Ithaf al-Arib bi Sharh al-Ghaya wa al-Taqrib
- Author died
- -
- Editions
- Dar Al-Riyadah li-l-Nashr wa-l-Tawzi'
Ithaf al-Arib bi Sharh al-Ghaya wa al-Taqrib (Gift of the Intelligent: Commentary on al-Ghaya wa al-Taqrib) is a contemporary commentary on Abu Shuja' al-Isfahani's foundational Shafi'i legal primer Matn Abi Shuja' (al-Ghaya wa al-Taqrib), authored by the Egyptian scholar Abu al-Maati al-Shabrawi (al-Shabrawi ibn Abi al-Maati al-Misri al-Hasani) .
Context and Purpose
The book forms the second installment in the author's educational series titled Maktabat al-Mubtadi' fi Talab al-'Ilm ("The Beginner's Library for Seeking Knowledge"), following an initial volume on creed (aqidah) titled Lata'if al-Minnah bi Sharh Usul al-Sunnah, which commented on Ahmad ibn Hanbal's Usul al-Sunnah .
In his preface written from al-Sinbillawayn in Daqahliyya, Egypt, al-Shabrawi categorizes instructional legal manuals into two classes: texts centered on textual proofs (mutun al-dala'il, such as 'Umdat al-Ahkam and Bulugh al-Maram) and texts centered on substantive rulings (mutun al-masa'il, such as Minhaj al-Talibin, 'Umdat al-Salik, and al-Ghaya wa al-Taqrib) . He composed the commentary to bridge this division by providing the textual and scriptural evidence supporting the legal branches formulated according to the Shafi'i school .
Content and Methodology
Because the commentary targets students at the beginning level of jurisprudential study, al-Shabrawi deliberately avoids legal polemics, intra-school divergences, and complex rulings of preference (tahrir al-rajih), advising introductory students against immersing themselves in disputes during early training .
Before proceeding to the legal chapters, the author provides an introductory survey that outlines:
- A biography of Abu Shuja' Ahmad ibn al-Hasan al-Isfahani (d. 593 AH) .
- Prior commentaries on the text, including Kifayat al-Akhyar by Taqi al-Din al-Hisni (d. 829 AH), Fath al-Qarib al-Mujib by Muhammad ibn Qasim al-Ghazzi (d. 918 AH), al-Nihayah by Wali al-Din al-Basir (d. after 972 AH), al-Iqna' by al-Khatib al-Shirbini (d. 977 AH), Fath al-Ghaffar by Ahmad ibn al-Qasim al-'Abbadi (d. 994 AH), and al-Tadhhib by the contemporary scholar Mustafa Dib al-Bugha, alongside al-Ikriti's versification Nihayat al-Tadrib .
The commentary directly follows the structure of Abu Shuja's manual, opening with an analysis of the author's preface and the definitions of jurisprudence (fiqh) and abridgment (mukhtasar), followed by the legal chapters beginning with the Book of Purification (Kitab al-Taharah) . Throughout the text, each stated ruling is paired with its corresponding evidence from the Quran, the Sunnah, scholarly consensus (ijma'), or legal analogy (qiyas) .
Answer updated