al-Masail al-Fiqhiyya allati Banaha al-Hanabila fi Madhhabihim ala al-Ihtijaj bi Madhhab al-Sahabi - min Awwal Kitab al-Nikah ila Nihayat Kitab al-Iqrar

al-Masail al-Fiqhiyya allati Banaha al-Hanabila fi Madhhabihim ala al-Ihtijaj bi Madhhab al-Sahabi - min Awwal Kitab al-Nikah ila Nihayat Kitab al-Iqrar (Juristic Issues That the Hanbalis Built in Their School upon Citing the Opinion of a Companion as Proof: From the Beginning of the Book of Marriage to the End of the Book of Acknowledgement) is a contemporary legal treatise in Hanbali jurisprudence by Humayda al-Jahdali, originally written as an academic master's thesis in Islamic studies al-Masail al-Fiqhiyya all….

Purpose and Scope

The work investigates substantive legal rulings (furu') within the Hanbali school that were established solely on the authoritative opinion of a Companion (madhhab al-sahabi), excluding any issues that Hanbali jurists supported with direct textual evidence from the Quran or prophetic hadith al-Masail al-Fiqhiyya all…+1. The study focuses on the codified, conventional positions of the Hanbali school (al-madhhab al-istilahi) rather than the personal views of Ahmad ibn Hanbal alone al-Masail al-Fiqhiyya all….

Covering the legal chapters from marriage through acknowledgement, the author inductively extracted a total of sixty-nine juristic issues from two standard reference manuals of the late Hanbali tradition: Kashshaf al-Qina' and Sharh Muntaha al-Iradat al-Masail al-Fiqhiyya all…+1.

Structure and Contents

The book is organized into an introduction, a preliminary study, two main chapters, a conclusion, and thematic indexes al-Masail al-Fiqhiyya all…+1:

• Preliminary Study (al-Tamhid): Covers three foundational sections:

  1. A concise overview of the legal principles (usul) of the Hanbali school al-Masail al-Fiqhiyya all…+1.
  2. The linguistic and technical definition of the Companion's opinion and the status of the Companions al-Masail al-Fiqhiyya all…+1.
  3. The probative authority (hujjiyyah) of the Companion's opinion among legal theorists, summarizing the stances of Abu Hanifa, Malik ibn Anas, and al-Shafi'i, alongside the internal Hanbali debate between proponents and deniers of its authority al-Masail al-Fiqhiyya all…+1.

• Chapter One: Examines legal issues in family law (ahkam al-usrah), arranged into two sections:

  1. Book of Marriage and Dower: Comprising twelve subtopics, such as performing voluntary devotions alongside marriage for one experiencing desire, looking at an enslaved woman offered for sale, the minimum requisite portion of the marriage sermon, and the allocation of overnight stays among free wives al-Masail al-Fiqhiyya all…+1.
  2. Books of Khul', Divorce, Revocation, Ila', Zhihar, Li'an, Waiting Periods, Fosterage, and Maintenance: Comprising thirteen subtopics, including executing a khul' without a judge, conditional divorce tied to the will of God, the minimum duration of gestation, and suckling from the milk of an unchaste woman al-Masail al-Fiqhiyya all….

• Chapter Two: Examines legal issues in offenses, penal law, and judicial procedures, divided into three sections:

  1. Offenses and Blood Money (al-Jinayat wa-al-Diyat): Comprising thirteen subtopics, including the detention of a killer until the victim's heir reaches maturity, compensation when two free persons collide and die, the blood money for the four types of body hair, and the compensation for the blackening of a tooth al-Masail al-Fiqhiyya all…+1.
  2. Prescribed Penalties (al-Hudud): Comprising twenty subtopics, including the execution of penalties upon an ignorant offender, the physical manner of lashing men and women, theft from the public treasury, establishing the caliphate through consensus, designation, or conquest, and the legal treatment of rebels (ahl al-baghy) and Kharijites al-Masail al-Fiqhiyya all…+1.
  3. Foods, Oaths, Judiciary, Fatwas, and Acknowledgement (al-At'imah wa-al-Ayman wa-al-Qada' wa-al-Futya wa-al-Iqrar): Comprising eleven subtopics, such as roasting locusts alive, hunting with pellets, the ruling on a false oath (al-yamin al-ghamus), a judge seeking compensation from the public treasury, and judging in one's own favor al-Masail al-Fiqhiyya all….

Method and Findings

For each legal question, the author documents the conflicting transmissions (riwayat) within the Hanbali school from reliable reference works, details the respective legal reasoning and evidence, and provides an assessment of the weightier opinion (tarjih) where possible al-Masail al-Fiqhiyya all…+1.

The conclusion highlights that all four major Sunni schools of jurisprudence treat the rulings of the Companions as authoritative proofs, though they differ regarding its exact hierarchical rank among their legal sources al-Masail al-Fiqhiyya all…. The author also recommends the compilation of a comprehensive juristic encyclopedia indexing all transmitted reports (athar) of the Companions according to standard legal chapters al-Masail al-Fiqhiyya all….