text up to the chapter on agency (al-Wakala) and was later completed by Qadizadah in Nata'ij al-Afkar . Mahmud ibn 'Ubayd Allah al-Mahbubi also authored a commentary titled Nihayat al-Kifaya as well as an abridgment known as al-Wiqaya .
- Hadith Extractions: The earliest specialized takhrij work was al-Kifaya fi Ma'rifat Ahadith al-Hidaya by Ibn al-Turkumani (d. 750 AH) . The most celebrated hadith reference on the text is Nasb al-Raya li-Ahadith al-Hidaya by Jamal al-Din al-Zayla'i (d. 762 AH) , which was later supplemented by Qasim ibn Qutlubugha in Munyat al-Alma'i and abridged by Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani in al-Diraya . Another extraction was composed by Abd al-Qadir al-Qurashi (d. 775 AH) under the title al-Inaya .
Translations and Printings
Al-Hidaya was translated into English by Charles Hamilton and published in four volumes in London in 1791 CE . Arabic editions were issued in various locations, including a two-volume edition printed in Calcutta in 1334 AH , alongside numerous multi-volume editions published with major commentaries and marginalia across South Asia and the Middle East .
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