al-Ihkam fi Tamyiz al-Fatawa an al-Ahkam wa Tasarrufat al-Qadi wa al-Imam
- Author died
- 684 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Bashāʾir al-Islāmiyyah lil-Ṭibāʿah wa-al-Nashr wa-al-Tawzīʿ
al-Ihkam fi Tamyiz al-Fatawa an al-Ahkam wa Tasarrufat al-Qadi wa al-Imam (The Precision in Distinguishing Fatwas from Judgments and the Discretionary Actions of the Judge and the Sovereign) is a specialized treatise on Islamic jurisprudence and legal theory by the Egyptian Maliki jurist Shihab al-Din Abu al-Abbas Ahmad ibn Idris al-Qarafi (626–684 AH / 1228–1285 CE) . The book clarifies the boundaries and legal consequences separating non-binding advisory opinions (fatawa), binding judicial verdicts (ahkam), and the executive or statecraft actions of a ruler (tasarrufat al-imam) .
Background and Purpose
The work is also recorded under alternative titles, including al-Ihkam fi al-Farq bayn al-Fatawa wa al-Ahkam and al-Ahkam fi Tamyiz al-Fatwa an al-Ahkam wa Tasarruf al-Qadi wa al-Imam . Al-Qarafi composed the treatise after ongoing discussions with contemporary scholars concerning the distinction between legal opinions alongside which an opposing opinion may stand, and judicial rulings that an opposing jurist cannot repeal . When some scholars disputed these distinctions, al-Qarafi authored this response to define the precise nature and classification of each legal act . It preceded the composition of his larger work on legal distinctions, Anwar al-Buruq fi Anwa' al-Furuq, in whose introduction he refers back to it, and he likewise cited it in his Sharh Tanqih al-Fusul .
Structure and Method
The book begins with the basmala and the opening praise: «الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الْمَالِكِ لِجَمِيعِ الأَكْوَانِ» ("Praise be to God, the Sovereign of all existence") . Formatted as a dialogue of inquiries and answers, it consists of forty specific questions (mas'ala) .
Across these questions, the work examines:
- The distinction between a fatwa issued by a qualified jurist (mujtahid), a binding decree delivered by a judge (qadi), and statecraft decisions carried out by the sovereign (imam) .
- The theoretical nature of judicial rulings, including whether a judgment constitutes an internal mental state (nafsani) or an outward verbal statement (lisani), and whether it represents a factual declaration (ikhbar) or a legal enactment (insha') .
- Which judicial rulings are subject to being overturned and which are irrevocable .
- Applied jurisprudential scenarios, such as the difference between evidentiary establishment (thubut) and a formal ruling (hukm), and disagreements over the legal validity of sighting the crescent moon of Ramadan based on a single witness .
Because the treatise establishes general theoretical principles under which numerous subsidiary legal cases are subsumed, scholars classified it among works dedicated to legal distinctions (al-furuq) .
Editions
The work was edited and annotated by Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghudda. Its first printed edition appeared in Aleppo in 1387 AH / 1967 CE published by Maktabat al-Matbu'at al-Islamiyya, followed by a second augmented edition in Beirut in 1416 AH / 1995 CE, and subsequent printings collated against four manuscripts by Dar al-Basha'ir al-Islamiyya .
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