Khizanat al-Muftin - Qism al-Ibadat
- Author died
- 746 AH
- Editions
- Dr. Fahd ibn ʻAbd Allāh ibn ʻAbd Allāh al-Qaḥṭānī
Khizanat al-Muftin - Qism al-Ibadat (The Treasury of Muftis: Section on Acts of Worship) is a Hanafi legal compendium by al-Husayn ibn Muhammad ibn al-Husayn al-Samnaqani (d. 746 AH / 1345 CE), devoted to the legal rulings, fatwas, and derivative applications concerning Islamic ritual worship .
Background and Composition
Al-Samnaqani composed Khizanat al-Muftin following the encouragement and request of his teacher, Hakim al-Din Muhammad ibn Ali al-Namusi . Before undertaking this work, al-Samnaqani had been engaged in writing another extensive jurisprudential commentary, al-Shafi fi Sharh al-Wafi, and was nearing its completion when he turned his focus toward compiling Khizanat al-Muftin . According to the author's colophon, he completed the draft of the work on Thursday, 7 Muharram 740 AH .
The book belongs primarily to the genre of fatawa and waqi'at—collections that compile rulings derived by later jurists (muta'akhkhirun) for novel questions not explicitly addressed in early foundational transmissions—while also integrating foundational definitions, rulings, and positions transmitted from Abu Hanifah and his two companions .
Method and Structure
Al-Samnaqani structured the work according to the standard arrangement of legal topics found in Hanafi jurisprudence . His methodology is characterized by several features:
- Structure of chapters: Unlike typical fatwa compendia that immediately plunge into specific rulings, al-Samnaqani prefaces chapters and sections with formal definitions, essential prerequisites, classifications, and general principles, which he derived chiefly from authoritative commentaries and manuals such as al-Ikhtiyar li-Ta'lil al-Mukhtar by al-Mawsili and the commentary on Mukhtasar al-Tahawi by al-Isbijabi .
- Organization of cases: Within each chapter, he presents essential core rulings first, followed by scattered subsidiary branches (furu'), occasionally summarizing the pillars, conditions, and invalidating factors at the close of a section . While generally following standard Hanafi arrangements, he occasionally places topics in unique positions, such as examining the rulings on looking at women at the end of the menstruation chapter in the Book of Purification rather than in the conventional concluding chapters on prohibition and permissibility (al-hahr wa-l-ibahah) .
- Synthesis and citation: Al-Samnaqani aimed to record opinions transmitted from early authorities alongside the preferred views of later scholars, avoiding lengthy dispute records and instead citing concise reference markers to major authorities, including al-Hidayah, al-Nihayah, Fatawa Qadikhan, al-Khulasah, al-Zahiriyyah, and al-Tahawi's commentary .
- Legal preference (tarjih): He frequently employs terms indicating authoritative preference in the school, such as "upon this is the fatwa" (wa-'alayhi al-fatwa), "this is what is adopted" (wa-bihi na'khudh), "it is the most sound" (wa-huwa al-asahh), "relied upon" (wa-'alayhi al-i'timad), and "the chosen view" (al-mukhtar) .
Reception and Significance
Khizanat al-Muftin became a recognized reference for later Hanafi scholars when determining the authoritative positions and fatwas of the madhhab . Jurists such as Ibn Nujaym relied directly on its rulings in their legal responses, including his fatwa regarding the time bar on hearing claims . Abu al-Hasanat al-Lakhnawi classified Khizanat al-Muftin among the relied-upon texts of the school alongside compendia like al-Bazzaziyyah and al-Khulasah, and regarded al-Samnaqani as one of the authorities of legal preference (ashab al-tashih wa-l-tarjih) . The work is also widely cited throughout later Hanafi legal compendia, such as al-Bahr al-Ra'iq and al-Fatawa al-Hindiyyah .
Editions
The section on worship (Qism al-Ibadat) of Khizanat al-Muftin was edited and critically studied by Fahd ibn Abd Allah al-Qahtani .
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