Bidayat al-Mubtadi

Bidayat al-Mubtadi is a foundational manual (matn) of Hanafi jurisprudence (furu') composed by Burhan al-Din al-Marghinani (d. 593 AH / 1197 CE) al-Dalil ila al-Mutun al-…+1. It synthesizes the legal rulings of two seminal texts of the Hanafi school into a single compendium al-Dalil ila al-Mutun al-…+1.

Composition and Purpose

In the introduction to the work, al-Marghinani recounts that he desired to author a concise legal primer of compact size that encompassed varied branches of law al-Budur al-Mudiya fi Tar…+1. He considered Abu al-Husayn al-Quduri's Mukhtasar al-Quduri to be the most concise and well-constructed summary of the school's rulings, while noting that contemporary senior scholars consistently urged students of all levels to memorize Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Shaybani's al-Jami' al-Saghir al-Budur al-Mudiya fi Tar…+1. Consequently, he resolved to merge both works into one volume, committing not to deviate from their contents unless strictly necessitated al-Budur al-Mudiya fi Tar…+1.

Structure and Arrangement

Al-Marghinani structured the work according to the chapter order of al-Jami' al-Saghir, seeking blessing through following the sequence established by Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Shaybani al-Dalil ila al-Mutun al-…+1. Within each individual chapter, he placed the issues taken from Mukhtasar al-Quduri at the beginning and positioned the issues derived from al-Jami' al-Saghir at the end al-Dalil ila al-Mutun al-….

Commentaries and Adaptations

In the preface, al-Marghinani stated that if granted the success to write an explanation of the text, he would title it Kifayat al-Muntaha al-Budur al-Mudiya fi Tar…+1. He proceeded to write an extensive commentary by that name, which is recorded to have spanned around eighty volumes al-Budur al-Mudiya fi Tar…+1. Fearing that its immense length would lead students to abandon it, he turned to composing a more focused commentary titled al-Hidayah, which merged transmitted legal positions (riwayah) with legal reasoning and evidential argumentation (dirayah) Kataib Alam al-Akhyar min…+1. Al-Hidayah achieved widespread prominence and became one of the standard reference works in Hanafi jurisprudence Khizanat al-Muftin - Qism…+1.

The text was also rendered into verse by Abu Bakr ibn 'Ali al-Hamili (d. 765 AH) under the title Durr al-Muhtadi wa-Dhukhr al-Muqtadi, commonly known as al-Hamiliyyah Durr al-Muhtadi wa Dhukhr…+1.

Printings

The work has been published in Egypt through several print houses, including Matba'at Wadi al-Muluk and Maktabat wa-Matba'at Muhammad 'Ali Subayh al-Dalil ila al-Mutun al-…+1.