al-Kafi fi Fiqh Ahl al-Madina
- Author died
- 463 AH
- Editions
- Maktabat al-Riyāḍ al-Ḥadīthah
al-Kafi fi Fiqh Ahl al-Madina (The Sufficient in the Jurisprudence of the People of Medina) is a manual of Maliki jurisprudence by the Andalusian scholar Ibn Abd al-Barr (368–463 AH / 978–1071 CE), presenting the core legal doctrines and practical branches of the Medinese legal school .
Purpose and Scope
Ibn Abd al-Barr composed the book in response to a request from a student seeking an abridged, systematically arranged reference work in jurisprudence . His purpose was to assemble the foundational principles and mother-issues (usul wa-ummahat) upon which subsidiary rulings (furu') are built regarding the lawful and the prohibited . He designed it to be a refined and accessible summary that could spare the reader from consulting lengthy compilations and serve as a tool for personal review when formal study circles were unavailable .
Sources and Methodology
The author structured the work according to the legal tradition of Medina and the school of Malik ibn Anas and his companions, relying strictly on transmissions deemed soundest in knowledge and most trustworthy in reporting . He identified seven primary foundational texts (qawanin) upon which he built the work:
- al-Muwatta' of Malik ibn Anas
- al-Mudawwana
- Kitab Ibn Abd al-Hakam of Ibn Abd al-Hakam
- al-Mabsut of Isma'il al-Qadi
- al-Hawi of Abu al-Faraj
- Mukhtasar Abi Mus'ab
- Muwatta' Ibn Wahb of Ibn Wahb
In addition to these seven primary authorities, Ibn Abd al-Barr drew supplementary material from Kitab Ibn al-Mawwaz, Mukhtasar al-Waqqar, al-'Utbiyya, and al-Wadiha .
Reception and Structure
In his epistle on the virtues of al-Andalus, Ibn Hazm praised the book as an unmatched legal compilation consisting of fifteen books (kutub) that dispenses with the need for extensive treatises on the Maliki school . An alternate transmission noted in al-Humaydi's Jadhwat al-Muqtabis describes it as comprising sixteen parts .
Notable Editions
The text was edited by Muhammad Muhammad Ahid walad Maddik al-Muritani and published in Riyadh by Maktabat al-Riyad al-Haditha, and has also been issued by Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyya in Beirut .
Answer updated