al-Masail al-Mardiniyya
- Author died
- 728 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Falāḥ
al-Masā'il al-Mārdīniyya (The Mardin Inquiries) is a legal treatise by Ibn Taymiyya (661–728 AH / 1263–1328 CE) addressing juristic questions of frequent occurrence that present common practical hardships to Muslims .
Title and Composition
The work takes its title from the city of Mardin, from where the inquiries were dispatched to Ibn Taymiyya . This geographical naming mirrors other treatises of his, such as al-Aqida al-Wasitiyya and al-Fatwa al-Hamawiyya al-Kubra, which were titled after Wasit and Hama respectively .
In manuscript sources, the treatise is documented under the full descriptive phrasing al-Masā'il al-Mārdīniyya: wa-hiya masā'il yakthuru wuqu'uhā wa-yahsulu al-ibtilā' bihā ("The Mardin Inquiries: Issues of Frequent Occurrence and Common Affliction") . A later edition published by Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyya was titled Fiqh al-Kitāb wa-l-Sunna wa-Raf' al-Haraj 'an al-Umma, reflecting the editor's judgment regarding marginal manuscript remarks on the traditional title .
Topics and Legal Content
The treatise contains Ibn Taymiyya's solutions to intricate jurisprudential scenarios, offering legal facilitation and resolving matters encountered in daily practice . Among its subjects, the work discusses aspects of ritual purification and worship, including questions concerning dry ablution (tayammum) and the stances of the scholarly majority . It also includes an examination of the doctrinal and juristic categorization of religion into fundamentals and branches (uṣūl wa-furū'), along with its implications for theological judgment (takfīr) and the necessity of establishing proof before declaring an individual an unbeliever .
Manuscript Tradition and Editions
A manuscript of al-Masā'il al-Mārdīniyya is preserved in the library of the Kuwaiti Fiqh Encyclopedia under manuscript number 341/3, comprising 40 folios . The text was published with marginal notes and commentary by Muhammad Hamid al-Fiqi, and it was later edited with source documentation and annotations by Khalid ibn Muhammad ibn Uthman al-Misri .
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