al-Tanbih ala Mushkilat al-Hidaya
- Author died
- 792 AH
- Editions
- Maktabat al-Rushd Nāshirūn
al-Tanbih ʿala Mushkilat al-Hidaya (Alerting to the Difficulties of al-Hidaya) is a critical treatise on Hanafi jurisprudence by the Damascene jurist Ibn Abi al-Izz (731–792 AH / 1331–1390 CE) . The work focuses on analyzing problematic questions, assessing jurisprudential reasoning, and scrutinizing textual proofs in al-Hidaya, the foundational manual of Hanafi substantive law (furuʿ) compiled by Burhan al-Din al-Marghinani (d. 593 AH) .
Content and Methodology
The work addresses complex legal issues, points of doctrinal dispute, and the evidentiary basis of rulings formulated in al-Hidaya . Ibn Abi al-Izz examines legal questions with a focus on comparative jurisprudence (al-fiqh al-muqaran), legal theory (usul al-fiqh), and hadith criticism . Throughout the text, he scrutinizes the authenticity of prophetic reports cited in al-Hidaya, frequently rejecting uncorroborated or weak transmissions used to derive rulings—such as declaring baseless the narration prohibiting the single-rakʿah witr (al-butayraʾ) or citing the critique of al-Saruji on certain ungrounded reports concerning ritual purity .
Among the sources and authorities Ibn Abi al-Izz cites in the text is his Hanafi teacher, Ibrahim ibn Ali ibn Ahmad al-Tarsusi (d. 758 AH) . He also drew material from Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya's Madarij al-Salikin without explicitly naming the author or the book .
Reception and Editions
The attribution of the work to Ibn Abi al-Izz is affirmed by later bibliographers and historians, including al-Sakhawi, Ismail Pasha al-Baghdadi, and Khayr al-Din al-Zirikli . While modern scholars note that the treatise reflects extensive erudition in comparative law and hadith sciences, it has also been observed that the author exhibited a sharp critical posture toward al-Marghinani, treating his text strictly in several places .
al-Tanbih ʿala Mushkilat al-Hidaya was edited and prepared as master's theses at the College of Sharia at the Islamic University of Madinah . It was later published in Riyadh by Maktabat al-Rushd (1424 AH / 2003 CE), edited by Abd al-Hakim ibn Muhammad Shakir and Anwar Salih Abu Zayd .
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