al-Maani al-Badia fi Marifat Ikhtilaf Ahl al-Sharia
- Author died
- 792 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyyah
al-Maani al-Badia fi Marifat Ikhtilaf Ahl al-Sharia (The Ingenious Meanings in Knowing the Disagreements of the People of the Law) is a comparative jurisprudence (ikhtilaf) treatise by the Yemeni Shafi‘i jurist Jamal al-Din Muhammad ibn Abd Allah al-Raymi (d. 792 AH / 1390 CE) .
Title and Composition
The book is recorded in manuscript title pages and in Kashf al-Zunun as al-Ma‘ani al-Badi‘ah fi Ma‘rifat Ikhtilaf Ahl al-Shari‘ah, whereas Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani in Inba’ al-Ghumr and Ibn al-Imad al-Hanbali in Shadharat al-Dhahab mention it under the title al-Ma‘ani al-Sharifah .
Al-Raymi was motivated to compose the work after examining the book on consensus (Maratib al-Ijma) by Ibn Hazm . Al-Raymi observed that Ibn Hazm claimed consensus on points where open disagreement existed and alleged disagreement on points where scholars agreed . After writing marginal corrections on his personal copy of Ibn Hazm's work, al-Raymi resolved to write an independent book presenting the divergent opinions of the Companions, the Successors, and the four Sunni legal schools, including both strong doctrines and weaker positions, to provide ease for the Muslim community .
Structure and Methodology
In his introduction, al-Raymi outlines eight primary causes of juristic disagreement among scholars, including general and specific scriptural texts, hadith transmission factors (such as irsal and chain evaluation), legal analogy (qiyas), abrogation (naskh), and matters of allowable variation .
Al-Raymi arranged the legal chapters following the order of al-Muhadhdhab by Abu Ishaq al-Shirazi, seeking blessing and honoring Shirazi's standing in the Shafi‘i school, though he occasionally deviated to follow the order of Hilyat al-Ulama by al-Qaffal al-Shashi . In the manuscript, each legal issue begins with the Arabic letter mim rubricated in red ink . Al-Raymi opens every issue with the position of al-Shafi'i before presenting the views of other authorities, such as Abu Hanifah, Malik ibn Anas, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, as well as Zaydi and Imamiyya jurists . He intentionally omitted evidential weighting (tarjih) and extensive argumentation on the grounds that each imam deemed his own reasoning valid, and he rarely stopped to explain obscure vocabulary .
Sources
In compiling the views of the legal schools and early authorities, al-Raymi relied extensively on major earlier Shafi‘i and comparative legal works, including:
- al-Qaffal al-Shashi
- Al-Shamil by Ibn al-Sabbagh
- Al-Bayan by Ibn Abi al-Khayr al-Umrani
- Al-Durr al-Shaffaf
- The works of Ibn al-Mundhir, particularly al-Awsat, for the positions of the Companions and Successors
Print Edition
The work was edited by Sayyid Muhammad Muhanna and published in two volumes by Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah in Beirut in 1419 AH / 1999 CE .
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