al-Qawl al-Sadid fi Bad Masail al-Ijtihad wa al-Taqlid
- Author died
- 1061 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Daʿwah
al-Qawl al-Sadid fi Baʿd Masaʾil al-Ijtihad wa al-Taqlid (The Sound Discourse on Certain Issues of Independent Legal Reasoning and Following Authority) is a treatise on legal theory (usul al-fiqh) by the Hanafi jurist and mufti of Mecca, Ibn Mulla Farrukh (Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzim, d. 1061 AH / 1651 CE), examining the boundaries of legal imitation (taqlid), the nature of ijtihad, and cross-school prayer .
Composition and Date
The author composed the work as a concise monograph (taʿliqah), recording points that came to mind without relying on exhaustive reference verification . Bibliographical sources record that he completed the text in 1052 AH (1642 CE), while another record mentions that he finished writing it on 15 Shawwal 1051 AH (1642 CE) .
Content and Core Arguments
The treatise is arranged into chapters (fusal) addressing the obligations of legal duty (taklif), ijtihad, taqlid, and inter-school relations :
- Obligation and the Schools: The author establishes that God has not mandated any believer to be specifically Hanafi, Maliki, Shafiʿi, or Hanbali; rather, the overarching obligation is to believe in the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and adhere to his divine law . Universal duties and prohibitions known by necessity—such as ritual prayer, zakat, fasting, pilgrimage, and the prohibition of unlawful acts—do not depend on following any specific mujtahid or school .
- Deductive Law and Taqlid: In matters requiring legal inquiry and evidence (nazar wa-istidlal), qualified scholars are obligated to perform ijtihad, whereas laypersons lacking those tools must follow upright scholars of jurisprudence, resting on the Quranic verse: فَاسْأَلُوا أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ ("Ask the people of knowledge if you do not know") . Following any of the four major imams—Abu Hanifa, Malik ibn Anas, al-Shafi'i, or Ahmad ibn Hanbal—suffices for the layperson's religious obligation .
- Cross-School Prayer and Sectarianism: Ibn Mulla Farrukh argues against school fanaticism (taʿassub), stressing that a follower of one legal school may validly pray behind an prayer leader (imam) from a different school in congregation . He emphasizes that taqlid is permitted only to the degree of practical necessity, which does not grant a follower the right to declare the worship of another validly followed school invalid . He cites historical precedent, noting that the Companions and Successors regularly prayed behind one another despite differences in subsidiary rulings .
- Interpretation of Classical Maxims: He analyzes the maxim transmitted by Hafiz al-Din al-Nasafi ("our opinion is correct with the possibility of error, and the other's opinion is erroneous with the possibility of being correct"), clarifying that this reflects the perspective of the mujtahid evaluating evidence, not an injunction for common followers to repudiate other schools .
Reception and Print History
The treatise was cited by later authorities, including the Damascene scholar Jamal al-Din al-Qasimi in his work Qawaʿid al-Tahdith, quoting its opening chapter on the non-binding nature of exclusive school adherence .
Manuscripts of the treatise are preserved in several libraries internationally, including collections in Damascus, Cairo, Medina, Mecca, Paris, and Berlin . It was edited by Jasim Muhalhal al-Yasin and ʿAdnan Salim al-Rumi and published by Dar al-Daʿwah in Kuwait (1st edition, 1988 CE / 1408 AH) .
Answer updated