al-Mauna fi al-Jadal
- Author died
- 476 AH
- Editions
- Jam‘īyat Iḥyā’ al-Turāth al-Islāmī
al-Mauna fi al-Jadal ("The Aid in Dialectic") is a classical manual on Islamic legal disputation and argumentation composed by the Shafi'i jurist and legal theorist Abu Ishaq al-Shirazi (393–476 AH / 1003–1083 CE) .
Background and Composition
The work belongs to the genre of legal dialectic (ilm al-jadal), a discipline developed by jurists and legal theorists to regulate debates, validate evidence, and systematically address objections and counterarguments in jurisprudence . al-Mauna fi al-Jadal serves as an abridgment of al-Shirazi's larger, comprehensive treatise on the subject, al-Mulakhkhas fi al-Jadal . It has also been noted that al-Shirazi may have derived the title of the work from al-Mauna ala Madhhab Alim al-Madina, a legal text by his teacher al-Qadi Abd al-Wahhab (d. 422 AH), under whom al-Shirazi studied and engaged with dialectical reasoning (al-kalam fi al-nazar) .
Scholarly Standing and Influence
The treatise forms part of the classical canon of juridical debate treatises authored during the fifth century AH, alongside works such as al-Minhaj fi Tartib al-Hijaj by Abu al-Walid al-Baji, al-Kafiya fi al-Jadal by al-Juwayni, and al-Jadal ala Tariqat al-Fuqaha by Ibn Aqil . Al-Shirazi's dialectical and legal theory writings, including al-Mauna fi al-Jadal, al-Tabsira, and Sharh al-Luma, directly influenced his student Abu al-Walid al-Baji in his exposition of legal terminology and methodological definitions .
Modern Editions
The text has been published in modern printed editions, including an edition edited by Ali al-Umayrini and a critical edition edited by Abd al-Majid Turki, published by Dar al-Gharb al-Islami in Beirut in 1408 AH / 1988 CE .
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