Kalimat al-Sidad ala Matn al-Zad
- Author died
- 1376 AH
- Editions
- Kunūz Ishbīlyā li-l-Nashr wa-al-Tawzī‘
Kalimat al-Sidad ala Matn al-Zad (Kalimāt al-Sidād ‘alā Matn al-Zād) is a concise Hanbali legal gloss written by the scholar Faisal Al Mubarak (d. 1376 AH / 1957 CE; also reported as 1377 AH) on the jurisprudential manual Zad al-Mustaqni' by Sharaf al-Din al-Hajjawi (d. 968 AH / 1560 CE).
Background and Purpose
The base text, Zad al-Mustaqni' fi Ikhtisar al-Muqni', is al-Hajjawi's abridgment of Ibn Qudamah's (d. 620 AH / 1223 CE) al-Muqni', structured to present the single authoritative position in the Hanbali school. Al-Mubarak composed Kalimat al-Sidad as a concise commentary (hashiyah mukhtasarah) to clarify difficult passages and assist students of law. In his opening annotations, al-Mubarak remarks on the rich content of Zad al-Mustaqni' despite its brevity, but cautions that a student ought to precede its study with the memorization of foundational hadith compendiums such as 'Umdat al-Ahkam and Bulugh al-Maram.
Method and Sources
The work follows the sequence of Zad al-Mustaqni', attaching succinct notes to specific phrases in each legal chapter. In his explanations, al-Mubarak:
- Establishes the relied-upon position (al-madhhab) and notes where a ruling is among the unique positions (al-mufradat) of the Hanbali school.
- Frequently draws from major reference works of the school, most notably al-Mardawi's al-Insaf, Ibn Muflih's al-Furu', and Ibn Qudamah's al-Muqni' and al-Sharh al-Kabir.
- Mentions alternative transmissions (riwayah) and divergent analytical preferences within the school, frequently citing the selections of Ibn Taymiyyah (Shaykh Taqi al-Din).
Reception
Assessments of the commentary differ among Hanbali scholars. The publisher of the first edition, Abd al-Muhsin Aba Butayn, praised it as an elegant and useful explanation (sharh latif) that aids understanding of the base text. In contrast, the bibliographer Bakr Abu Zayd listed Kalimat al-Sidad among the printed glosses on al-Zad, assessing it as offering limited utility (qalilat al-fa'idah).
Publication History
The work was first published through the efforts of Abd al-Muhsin Aba Butayn and printed by Matba'at al-Imam in Egypt in 1375 AH (1957 CE). It was later edited by Muhammad ibn Hasan ibn Abd Allah Al Mubarak and published in a single volume of 420 pages by Dar Kunuz Ishbilya in Riyadh in 1427 AH (2007 CE).
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