Bidayat al-Mujtahid wa Nihayat al-Muqtasid
- Author died
- 595 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Ḥadīth
Bidayat al-Mujtahid wa Nihayat al-Muqtasid (The Primer of the Discretionary Jurist and the End of the Frugal Scholar) is a two-volume comparative jurisprudence (fiqh) manual by the Andalusian judge and philosopher Ibn Rushd al-Hafid (520–595 AH / 1126–1198 CE) . The work systematically surveys legal issues, points of consensus and disagreement across Islamic legal schools, and the underlying legal rationales behind divergent juristic opinions .
Purpose and Scope
The book spans the traditional chapters of jurisprudence, beginning with the book of ritual purification (Kitab al-Taharah) and concluding with the book of judicial judgments (Kitab al-Aqdiyah) . In the chapter on currency exchange (Kitab al-Sarf), Ibn Rushd states that he composed the book to train the jurist to reach the rank of independent legal reasoning (ijtihad), provided that the student has already acquired a sufficient grounding in grammar, the Arabic language, and legal theory (usul al-fiqh) . He emphasizes that a scholar earns the designation of jurist through this analytical capacity rather than by merely memorizing individual legal rulings .
Rather than cataloging exhaustive sub-branches, the work concentrates on foundational issues (ummahat al-masa'il) that connect legal theory to practical rulings and function like legal maxims (qawa'id fiqhiyyah) . It focuses primarily on explicit textual matters and well-known disputes transmitted from the era of the Prophet's Companions down to the emergence of widespread imitation (taqlid) .
Method and Sources
Ibn Rushd typically introduces each question through the school of Malik ibn Anas before examining the viewpoints of other recognized authorities, including Abu Hanifah, al-Shafi'i, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Ishaq ibn Rahawayh, Abu Thawr, Sufyan al-Thawri, Dawud, and al-Awza'i, as well as internal differences among the disciples of these schools . For each topic, he delineates areas of consensus, articulates points of dispute, details the respective scriptural and rational evidences, and identifies the core reasons for disagreement (asbab al-ikhtilaf) before weighing the arguments to indicate what he considers correct .
The author adopts explicit terminological conventions in the text:
- The designation "established hadith" (hadith thabit) refers specifically to narrations agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim or reported by either of them .
- The term "the majority" (al-jumhur) refers to the three imams—Abu Hanifah, Malik, and al-Shafi'i—or rulings led by them .
Reception and Related Works
Scholars praised the work for its analytical clarity and organizational method. Al-Dhahabi remarked in Tarikh al-Islam that Ibn Rushd "reasoned and substantiated in it, and we know of nothing in its field more beneficial or better structured" . Later biographical and legal authorities, such as Ibn Farhun, similarly commended its unique utility and structure .
The book has been the subject of several specialized studies and commentaries:
- Ahmad ibn al-Siddiq al-Ghumari verified its prophetic traditions in his eight-volume work Al-Hidayah fi Takhrij Ahadith al-Bidayah .
- Muhammad ibn Hammud al-Wa'ili authored a contemporary commentary titled Bughyat al-Muqtasid Sharh Bidayat al-Mujtahid .
- Salih ibn Ali al-Shamrani compiled a study analyzing over one hundred isolated or anomalous rulings identified in the text, titled Al-Aqwal al-Shadhdhah fi Bidayat al-Mujtahid .
Manuscripts and Editions
Manuscript copies of the work are preserved in repositories including the al-Qarawiyyin Library in Fez (no. 1159) and the al-Zaytuna Library in Tunis (no. 3202) . Early printed editions appeared in Fez (1327 AH), Cairo (1329, 1334, 1335, 1339, 1371, 1379, 1386, and 1394 AH), and Istanbul (1333 AH) in two volumes . A Turkish translation was published in Istanbul between 1973 and 1976 .
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