Lawami al-Durar fi Hatk Astar al-Mukhtasar
- Author died
- 1302 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Riḍwān, owned by Aḥmad Sālik ibn Muḥammad al-Amīn ibn Abbāh
Lawami al-Durar fi Hatk Astar al-Mukhtasar (The Brilliant Pearls in Unveiling the Mukhtasar) is an extensive commentary on Khalil ibn Ishaq al-Jundi’s Maliki legal manual Mukhtasar Khalil, authored by the Mauritanian scholar Muhammad ibn Muhammad Salim al-Majlisi (d. 1302 AH / 1885 CE) .
Author and Composition
The commentary was composed by Muhammad ibn Muhammad Salim ibn Muhammad Sa'id al-Majlisi al-Shinqiti . The author completed the original draft of the work in Shawwal 1272 AH and continued to review, revise, and annotate it for over thirty years until his death on the final day of 1302 AH . Al-Majlisi structured the work originally into seven large parts, mirroring the seven-part division he used in his other extensive works, al-Rayyan fi 'Ulum al-Qur'an and al-Nahr al-Jari 'ala Sahih al-Bukhari .
Subject and Method
The work serves as an exhaustive reference in Maliki jurisprudence, spanning the full range of legal subjects treated in Mukhtasar Khalil, including acts of worship ('ibadat) and transactional law (mu'amalat) . Al-Majlisi unpacks the concise and often dense wording of Khalil's text, elaborating upon both explicit rulings and implicit indications .
His methodology is characterized by:
- Grounding legal rulings in textual evidence from the Quran and the Sunnah, alongside the transmitted opinions of prominent Maliki authorities .
- Identifying and distinguishing between the dominant (mashhur) and weightiest (rajih) positions in the school, while addressing less prominent viewpoints .
- Utilizing specific abbreviations in the text, such as using al-Mus (المص) for the author Khalil and al-Sh (الش) for the commentator Bahram al-Damiri .
- Harmonizing conflicting legal opinions and engaging in legal weighing (tarjih) .
Manuscript Tradition and Publication
Due to the immense size of the work and the nomadic conditions of the Mauritanian desert (al-badiya al-shinqitiyya), complete copies of the author's holograph were difficult to preserve in a single location and were largely preserved across generations by his descendants and family members . The Mauritanian scholar Muhammad Salim ibn 'Addud held the book in exceptionally high regard as an invaluable legal repository .
The text was edited and published for the first time by Dar al-Ridwan in Nouakchott in 1436 AH / 2015 CE . The publication was edited against the author's original manuscript copies for six of the seven parts and multiple manuscript witnesses for the third part . In print, the seven original parts were divided across fourteen volumes of text to balance volume sizes, and accompanied by a fifteenth volume containing scholarly indices, maps of the author's life, and elegies written for him . Hadith authentication and review in the edition were overseen by al-Yadali ibn al-Hajj Ahmad .
Answer updated