Hilyat al-Ulama fi Marifat Madhahib al-Fuqaha
- Author died
- 507 AH
- Editions
- T al-Risala al-Haditha
Hilyat al-Ulama fi Marifat Madhahib al-Fuqaha (The Adornment of Scholars in Knowing the Schools of Jurists) is a classical work of comparative Islamic jurisprudence (ikhtilaf al-fuqaha) by the Shafi'i jurist Abu Bakr al-Shashi (429–507 AH / 1037–1114 CE) .
Composition and Purpose
Al-Shashi composed the work for the Abbasid caliph al-Mustazhir bi-Allah, on account of which the book became widely known by the alternative title al-Mustazhiri . In his preface, the author explains that upon the accession of al-Mustazhir to the caliphate, he undertook the compilation of a comprehensive treatise gathering the opinions of legal scholars so that any rulings, decrees, or actions issued by the caliph would conform to an established legal school and benefit those who consult it .
Method and Structure
The book is arranged according to the standard chapters of Islamic jurisprudence, beginning with the book of purification (Kitab al-Taharah) and prayer (Kitab al-Salah), and proceeding through transactions, family law, endowments, penal rulings, and judicial procedure (Kitab al-Aqdiyat and Kitab al-Da'wa wa-l-Bayyinat) .
In presenting each legal issue, al-Shashi articulates the Shafi'i position along with divergent transmitted views within the school—such as the two positions attributed to al-Shafi'i—and couples them with the variant transmissions, opinions, and branchings (tafri') of the authorities of other legal schools, including divergences among both earlier and later jurists as well as their individual legal choices . Al-Shashi presents these scholarly opinions directly without incorporating extended textual or rational proofs into the core text . In scope, the work is intermediate between brief comparative summaries and voluminous legal compendia such as Ibn Qudamah's al-Mughni .
Related Works and Publication
Al-Shashi subsequently authored al-Mu'tamad, which functions as an elaboration and commentary on the text of al-Mustazhiri .
The work has been edited by Yasin Ahmad Ibrahim Daradkah and published across multiple volumes, including an edition in Amman (1988) in eight volumes and an earlier three-volume printing in Beirut (1980) .
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