Fath al-Qadir lil-Kamal ibn al-Humam
- Author died
- 861 AH
- Editions
- T al-Halabi
Fath al-Qadir lil-Kamal ibn al-Humam (Arabic: فتح القدير للكمال بن الهمام), whose full title is Fath al-Qadir lil-Ajiz al-Faqir (فتح القدير للعاجز الفقير), is an extensive legal commentary on al-Marghinani’s (d. 593 AH) al-Hidayah in the Hanafi school of Islamic jurisprudence, written by al-Kamal ibn al-Humam (790–861 AH / c. 1388–1457 CE) .
Composition and Scope
Ibn al-Humam began composing the work during the months of 829 AH when he began teaching al-Hidayah to a circle of colleagues . This followed his study of the text for nineteen years with precision and verification under the tutelage of Siraj al-Din ‘Umar ibn ‘Ali al-Kinani (known as Qari' al-Hidayah, d. 829 AH; another report gives 773 AH) . In the introduction, the author explained the naming of the text, writing that when it surpassed his own capacity through divine grace, he recognized it as an opening granted by the All-Powerful (al-Qadir), naming it Fath al-Qadir lil-Ajiz al-Faqir ("The Opening of the All-Powerful for the Incapable and Impoverished") .
The commentary was left incomplete at the author's death . Ibn al-Humam reached the Book of Agency (Kitab al-Wakalah), commenting on its initial folios up to the passage in al-Hidayah stating: «والعقد الذي يعقده الوكلاء على ضربين...» ("And the contract concluded by agents is of two types...") . The text covers jurisprudential analyses, textual proofs from the Quran, the Sunnah, and consensus, as well as critical assessment of differing legal views .
Continuation, Supercommentaries, and Abridgments
Following Ibn al-Humam’s death, the commentary was completed by the Ottoman jurist Shams al-Din Ahmad ibn Qawdar (also vocalized as Ibn Qawrad), known as Qadi-zadah (d. 988 AH) . Qadi-zadah authored a continuation starting from the beginning of Kitab al-Wakalah to the end of al-Hidayah, entitling his work Nata'ij al-Afkar fi Kashf al-Rumuz wa-l-Asrar ("The Outcomes of Thoughts in Revealing Codes and Secrets") .
The text also generated further scholarly treatments:
- Glosses: Mulla 'Ali al-Qari (d. 1014 AH) wrote a two-volume marginal gloss (hashiyah) on Fath al-Qadir while residing in Mecca .
- Abridgments: Ibrahim ibn Muhammad al-Halabi (d. 956 AH) abridged the work into a single volume, including critical remarks (mu'akhadhat) on various points of Ibn al-Humam’s analysis .
Reception and Print History
Fath al-Qadir is widely evaluated as one of the most rigorous and authoritative commentaries on al-Hidayah . The historian Ibn Taghribirdi praised the work, stating: "It is the utmost in beauty; indeed, nothing like it has been composed on al-Hidayah" .
The commentary, together with Qadi-zadah’s Takmilah, has been published across several editions:
- A four-volume lithograph edition produced in Lucknow in 1292 AH / 1875 CE, where Qadi-zadah's text begins on page 369 of the third volume .
- The Amiri Press edition at Bulaq in Egypt, published across multiple impressions (including 1315 AH, 1316 AH, 1317 AH, and 1318 AH), frequently issued alongside al-Kifayah by Jalal al-Din al-Khwarizmi, al-'Inayah by Akmal al-Din al-Babarti, and the gloss of Sa'd Allah ibn 'Isa (known as Sa'di Chalabi) .
- The Maymaniyyah edition in Egypt in 1319 AH .
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