Ithaf al-Qari bi Sadd Bayadat Fath al-Bari
- Author died
- 1440 AH
- Editions
- Dar Al-Watan Lil-Nashr
Ithaf al-Qari bi Sadd Bayadat Fath al-Bari (Arabic: إتحاف القاري بسد بياضات فتح الباري, lit. 'Presenting to the Reader the Filling of the Blank Spaces in Fath al-Bari') is a specialized textual-critical work by Ahmad Shaghif (also known as Abu al-Ashbal Shaghif; d. 1440 AH / 2018–2019 CE) dedicated to identifying and filling lacunae (bayadat) left in the text of Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani's commentary Fath al-Bari and its introduction across printed editions .
Background and Purpose
The book was completed in Mecca in 1415 AH (1994 CE) . In his preface, Shaghif notes that although Fath al-Bari was issued in several major printings—including the Delhi lithograph (1310 AH) and the Bulaq edition (1301 AH), both associated with Nawab Siddiq Hasan Khan, as well as the Salafiyya edition in Cairo (1380 AH) supervised by Abd al-Aziz ibn Baz and Muhibb al-Din al-Khatib, and the edition of Qusay—the text across all existing editions suffered from lacunae (bayadat) . Shaghif defines a bayad as a missing blank space between two words in a single sentence whose meaning remains incomplete without filling that gap, emphasizing that restoring these lacunae is an essential element of scholarly textual editing .
Causes of Lacunae and Methodology
Shaghif identifies two primary causes for the blank spaces found in manuscripts and printed editions of Fath al-Bari:
- The author writing from memory without written sources immediately available, leaving a blank space with the intention of filling it later when his memory or reference materials permitted; through textual inductive study, Shaghif observes that this cause accounts for very few lacunae in Fath al-Bari .
- Scribes finding the author's handwriting illegible and consequently leaving the difficult segment blank; Shaghif considers this to be the source of the vast majority of lacunae in the work .
To resolve these gaps, Shaghif searched across the wider text of Fath al-Bari for parallel discussions, examined primary sources from which Ibn Hajar drew, and consulted relevant external reference works . In presenting his reconstructions, he adhered to a strict methodological distinction:
- When entirely certain of the missing text, he introduced the reconstruction with: «العبارة الكاملة هكذا» ("The full phrasing is thus:") .
- When not completely certain, he qualified it with: «لعل العبارة الكاملة هكذا» ("Perhaps the full phrasing is thus:") .
At the conclusion of each reconstructed passage, he cited the specific reference work—whether Fath al-Bari itself or an external source—from which the blank was supplied .
Structure and Scope
The work is organized sequentially according to the arrangement of Fath al-Bari:
- It begins with the lacunae found in Hady al-Sari, the مقدمة (Muqaddimah, introduction) to Fath al-Bari .
- It proceeds through the volumes and thematic books of Fath al-Bari, ending in the thirteenth volume with entries from Kitab al-Ahkam (The Book of Judgments) and Kitab al-Tawhid (The Book of Monotheism) .
- It treats a total of 55 numbered lacuna entries across the work .
- Each entry provides comparative page numbers referencing three printings: the Bulaq edition, the Salafiyya edition, and the edition of Qusay .
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