al-Taliqa al-Kabira - Abu Yala - min al-Salat lil-Janaiz
- Author died
- 458 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Nawādir
al-Taʿlīqa al-Kabīra: min al-Salāt lil-Janāʾiz is the volume covering ritual prayer through funeral rites within the comprehensive comparative jurisprudence compendium by the Hanbali jurist al-Qadi Abu Ya'la Ibn al-Farra (380–458 AH / 990–1066 CE) .
Title and Composition
The broader work from which this portion originates is commonly titled al-Taʿlīq al-Kabīr fī al-Masāʾil al-Khilāfiyya bayn al-Aʾimma ("The Great Commentary on Disputed Questions Among the Imams"), and is alternatively known as al-Khilāf al-Kabīr, al-Taʿlīqa al-Kubrā, or Masāʾil al-Khilāf ʿalā Madhhab Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal . The entire work was originally arranged across eleven volumes, as noted by Ibn Taymiyya when requesting copies preserved in the hand of the author's son, Abu al-Husayn . Long presumed to be lost in its entirety, separate parts were later rediscovered in manuscript form, with the section extending from ritual prayer (al-ṣalāt) through funeral rites (al-janāʾiz) being identified and subsequently edited as an academic doctoral dissertation .
Method and Scope
The volume addresses legal disagreements between the major Sunni schools of jurisprudence, focusing specifically on the chapters of prayer and funerals . Al-Qadi Abu Ya'la follows a systematic dialectical method throughout each legal issue (masʾala):
- Presenting the position of the Hanbali school alongside the specific narrations transmitted from Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal and the statements of his leading associates .
- Citing scholars from other legal schools who agreed with the Hanbali view .
- Outlining the opposing doctrines of other jurists and schools .
- Setting forth detailed textual and rational evidences supporting the Hanbali position, including Quranic verses, prophetic traditions, and legal analogies (qiyās) .
- Reviewing the opposing proofs and objections raised by opponents and methodically answering them through scholarly debate (jadal) .
Scholarly Reception and Related Works
al-Taʿlīqa al-Kabīra is regarded as a primary reference for Hanbali comparative jurisprudence (fiqh al-khilāf), providing foundational arguments that paved the way for subsequent generations of Hanbali jurists, such as Abu al-Khattab al-Kalwadhani and Abu al-Wafa Ibn Aqil . Later scholars, including Ibn Badran, noted its thoroughness in dismantling opponents' arguments .
The work served as the basis for several abridgments and specialized studies:
- Abu al-Khattab al-Kalwadhani and Abu al-Mawahib al-Ukbari both composed abridgments titled Ruʾūs al-Masāʾil drawn from its material .
- Ibn al-Jawzi systematically examined and graded the prophetic traditions cited across the book's legal issues in his al-Taḥqīq fī Aḥādīth al-Khilāf (also known as al-Taḥqīq fī Masāʾil al-Taʿlīq) .
- Ibn Abd al-Hadi further refined this hadith verification in his work Tanqīḥ al-Taḥqīq li-Aḥādīth al-Taʿlīq .
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