Ifadat al-Mubtadi al-Mustafid fi Hukm Ityan al-Mamum bi al-Tasmi
- Author died
- 900 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Bashāʾir al-Islāmiyyah lil-Ṭibāʿah wal-Nashr wal-Tawzīʿ
Ifadat al-Mubtadi al-Mustafid fi Hukm Ityan al-Mamum bi al-Tasmi (Arabic: إفادة المبتدي المستفيد في حكم إتيان المأموم بالتسميع, lit. 'Instruction for the Benefiting Beginner on the Ruling of the Follower's Recitation of the Tasmi') is a legal treatise on Islamic prayer by the Damascene Shafi'i scholar Burhan al-Din al-Naji (810–900 AH / 1407–1494 CE) . The work examines the legal ruling concerning whether a congregational follower (al-ma'mum) should recite the tasmi' ( سمع الله لمن حمده , "God hears whoever praises Him") upon rising from bowing (ruku'), alongside the tahmid ( ربنا لك الحمد , "Our Lord, to You belongs praise") .
Background and Composition
The treatise bears the expanded title Ifadat al-Mubtadi al-Mustafid fi Hukm Ityan al-Mamum bi al-Tasmi wa-Jahrihi bihi idha Ballagha wa-Israrihi bi al-Tahmid . Al-Naji completed the drafting of the text in the month of Ramadan 878 AH . He composed it as a concise reference to articulate the Shafi'i legal position on combining the tasmi' and tahmid, aiming to provide its evidence and reasoning, and to encourage the revival of this practice after observing that it had become unfamiliar and neglected among both scholars and the laity in his era .
Contents and Arguments
Al-Naji argues for the established Shafi'i doctrine that every praying individual—whether leading as an imam, following behind one, or praying individually—is recommended (sunnah) to utter the tasmi' while rising from ruku' and to recite the tahmid once standing upright in moderation (i'tidal) . He supports this with:
- Prophetic and Early Precedents: General prophetic narrations, including the command صلوا كما رأيتموني أصلي ("Pray as you have seen me pray"), as well as reports from Ali ibn Abi Talib, Abu Hurayrah, Ibn Sirin, Abu Burdah ibn Abi Musa, and Ata ibn Abi Rabah .
- Comparative Jurisprudence: Cross-madhhab positions that coincide with the Shafi'i view, including Maliki jurists such as Isa ibn Dinar and Ibn Nafi' who permitted or endorsed the follower combining both formulas, as well as Abu Yusuf and Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Shaybani regarding the imam combining both .
- Rebuttal of Opposing Evidence: Responding to those who restrict the follower to the tahmid based on the hadith وإذا قال سمع الله لمن حمده فقولوا ربنا ولك الحمد ("And when he says: 'God hears whoever praises Him,' say: 'Our Lord, to You belongs praise'"), al-Naji cites explanations by Shafi'i authorities such as Ibn al-Iraqi, Shams al-Din al-Kirmani, Ibn al-Mulaqqin, Taqi al-Din al-Subki, and his teacher Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, asserting that the hadith's silence regarding the follower's tasmi' indicates sequence rather than prohibition .
- Vocalization and Legal Classification: Citing al-Mawardi's al-Hawi and al-Nawawi's al-Majmu', he details that the imam and any conveying follower (al-muballigh) should voice the tasmi' audibly to signal the transition, whereas the tahmid is said silently by all . He clarifies that omitting these phrases is merely disliked (makruh tanzihan) according to the Shafi'is and the majority, without invalidating the prayer or requiring prostrations of forgetfulness (sujud al-sahw) .
- Permissible Phrasings: Reviewing alternative linguistic variants attested in Shafi'i texts such as al-Shafi'i's al-Umm and Abu Ishaq al-Shirazi's al-Muhadhdhab, noting their legal sufficiency .
Manuscripts and Publication
The work survived in a contemporary manuscript preserved at the King Fahd National Library in Riyadh, copied in a clear naskh script across four folios (21 lines per page) by Ibrahim ibn Uthman ibn Muhammad in Ramadan 878 AH during al-Naji's lifetime . It was critically edited by Abd al-Ra'uf ibn Muhammad al-Kamali and published in Beirut by Dar al-Basha'ir al-Islamiyyah in 1422 AH (2001 CE) as part of the Liqa' al-Ashr al-Awakhir bi-al-Masjid al-Haram book series (issue no. 29) .
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