Fath al-Qarib al-Mujib fi Sharh Alfaz al-Taqrib = al-Qawl al-Mukhtar fi Sharh Ghayat al-Ikhtisar
- Author died
- 918 AH
- Editions
- al-Jaffān wa-al-Jābī lil-Ṭibā‘ah wa-al-Nashr, Dār Ibn Ḥazm lil-Ṭibā‘ah wa-al-Nashr wa-al-Tawzī‘
Fath al-Qarib al-Mujib fi Sharh Alfaz al-Taqrib (Arabic: فتح القريب المجيب في شرح ألفاظ التقريب, "The Opening of the Near, the Responsive, in Explaining the Words of al-Taqrib"), also titled al-Qawl al-Mukhtar fi Sharh Ghayat al-Ikhtisar (القول المختار في شرح غاية الاختصار, "The Chosen Discourse in Explaining Ghayat al-Ikhtisar"), is a concise commentary on Shafi'i jurisprudence by Muhammad ibn Qasim al-Ghazzi (d. 918 AH / 1512 CE) . Popularly referred to as Sharh Ibn Qasim 'ala Matn Abi Shuja', it comments upon the classical legal primer of Abu Shuja' al-Isfahani .
Composition and Title
Al-Ghazzi stated in his introduction that he composed the commentary in an abridged and refined manner to benefit beginners requiring instruction in the applied branches of Islamic law (furu' al-shari'ah) . He noted that manuscripts of Abu Shuja's base text varied in their recorded title, appearing in some copies as al-Taqrib and in others as Ghayat al-Ikhtisar . Consequently, he assigned two parallel titles to his commentary corresponding to both variants: Fath al-Qarib al-Mujib fi Sharh Alfaz al-Taqrib and al-Qawl al-Mukhtar fi Sharh Ghayat al-Ikhtisar .
Content and Method
The work follows the standard arrangement of Shafi'i legal compendia, opening with the book of ritual purity (Kitab Ahkam al-Tahara) and proceeding through the remaining legal domains . Al-Ghazzi's method is that of an interlinear gloss (sharh mamzuj), embedding the phrases of the base text within his own prose to clarify vocabulary, provide legal and linguistic definitions, systematize legal divisions and exceptions, and note preferred juristic opinions, including those selected by al-Nawawi .
Supercommentaries and Editions
The commentary received substantial scholarly attention within the Shafi'i school and served as the basis for several prominent supercommentaries (hawashi):
- Hashiyat al-Birmawi by Burhan al-Din Ibrahim ibn Muhammad al-Birmawi (d. 1106 AH), upon which Shams al-Din Muhammad al-Inbabi (d. 1313 AH) wrote an analytical gloss (taqrir) .
- A supercommentary by Abd al-Barr ibn Abd Allah al-Ujhuri al-Shafi'i .
- Hashiyat al-Bayjuri by Ibrahim al-Bayjuri (d. 1277 AH), which was later re-edited and annotated by a committee of scholars from al-Azhar under the title Tawdih al-Bayjuri 'ala Sharh Ibn Qasim in three volumes (1374 AH) .
- Qut al-Habib al-Gharib Tawshih 'ala Fath al-Qarib al-Mujib by Muhammad Nawawi al-Jawi (d. 1315 AH) .
The text was printed in Cairo on the margins of al-Bayjuri's supercommentary at the Bulaq Press (1292 AH), at Matba'at Dar al-Kutub al-Arabiyya al-Kubra (1331 AH), and at Mustafa al-Babi al-Halabi (1343 AH, in two volumes) . It has also been published as an independent text in multiple modern editions, including those edited by Abd al-Rahim Mardini and Bassam Abd al-Wahhab al-Jabi .
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