Asna al-Matalib fi Sharh Rawd al-Talib
- Author died
- 926 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Kitāb al-Islāmī · T al-Ilmiyya
Asna al-Matalib fi Sharh Rawd al-Talib (The Loftiest Pursuits in Explaining the Student's Garden) is an extensive commentary on Shafi'i jurisprudence authored by the Egyptian scholar and chief judge Zakariya al-Ansari (d. 926 AH / 1520 CE; also given as 925 AH) . It serves as an authoritative explanation of Rawd al-Talib, an abridgment compiled by the Yemeni jurist Isma'il ibn Abi Bakr al-Muqri (d. 837 AH / 1433 CE; also cited as 836 AH or 925 AH) .
Textual Lineage
The work forms part of a seminal lineage of legal compendia in the Shafi'i school :
- Nihayat al-Matlab fi Dirayat al-Madhhab by Imam al-Haramayn al-Juwayni (d. 478 AH / 1085 CE), a commentary on Mukhtasar al-Muzani .
- Abridged by Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (d. 505 AH / 1111 CE) successively into al-Basit, al-Wasit, and al-Wajiz .
- al-Wajiz was commented upon by Abd al-Karim al-Rafi'i (d. 623 or 624 AH) in his large commentary Fath al-Aziz .
- Fath al-Aziz was abridged by al-Nawawi (d. 676 AH / 1277 CE) in Rawdat al-Talibin .
- Rawdat al-Talibin was condensed by Isma'il al-Muqri into Rawd al-Talib, in which he restricted himself to the dominant and relied-upon positions (al-rajih wa-l-mu'tamad) of the school while omitting weak or outweighed variant opinions (al-wujuh wa-l-turuq al-da'ifa) .
Zakariya al-Ansari then composed Asna al-Matalib as a comprehensive commentary upon al-Muqri's abridgment .
Method and Scope
In his introduction, al-Ansari states that he composed the commentary to meet the needs of students studying al-Rawd, aiming to resolve its phrases, clarify its intended meanings, untangle its difficulties, and uncover its subtleties . The text is an interwoven commentary (sharh mamzuj) that incorporates legal proofs (adillah) and juristic rationales (ta'lil) alongside essential legal nuances, while avoiding superfluous filler and excessive verbosity . It became one of the standard Shafi'i reference texts relied upon for legal verdicts and practice .
Glosses and Reception
Al-Ansari's student, the Shafi'i jurist Shihab al-Din al-Ramli (d. 957 AH / 1550 CE), penned extensive marginal notes (hashiya) across the margins of his personal copy of the work . These glosses were later extracted and organized by Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Shawbari (d. 1069 AH), who compiled al-Ramli's corrections, rulings of sound or weak positions, and supplementary notes, along with occasional clarifications added by al-Ramli's son Shams al-Din al-Ramli .
The historian and hadith master al-Sakhawi praised the work, remarking that the Shafi'i judge and verifier of their time, Zakariya al-Ansari, had commented on al-Rawd with an eloquent commentary .
Publication History
Asna al-Matalib was published in Cairo by al-Matba'a al-Maymaniyya in 1313 AH (1895 CE) in four volumes, accompanied in the margins by Shihab al-Din al-Ramli's hashiya as extracted by al-Shawbari . This edition has been reproduced in subsequent photographic reprints in Cairo and Beirut .
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