Fath al-Allam bi Sharh al-Ilam bi Ahadith al-Ahkam
- Author died
- 926 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Kutub al-‘Ilmīyah
Fath al-Allam bi Sharh al-Ilam bi Ahadith al-Ahkam (The Grant of the All-Knowing in Explaining the Clarification of Legal Hadiths) is a commentary on legal traditions (ahadith al-ahkam) written by the Egyptian Shafi'i jurist and hadith scholar Zakariya al-Ansari (d. 926 AH / 1520 CE) .
Composition and Purpose
Zakariya al-Ansari previously summarized a work on legal traditions which he titled al-I'lam bi-Ahadith al-Ahkam . He subsequently undertook the composition of Fath al-Allam to provide a lucid commentary on this abridgment, resolving its expressions, uncovering its intended legal and textual meanings, and avoiding repetition except when necessary to convey a specific scholarly benefit .
Method and Content
The work focuses on prophetic narrations that serve as proofs for jurisprudence (fiqh) . In treating the legal hadiths, the author documents the narrators and the original compilers who recorded each report to verify the authenticity of the evidentiary basis . He accompanies the citations with an analysis of the text (matn), defining rare or difficult words (gharib), clarifying ambiguous passages (mushkil), and harmonizing seemingly contradictory narrations .
Manuscripts and Publication
Surviving manuscript copies of the work include a codex held at the Egyptian National Library (Dar al-Kutub al-Misriyyah under no. 98), comprising 178 folios copied in standard Naskh script in 1080 AH by Muhammad ibn 'Umar ibn Muhammad ibn 'Uthman . The text was edited by 'Ali Muhammad Mu'awwad and 'Adil Ahmad 'Abd al-Mawjud, prefaced by 'Abd al-Fattah Abu Sunnah, and published by Dar al-Kutub al-'Ilmiyyah in Beirut in 1421 AH / 2000 CE .
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