Fatawi al-Khalili ala al-madhhab al-Shafii
- Author died
- 1147 AH
- Editions
- Old Egyptian edition
Fatawi al-Khalili ala al-madhhab al-Shafii (Legal Rulings of al-Khalili According to the Shafi'i School) is a collection of Islamic legal opinions and responsa by the Shafi'i jurist and scholar Muhammad al-Khalili (d. 1147 AH / 1734 CE), compiled and arranged posthumously by his student Ahmad ibn Amin al-Din al-Bistami .
Composition and Title
During his lifetime, Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Sharaf al-Din al-Khalili, a resident of Jerusalem who was originally from Hebron, issued numerous fatwas and recorded his legal queries and responsa in draft notebooks (musawwadah) . Following al-Khalili's death in mid-Jumada al-Thaniyah 1147 AH, Ahmad ibn Amin al-Din al-Bistami, the Shafi'i mufti of Nablus, requested these draft papers from al-Khalili's son, Muhammad al-Salih .
Al-Bistami edited, fair-copied, and arranged the responsa, removing redundant questions and condensing overly lengthy answers . He formally titled the work al-Fatawa al-Muhammadiyyah al-Khaliliyyah fi waqa'i al-Sadah al-Shafi'iyyah (The Muhammadan-Khalili Rulings on the Incidents of the Shafi'i Masters), though it became widely known as Fatawi al-Khalili ala al-madhhab al-Shafii .
Structure and Scope
The collection compiles practical cases and real-life legal incidents (waqa'i) presented to al-Khalili, addressing rare and complex sub-branches of law as well as general religious inquiries . Al-Bistami arranged the book systematically according to subject matter and the standard sequence of Islamic jurisprudence manuals :
- Non-Juridical Disciplines: The book opens with sections dedicated to questions on Quranic exegesis (tafsir), followed by prophetic traditions (hadith), Arabic grammar (nahw), and Islamic theology (tawhid) .
- Substantive Jurisprudence (Fiqh): The primary body of the text covers the traditional legal chapters of Shafi'i jurisprudence, ranging from ritual purity and prayer to transactions, marriage, and penal law .
- Concluding Sections: The compilation concludes with two distinct chapters: one on Sufism (tasawwuf) and a final chapter dedicated to miscellaneous legal issues (masa'il manthurah) .
Reception
The work served as a reference for jurists and muftis dealing with contemporary legal precedents in the Levant, particularly within the Shafi'i legal school . Al-Khalili's legal acumen and authority were recognized by his contemporaries, including the Hanafi mufti of Jerusalem, Muhammad ibn Abd al-Rahim al-Lutfi, who composed verses praising al-Khalili's ability to resolve intricate legal dilemmas with textual evidence .
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