al-Jawhar al-Naqi
- Author died
- 750 AH
- Editions
- Dar Al-Fikr
Al-Jawhar al-Naqi (in full: al-Jawhar al-Naqi fi al-Radd ʿala al-Bayhaqi, lit. "The Pure Gem in Refutation of al-Bayhaqi") is a critical hadith commentary authored by the Hanafi jurist and chief judge Ibn al-Turkumani (d. 750 AH / 1350 CE) as a detailed gloss on al-Sunan al-Kabir (commonly known as al-Sunan al-Kubra) by Abu Bakr al-Bayhaqi (384–458 AH / 994–1066 CE).
Background and Purpose
The book was written by ʿAlaʾ al-Din ʿAli ibn ʿUthman ibn Ibrahim ibn Mustafa al-Mardini al-Hanafi, known as Ibn al-Turkumani (683–750 AH; other death dates of 747 AH and 749 AH are also reported). In the opening of the text, Ibn al-Turkumani outlines the nature and purpose of his work, stating that it comprises notes appended to al-Bayhaqi's al-Sunan al-Kubra, the vast majority of which consist of critical objections, debates, and discussions challenging al-Bayhaqi's evaluations.
Method and Content
Al-Jawhar al-Naqi follows the chapter organization of al-Bayhaqi's al-Sunan al-Kubra, which is structured according to the legal divisions of Islamic jurisprudence. Ibn al-Turkumani cites al-Bayhaqi's headings and arguments—beginning with the chapter on purification using seawater (Bab al-tathir bi-ma' al-bahr)—and systematically follows them with his own critical rejoinders.
Throughout the work, Ibn al-Turkumani focuses on hadith criticism, scrutinizing chains of transmission (asānīd), evaluating narrators, and re-examining al-Bayhaqi's rulings on hadith authenticity (tashīh and tadʿīf). A central focus of his commentary is addressing passages where al-Bayhaqi weakened traditions supporting Hanafi legal rulings or favored Shafiʿi positions, with Ibn al-Turkumani defending the evidentiary basis of the Hanafi school and vindicating authorities such as Abu Hanifa against disparaging remarks (jarh).
Reception and Derivatives
Al-Jawhar al-Naqi became a prominent reference for comparative hadith analysis between the Hanafi and Shafiʿi traditions. The Hanafi scholar Qasim ibn Qutlubugha (d. 879 AH / 1474 CE) prepared an alphabetical abridgment of the work titled Tarsiʿ al-Jawhar al-Naqi fi al-Radd ʿala al-Bayhaqi (also recorded as Tarjih al-Jawhar al-Naqi or Tarjiʿ al-Jawhar al-Naqi), reaching up to the letter mīm before his death. Some later scholars, including Abd al-Rahman al-Mu'allimi, leveled criticisms against Ibn al-Turkumani, arguing that sectarian bias (taʿassub) for the Hanafi school influenced several of his objections against al-Bayhaqi.
The text is preserved in several manuscript collections, including holdings in Cairo, Paris, Copenhagen, Princeton, and Hyderabad. It was published in print on the lower margins of al-Bayhaqi's al-Sunan al-Kubra by Da'irat al-Ma'arif al-'Uthmaniyya in Hyderabad, Deccan (1354–1356 AH / 1935–1937 CE) in ten volumes, an edition that was subsequently reprinted by multiple publishing houses in Beirut and Cairo.
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