al-Hidaya ila Awham al-Kifaya
- Author died
- 772 AH
- Editions
- Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah, printed at the conclusion of (Kifayat al-Nabih) by Ibn al-Rif'ah
al-Hidaya ila Awham al-Kifaya (The Guidance Concerning the Inadvertent Errors of al-Kifayah) is a Shafi'i legal critique composed by the Egyptian jurist and legal theorist Jamal al-Din al-Isnawi (704–772 AH / 1305–1370 CE) . The work is dedicated to identifying and correcting errors, misattributions, and oversights found in Kifayat al-Nabih fi Sharh al-Tanbih (frequently referenced simply as al-Kifaya), the comprehensive commentary written by Ibn al-Rif'ah (d. 710 AH / 1310 CE) on Abu Ishaq al-Shirazi's Shafi'i legal manual al-Tanbih .
Background and Purpose
In his introduction, al-Isnawi highlights that Ibn al-Rif'ah's commentary had become a cornerstone of Shafi'i jurisprudence, heavily relied upon by contemporary jurists, judges, and muftis . He acknowledges Ibn al-Rif'ah's vast erudition and stature within the Shafi'i school, stating that pointed critiques were not aimed at diminishing the author's standing, as no scholar writing an extensive work is entirely immune from slips . Instead, al-Isnawi authored the work as scholarly counsel (nush) to prevent practitioners from relying on erroneous rulings, distorted transmissions, and inadvertent lapses .
al-Isnawi considered this book one part of a triad of corrective works he penned on major Shafi'i reference texts, alongside al-Tanqih fi al-Istidrak 'ala al-Tashih (a critique of al-Nawawi's Tashih al-Tanbih) and al-Muhimmat fi Sharh al-Rawda wa-al-Rafi'i (a critical commentary on al-Rafi'i and al-Nawawi) .
Structure and Scope
The book systematically follows the legal chapters and discussions of Ibn al-Rif'ah's al-Kifaya, beginning with its earliest topics and continuing through to its final sections . In addition to clarifying substantive jurisprudence, legal attributions, and textual errors made by Ibn al-Rif'ah, al-Isnawi added precise vocalizations (dabt) for proper names and linguistic terms that risked corruption in manuscripts, as well as lexical definitions for obscure terms .
The text was described by his student Zayn al-Din al-'Iraqi as spanning two medium volumes or one large volume .
Composition and Transmission
al-Isnawi completed the draft (musawwada) of the text in the month of Sha'ban 746 AH . The fair copy of the work was concluded on Tuesday, 25 Ramadan 766 AH .
Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti undertook a project to extract and evaluate the hadiths cited in the book under the title al-'Inaya, though he left it incomplete . In modern print, the text was edited and studied by Majdi Muhammad Surur Baslum, published alongside Ibn al-Rif'ah's Kifayat al-Nabih in Beirut .
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