Bast al-Kaff fi Itmam al-Saff
- Author died
- 911 AH
- Editions
- Maktabat Dār al-‘Urūbah lil-Nashr wa-al-Tawzī‘
Bast al-Kaff fi Itmam al-Saff (Extending the Hand on Completing the Prayer Row) is a legal treatise written by al-Jalal al-Suyuti (d. 911 AH / 1505 CE; another report gives 912 AH) on the rules and virtues of completing rows in congregational prayer .
Purpose and Content
The treatise originated as a response to an inquiry submitted to al-Suyuti regarding the practice of leaving prayer rows incomplete and initiating a new row before finishing the previous one . In it, al-Suyuti explains that starting a new row prior to completing the one ahead of it is disliked (makruh), and he establishes that committing a disliked act within congregational prayer forfeits the specific multiplied reward (fadilat al-jama'ah or al-tad'if) of the congregation, though it does not nullify the foundational blessing (asl barakat al-jama'ah), which he defines as the blessing of the complete worshiper extending to the deficient one .
The work opens with the praise of God, الحمد لله الذي لا يقطع من وصله، ولا ينصر من خذله ("Praise be to God, Who does not abandon whoever connects with Him, nor aids whoever betrays Him") . Al-Suyuti supports his legal arguments with prophetic traditions on the virtues of completing the rows, citing among them the hadith reported by Abu Dawud: أتموا الصفوف ما كان من نقص ففي المؤخر ("Complete the rows; whatever deficiency exists should be in the last row") . He also provides a concise overview of the scholars' differences of opinion regarding the legal ruling on straightening and aligning rows (taswiyat al-saff) .
Transmission and Reception
The treatise is included among al-Suyuti's collected legal responsa and monographs in his compendium al-Hawi lil-Fatawi . Later jurists and hadith commentators cited its legal distinctions, including 'Abd al-Ra'uf al-Munawi in Fayd al-Qadir and Ibn 'Abidin in his legal marginalia Radd al-Muhtar . It was also published as an independent monograph edited by 'Adnan Ahmad Majawwad through Dar al-Qiblah lil-Thaqafah al-Islamiyyah, spanning twenty-one pages .
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