al-Manhaj al-Sahih fi al-Jam bayn ma fi al-Muqni wa al-Tanqih
- Author died
- 910 AH
- Editions
- Maktabat Ahl al-Athar, Dar Asfar
al-Manhaj al-Sahih fi al-Jam bayn ma fi al-Muqni wa al-Tanqih (The Correct Method in Combining What Is in al-Muqni and al-Tanqih) is a Hanbali legal text by the Syrian jurist Shihab al-Din al-Askari (d. 910 AH / 1504 CE) . The work synthesizes two foundational Hanbali references: the substantive legal manual al-Muqni by Ibn Qudama (d. 620 AH / 1223 CE) and its corrective recension al-Tanqih al-Mushbi by al-Askari's teacher Ala al-Din al-Mardawi (d. 885 AH / 1480 CE) .
Purpose and Scope
Al-Askari authored the work to unify al-Muqni and al-Tanqih into a single reference for students, rectifying issues overlooked by al-Mardawi, clarifying ambiguous phrasing, and affirming the relied-upon positions of the Hanbali school . In biographic and bibliographic works, the book is also cited under variant titles, including al-Manhaj al-Najih, Jami al-Muqni wa al-Tanqih, or simply al-Jam bayn al-Muqni wa al-Tanqih . Al-Askari was unable to complete the manuscript before his death, reaching only as far as the chapter on bequests (Kitab al-Wasaya) .
Structure and Method
The work follows the traditional thematic arrangement of Hanbali jurisprudence, beginning with the book of ritual purity (Kitab al-Tahara) and proceeding through prayer (al-Salah), zakat, fasting, pilgrimage, and subsequent legal transactions, dividing topics into books, chapters (abwab), and sections (fusul) .
Al-Askari restricted the text almost exclusively to the Hanbali school . While adhering closely to al-Mardawi's terminology in al-Tanqih, he altered expressions that he considered vague or misleading, removed redundant repetitions for brevity, and supplemented missing legal qualifications . He mostly endorsed al-Mardawi's preferences, but occasionally corrected him where he considered another transmission to represent the authoritative doctrine of the school . He expressed his own legal preferences using the formula yatawajjah ("it is directed/preferred") and marked explicit textual determinations with nassan . Rulings are generally presented without textual proofs (adillah), though transmitted supplications and standard formulas are cited in their respective chapters .
Sources
In compiling the work, al-Askari drew directly upon major classical Hanbali treatises, including Abu Ya'la al-Farra's al-Ahkam al-Sultaniyya (The Ordinances of Government) and al-Taliq, Abu al-Khattab al-Kalwadhani's al-Intisar fi al-Masail al-Kibar, Abu al-Faraj al-Shirazi's al-Iydah, Fakhr al-Din Ibn Taymiyya's al-Targhib, Shams al-Din al-Maqdisi's versification Iqd al-Faraid wa Kanz al-Fawaid, and al-Mardawi's al-Insaf and al-Tanqih al-Mushbi .
Reception and Relationship to Later Works
Al-Manhaj al-Sahih was the earliest of three major efforts in the late Mamluk and early Ottoman periods to merge al-Muqni and al-Tanqih . His student Ahmad al-Shuwayki (d. 939 AH / 1532 CE) subsequently produced a complete synthesis titled al-Tawdih fi al-Jam bayn al-Muqni wa al-Tanqih, and their contemporary Taqi al-Din Ibn al-Najjar al-Futuhi (d. 972 AH / 1564 CE) authored Muntaha al-Iradat fi Jam al-Muqni ma al-Tanqih wa Ziyadat . Although some later biographical sources reported that al-Shuwayki merely completed al-Askari's text from the chapter on bequests onward, comparative analysis shows that al-Manhaj al-Sahih and al-Tawdih are distinct works with differing legal definitions, phrasing, and manuscript traditions .
Edition
The surviving portion of the work was edited from its manuscript by Abd al-Karim ibn Muhammad al-Umarayni and published in two volumes by Dar Asfar in Kuwait .
Answer updated