al-Ikhtiyarat al-Fiqhiyya lil-Shaykh Ubayd Allah al-Mubarakfuri Kitab al-Siyam wa al-Itikaf
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- al-Ikhtiyarat al-Fiqhiyya lil-Shaykh Ubayd Allah al-Mubarakfuri Kitab al-Siyam wa al-Itikaf
al-Ikhtiyarat al-Fiqhiyya lil-Shaykh Ubayd Allah al-Mubarakfuri: Kitab al-Siyam wa al-Itikaf (The Juridical Preferences of Shaykh Ubayd Allah al-Mubarakfuri: The Chapters of Fasting and Spiritual Retreat) is an academic work by Muwafiq al-Amin, written as a master's thesis in the academic year 1434–1435 AH (2013–2014 CE) under the supervision of Muhammad ibn Husayn Ali Bakri . The book compiles and analyzes the juridical selections and legal reasoning of the Indian hadith scholar and jurist Ubayd Allah al-Mubarakfuri (1327–1414 AH / 1909–1994 CE) pertaining to the rulings of fasting (siyam) and spiritual retreat (i'tikaf) .
Background and Context
Although al-Mubarakfuri held a prominent standing in jurisprudence and issued fatwas, he did not author an independent manual devoted systematically to fiqh; instead, his juridical choices were dispersed across his fatwas and his major commentary on Mishkat al-Masabih, entitled Mir'at al-Mafatih . The Islamic University instituted an academic project to gather and examine al-Mubarakfuri's legal preferences across various chapters of jurisprudence . Al-Amin's thesis was preceded within this collaborative initiative by works of three other researchers: Nuh 'Alim (covering purification through the recitation in prayer), Bandar al-Muhammadi (covering bowing in prayer through funerals), and Sulayman al-Mutayri (covering zakat) .
Structure and Scope
The study comprises an introduction (muqaddima), a preliminary background study (tamhid), two main parts (bab), a conclusion, and comprehensive indexes, covering a total of 101 juridical issues :
- Preliminary Study (al-Tamhid): Divided into two sections; the first surveys al-Mubarakfuri's biography—his lineage, birth, education, teachers, students, creed, school, and scholarly praise—while the second examines his interpretive method and the formulas he employed to express legal preference .
- Part One (al-Bab al-Awwal): Focuses on rulings of fasting, structured across four chapters:
- The name of the month, sighting the crescent moon, and the Day of Doubt .
- Intention (niyya) and the fast of the traveler .
- Corruptors of the fast and expiations (kaffara) .
- Voluntary fasting, prohibited days of fasting, vows (nadhr), and the day of Ashura .
- Part Two (al-Bab al-Thani): Encompasses two chapters:
- Making up missed fasts (qada'), fasting on behalf of the deceased, and Laylat al-Qadr .
- The rulings, stipulations, and legitimate locations of spiritual retreat (i'tikaf) .
Method
The author extracted al-Mubarakfuri's legal stances from his writings and fatwas by identifying explicit expressions of preference, such as "this is the truth" (hadha huwa al-haqq), "this is preferred in my view" (huwa al-rajih 'indi), "the apparent meaning of the hadith is such" (zahir al-hadith kadha), and "the relied-upon position" (huwa al-mu'tamad) . The research restricts itself to disputed questions (masail mukhtalaf fiha) rather than points of consensus .
The order of issues follows the Shafi'i legal arrangement, reflecting the structure of Mir'at al-Mafatih, whose base text (Mishkat al-Masabih) was arranged along Shafi'i lines . For each legal issue, the author states al-Mubarakfuri's selected preference, delimits the crux of disagreement (tahrir mahall al-niza'), presents the opinions of the legal schools with their textual evidences and the cause of divergence (sabab al-khilaf), and concludes with an evaluation and reasoned tarjih .
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