al-Musaffa bi-Akuff Ahl al-Rusukh min Ilm al-Nasikh wa-al-Mansukh
- Author died
- 597 AH
- Editions
- Mu’assasat al-Risālah
al-Musaffa bi-Akuff Ahl al-Rusukh min Ilm al-Nasikh wa-al-Mansukh (The Clarified by the Palms of the Well-Grounded in the Science of Abrogating and Abrogated Verses) is a specialized treatise on Quranic abrogation by the Hanbali scholar Abu al-Faraj Ibn al-Jawzi (510–597 AH / 1116–1201 CE) .
Purpose and Composition
The work is an abridgment (mukhtasar) of Ibn al-Jawzi's own larger treatise on the subject, Umdat al-Rasikh fi Ma'rifat al-Mansukh wa-al-Nasikh (also transmitted under the title Nawasikh al-Qur'an) . In the introduction, the author states that he deliberately condensed the text to facilitate memorization for students, advising those seeking expanded discussions, stronger evidentiary arguments, or chains of transmission (asānīd) to consult Umdat al-Rasikh .
Structure and Method
The book is structured sequentially according to the surahs of the Quran, dedicating individual chapters to examining verses in which abrogation has been claimed . Rather than presenting extensive polemical debates or full chains of transmission, Ibn al-Jawzi provides concise assessments of these claims, frequently restricting himself to establishing whether a verse is abrogated or remains operative (muhkam) . For instance, in treating disputed verses in chapters such as Surat al-Ghashiyah and Surat al-Kafirun, he summarizes the majority and minority positions regarding their relation to the "Sword Verse" (ayat al-sayf) and notes the interpretive conditions required for abrogation to hold .
Title Variants and Transmission
The book is recorded under several titles in biographical and bibliographical literature:
- In the bibliography copied in Ibn al-Jawzi's own handwriting and transmitted by his student Ibn al-Qati'i via Ibn Rajab, it is recorded as al-Musaffa bi-Akuff Ahl al-Rusukh min Ilm al-Nasikh wa-al-Mansukh .
- Sibt Ibn al-Jawzi lists it in Mir'at al-Zaman as Mukhtasar Nasikh al-Qur'an wa-Mansukhih .
- It is also known as Mukhtasar Umdat al-Rasikh .
Manuscript copies are preserved in the Awqaf Library in Baghdad (nos. 2397z and 2410), al-Zahiriyya Library in Damascus (no. 3852), and the Taymuriyya collection at the Egyptian National Library (no. 148 tafsir) under the title Mukhtasar Umdat al-Rasikh .
Editions
The work was edited by Hatim Salih al-Damin and published in Beirut by Mu'assasat al-Risala in 1405 AH / 1984 CE .
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