al-Nihaya fi Sharh al-Hidaya - al-Sighnaqi
- Author died
- 714 AH
- Editions
- Master's theses - Center for Islamic Studies at the College of Sharia and Islamic Studies, Umm Al-Qura University
al-Nihaya fi Sharh al-Hidaya (The Ultimate Commentary on The Guidance) is an expansive legal commentary by the Hanafi jurist al-Hussam al-Sighnaqi (d. 714 AH / 1314 CE; also reported as 710 AH or 711 AH) on the seminal Hanafi legal compendium al-Hidaya by Burhan al-Din al-Marghinani (d. 593 AH / 1197 CE) .
Composition and Method
Al-Sighnaqi completed the composition of al-Nihaya at the end of the month of Rabi' al-Awwal in 700 AH . He transmitted the text of al-Hidaya through a scholarly chain via two primary teachers: Hafiz al-Din al-Kabir Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Nasr and Fakhr al-Din Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Ilyas al-Maymarghi, both of whom heard the book from Shams al-A'imma Muhammad ibn Abd al-Sattar al-Kardari from its original author, al-Marghinani .
Within the commentary, al-Sighnaqi adopted specific internal references: whenever he writes "the Shaykh" (al-Shaykh), he refers to Hafiz al-Din al-Kabir, and whenever he writes "the Teacher" (al-Ustadh), he refers to Fakhr al-Din al-Maymarghi . The text covers the standard subdivisions of Hanafi substantive law (furu'), concluding with sections on hermaphrodites (Kitab al-Khuntha), inheritance estates (al-fara'id), and miscellaneous juristic cases (masa'il shatta) .
Reception and Standing
al-Nihaya is cited in bibliographical literature—such as by Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti—as the first formal commentary written on al-Marghinani's al-Hidaya, although another report identifies al-Fawa'id by Hamid al-Din al-Darir (d. 667 AH) as the earliest .
Later Hanafi commentators and jurists praised the work for its depth and thoroughness. Akmal al-Din al-Babarti remarked that al-Sighnaqi undertook the task of elucidating the obscure and difficult points of al-Hidaya, providing a thorough explanation and giving the work the title al-Nihaya because it represented the ultimate level of verification and precision . The Indian Hanafi scholar Abd al-Hayy al-Laknawi assessed it as the most extensive and comprehensive commentary on al-Hidaya, noting that it compiled a large number of legal problems and subtle subsidiary questions . In Khizanat al-muftin, al-Samnaqani frequently drew upon al-Nihaya, designating it with the abbreviation (نه) in his citations .
Abridgments and Academic Editions
Jamal al-Din Mahmud ibn Ahmad ibn al-Sarraj al-Qunawi (d. 770 AH) abridged al-Nihaya into a single volume entitled Khulasat al-Nihaya fi fawa'id al-Hidaya .
In modern scholarship, the complete manuscript of al-Nihaya was transcribed and critically edited across multiple collaborative master's theses at the Center for Islamic Studies at Umm al-Qura University's College of Sharia and Islamic Studies between 1435 and 1438 AH .
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