al-Hudud fi al-Usul
- Author died
- 474 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyyah
al-Hudud fi al-Usul (The Definitions in Legal Theory) is a treatise on legal and epistemological terminology by the Andalusian Maliki scholar and jurist Abu al-Walid al-Baji (d. 474 AH / 1081 CE) .
Subject and Method
The work compiles definitions (hudud) of technical terms used by scholars of legal theory (usul al-fiqh), providing concise or expanded explanations for each term . Al-Baji examines core concepts in epistemology, theology, and legal methodology, including definition itself (al-hadd), knowledge (al-ilm), necessary knowledge (al-ilm al-daruri), speculative knowledge (al-ilm al-nazari), belief (al-itiqad), ignorance (al-jahl), and the definition of legal theory (usul al-fiqh) .
In constructing definitions, al-Baji analyzes the linguistic roots of terms and elucidates the precise wording chosen to ensure that a definition is both comprehensive and exclusive (al-lafz al-jami' al-mani'), preempting theoretical objections (raf' al-naqd) and clarifying points of scholarly dispute . In certain entries, he cites definitions proposed by his teachers and contemporaries, subjecting them to critical evaluation .
Reception and Transmission
The book is recorded under the titles al-Hudud or al-Hudud fi Usul al-Fiqh across major biographical and bibliographical dictionaries . It is cited by al-Qadi Iyad in Tartib al-madarik, Ibn Khayr al-Ishbili in his Fihrist, Yaqut al-Hamawi, al-Dhahabi in Siyar a'lam al-nubala' and Tadhkirat al-huffaz, Ibn Shakir al-Kutubi in Fawat al-wafayat, Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti, al-Dawudi, Ibn Farhun in al-Dibaj al-mudhahhab, al-Maqqari in Nafh al-tib, and Isma'il Pasha al-Baghdadi in Hadiyyat al-'arifin . Al-Baji's son, Abu al-Qasim Ahmad, received authorization from his father to revise and amend his works on usul .
Manuscripts and Editions
al-Hudud fi al-Usul is preserved in manuscript at the Escorial Library in Madrid (MS 1514/4, spanning 22 folios) . The text was edited by Nazih Kamal Hammad and published in Beirut in 1392 AH / 1973 CE, and has also been edited by Muhammad Faris .
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