Hashiyat Ibn Abidin = Radd al-Muhtar
- Author died
- 1252 AH
- Editions
- T al-Halabi
Radd al-Muhtar 'ala al-Durr al-Mukhtar (رد المحتار على الدر المختار), popularly known as Hashiyat Ibn Abidin, is a legal supercommentary on Ala' al-Din al-Haskafi's (d. 1088 AH) al-Durr al-Mukhtar in Hanafi jurisprudence, authored by the Damascene jurist Muhammad Amin ibn Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz, known as Ibn Abidin (1198–1252 AH / 1784–1836 CE) .
Background and Purpose
The base text, al-Durr al-Mukhtar, is a concise commentary by al-Haskafi on Muhammad ibn Abd Allah al-Timirtashi's (d. 1004 AH) manual Tanwir al-Absar wa-Jami' al-Bihar . Ibn Abidin noted that al-Durr al-Mukhtar had achieved widespread fame and reliance due to its verified rulings and branch issues; however, its extreme concision made parts of it obscure and almost enigmatic . Ibn Abidin composed his supercommentary to unpack these compressed statements, clarify subtle allusions, resolve intricate legal problems, and distinguish sound, relied-upon positions within the madhhab from criticized views .
Method and Sources
In compiling the work, Ibn Abidin drew extensively on authoritative early works and later Hanafi scholarship . Among his recurring references were specialized treatises written on specific legal questions, including the forty treatises of Zayn al-Din Ibn Nujaym, sixty treatises by Hasan al-Shurunbulali, and works by Ali al-Qari, Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulsi, and Qasim ibn Qutlubugha .
Composition and Continuation
Ibn Abidin initially completed a full rough draft (taswid) of the commentary, completing the draft of one half in Safar 1248 AH . When he began producing the final fair copy (tabyid), he first transcribed from the chapter on hire (al-Ijarah) to the end of the text, and then began from the beginning of the book . He died while transcribing the section on miscellaneous judicial rulings (shatta al-qada'), leaving annotations, drafts, and marginal remarks on his personal copy of al-Durr al-Mukhtar .
When the work was prepared for printing at the Bulaq Press in Egypt, his son, Muhammad Ala' al-Din ibn Abidin (1244–1306 AH / 1828–1889 CE), collected these marginalia in their entirety without alteration and sent them to be printed alongside the main body . Ala' al-Din subsequently authored a formal continuation (takmila) to cover the unfinalized portion, completing it in 1290 AH under the title Qurrat 'Uyun al-Akhyar li-Takmilat Radd al-Muhtar .
Standing and Publication
Radd al-Muhtar came to be regarded as a central authority and reference for muftis and scholars within the late Hanafi tradition . Historically printed in five large volumes, it was published in Bulaq in editions dated 1299 AH and 1326 AH, as well as by the Maymaniyya Press .
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