al-Jawahir al-Kanziya li Nazm ma Jumi'a fi al-Izziya
- Author died
- 1430 AH
- Editions
- Maṭbaʿat Dār Hūmah
al-Jawahir al-Kanziya li Nazm ma Jumi'a fi al-Izziya (The Treasured Jewels for Versifying What Was Gathered in al-Izziya) is a didactic versification (nazm) of Maliki jurisprudence composed by the Algerian scholar Muhammad Bay Balalam (d. 1430 AH / 2009 CE) .
Background and Purpose
The work is a versification of al-Muqaddimah al-Izziya, a widely studied Maliki legal primer authored by Abu al-Hasan Ali al-Shadhili al-Maliki . Balalam, who served as an imam and teacher in Aoulef within Adrar Province, Algeria, composed the poem to facilitate memorization for beginners and to aid comprehension for students of Maliki law . In the introduction, he acknowledged that primary credit belongs to the author of the original prose treatise, describing his own role as translating the text into meter and verse .
Method and Contents
Balalam followed the legal rulings gathered in al-Muqaddimah al-Izziya, occasionally omitting non-essential details or adding qualifying phrases to complete the legal meaning in verse .
The text covers fundamental areas of Maliki jurisprudence, structured by thematic chapters and sub-sections (fasl):
- Purification (Bab al-Tahara): Discusses the categories of water (such as rainfall, well water, sea water, and river water) and the legal effects of pure or impure substances altering its color, taste, or smell . It delineates pure and impure substances, detailing what is permissible or prohibited regarding animal products, secretions, and unslaughtered animals (maytah) .
- Removal of Impurity (Izalat al-Najasah): Specifies the obligation of removing ritual impurities from body, garments, and prayer spaces for prayer, as well as excusable quantities such as trace amounts of blood or street mud mixed with rain .
- Ablution (al-Wudu'): Outlines the seven obligatory acts (fara'id)—intention, washing the face, washing the arms up to the elbows, wiping the head, washing the feet to the ankles, rubbing (dalk), and continuity (fawr)—alongside eight sunnah acts and eleven recommended merits (fada'il) .
- Istinja' and Etiquette of Relieving Oneself (Qada' al-Hajah): Covers the obligations and procedures for post-excretion cleansing (istinja'), alongside prescribed manners, supplications, and spatial rules concerning privacy and facing the qibla .
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