Fath Wahhab al-Maarib ala Dalil al-Talib
- Author died
- 1141 AH
- Editions
- t al-Jamaz
Fath Wahhab al-Maarib ala Dalil al-Talib (The Bestower of Needs' Opening upon "The Seeker's Guide") is an 18th-century Hanbali legal gloss authored by Ahmad ibn Awad al-Mardawi (d. after 1140 AH / 1728 CE) on Mar'i ibn Yusuf al-Karmi's foundational jurisprudence manual Dalil al-Talib .
Origin and Compilation
The text originated as personal marginalia that Ibn Awad recorded in his own copy of Dalil al-Talib . Following his father's composition, his son, Ahmad ibn Ahmad ibn Awad al-Mardawi, extracted these scattered notes, structured them into a cohesive work, introduced minor necessary additions, and titled the compilation Fath Wahhab al-Ma'arib ala Dalil al-Talib .
The attribution of the core commentary to Ibn Awad is evidenced by the son's explicit opening statement, colophons on surviving manuscript witnesses, and the author's frequent citations of his direct teachers—such as Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Khalwati (d. 1088 AH / 1677 CE) and Uthman ibn Ahmad al-Najdi (d. 1097 AH / 1686 CE)—as well as references to Mansur al-Bahuti as his teachers' teacher .
Scope and Methodology
Although framed as a supercommentary (hashiya), the work glosses virtually every section of Dalil al-Talib, giving it the comprehensive character of an independent running commentary (sharh) . Ibn Awad integrated oral transmissions and determinations received from his primary shaykhs alongside citations from authoritative reference commentaries of the late Hanbali school .
His sources include the major commentaries on al-Iqna' and Muntaha al-Iradat by Mansur al-Bahuti; the marginal glosses on al-Muntaha by al-Khalwati, Uthman al-Najdi, Uthman al-Futuhi, Ibrahim al-Sawalhi al-Awfi, and Abd al-Qadir al-Danushari; Uthman al-Najdi's commentary on Umdat al-Talib; and Abd Allah al-Maqdisi's commentary on Dalil al-Talib . The work focuses on doctrinal precision, concise explanations, and supplementary legal points while generally keeping the citation of proofs and internal school disagreements concise .
Reception and Editions
The gloss was praised by later Hanbali scholars for its utility; the biographer Ibn Humayd described it in al-Suhub al-Wabilah as "extremely useful" (mufidah jiddan) . Later Hanbali scholars and commentators frequently cited Ibn Awad's formulations and rulings from this work in their own writings .
Fath Wahhab al-Ma'arib remained in manuscript form—including a two-volume copy at Dar al-Kutub al-Misriyya dated 1204 AH and a copy preserved in the Islamic Awqaf administration in Jerusalem—until it was edited by Ahmad ibn Abd al-Aziz al-Jammaz and published by Dar Atlas al-Khadra' in Riyadh (1432 AH / 2011 CE) . Another edition was prepared by Faysal Yusuf al-Ali in 1434 AH .
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