Anis al-Fuqaha fi Tarifat al-Alfaz al-Mutadawala bayn al-Fuqaha
- Author died
- 978 AH
- Editions
- Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah
Anis al-Fuqaha fi Ta'rifat al-Alfaz al-Mutadawala bayn al-Fuqaha (The Companion of Jurists on Definitions of Terms Circulating Among Jurists) is a specialized dictionary of Islamic legal terminology by the Ottoman Hanafi scholar Qasim al-Qunawi (d. 978 AH / 1570–1571 CE) .
Purpose and Composition
The author, Qasim ibn Abd Allah ibn Khayr al-Din Amir Ali al-Qunawi al-Rumi al-Hanafi, composed the work during the second half of the tenth century AH . In his introduction, al-Qunawi states that he wrote the book because the specialized terminology used by jurists across the opening sections and chapters of legal texts posed substantial difficulties for readers . This prompted him to draw upon the writings of earlier scholars to elucidate both the apparent definitions and their underlying rationales, naming the resulting compilation Anis al-Fuqaha .
Structure and Methodology
The work is organized thematically according to the standard chapters of jurisprudence (al-abwab al-fiqhiyya) rather than alphabetically . In sequencing these chapters, al-Qunawi adheres to the conventional arrangement of the Hanafi school, addressing the terminology of marriage and personal status (al-munakahat) immediately after acts of worship (al-ibadat), diverging from the structural conventions of the Shafi'i, Maliki, and Hanbali schools .
Al-Qunawi's approach to individual terms involves several consistent steps:
- He first sets forth the linguistic meaning (al-ma'na al-lughawi) of the term .
- He supports his definitions with textual evidence from Quranic verses and prophetic hadiths .
- In most legal issues under discussion, he presents the doctrines and opinions of the four Sunni schools of jurisprudence .
The material relies heavily on citations and excerpts from earlier works across jurisprudence, lexicography, and hadith .
Publication
The book was edited by Ahmad ibn Abd al-Razzaq al-Kubaysi and published for the first time by Dar al-Wafa in Jeddah in 1406 AH / 1986 CE .
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