Majmu fihi Arba Rasa'il - al-Hajjawi

Majmu' fihi Arba' Rasa'il (A Collection Containing Four Treatises) is a compilation of four short legal and didactic works by the Hanbali jurist and mufti of Damascus, Musa ibn Ahmad al-Hajjawi (d. 968 AH / 1560 CE), edited and published by Abd al-Salam ibn Muhammad al-Shuway'ir Majmu fihi Arba Rasa'il -…+1.

Background and Compilation

Three of the treatises in the collection had previously remained unlisted in manuscript catalogues and historical biographical dictionaries of al-Hajjawi's works Majmu fihi Arba Rasa'il -…. Al-Shuway'ir gathered, edited, and annotated them after having previously published al-Hajjawi's commentary on ethical conduct, Sharh Manzumat al-Adab Majmu fihi Arba Rasa'il -….

Contents

The collection comprises four treatises addressing legal metrology, usury, school authority, and ritual law:

1. Qaidah fi ma'rifat al-artal al-'Iraqiyyah bi-al-awzan al-Dimashqiyyah wa-ghayriha min al-buldan al-afaqiyyah (Rule for Determining Iraqi Ratls in Damascene Weights and Other Horizon Lands): A metrological and mathematical tract comparing the standard Iraqi ratl to regional weights across various Islamic cities—including Damascus, Egypt, Baalbek, Jerusalem, Nablus, Homs, Aleppo, Beirut, Hama, Basra, Mecca, Medina, Alexandria, and Tiberias Majmu fihi Arba Rasa'il -…+1. It demonstrates conversion calculations using dirhams and algebra to assess legal measures such as the two large pitchers of water (al-qullatan), the sa', zakat thresholds on agricultural produce and honey, and expiations Majmu fihi Arba Rasa'il -…+1. It draws partially upon mathematical figures from Abu Kamil al-Hasib's al-Miftah Majmu fihi Arba Rasa'il -…. A manuscript of this treatise was copied in 966 AH during the author's lifetime by Muhammad al-Kurdi al-Salihi Majmu fihi Arba Rasa'il -…+1.
2. Futya fi mas'alah fi al-riba (Legal Fatwa on an Issue of Usury): A concise legal responsum concerning dates that have been kneaded or mashed into paste (tamr ma'jun / 'abit), determining whether they are classified as weighed (mawzun) or volume-measured (makil), and whether it is permissible to sell such date paste for weighed meat Majmu fihi Arba Rasa'il -…+1. The text was composed to adjudicate an ongoing disagreement on this issue between his teachers, the Damascene jurist Ahmad al-Shuwayki and the Najdi scholar Ahmad ibn Yahya ibn 'Atwah Majmu fihi Arba Rasa'il -….
3. Jawab 'an al-kitab al-mu'tamad fi al-madhhab (Answer Regarding the Relied-Upon Book in the School): A brief recorded response transmitted through the handwriting of Husayn ibn 'Uthman and documented by Ahmad ibn Manqur Majmu fihi Arba Rasa'il -…. When asked what a student should follow if al-Hajjawi's own magnum opus al-Iqna' li-Talib al-Intifa' or his marginal gloss on al-Tanqih contradicted Ala al-Din al-Mardawi's al-Tanqih al-Mushbi', al-Hajjawi answered that the positions preferred by al-Mardawi in al-Tanqih constitute the relied-upon doctrine of the school (al-madhhab al-ma'mul bihi) Majmu fihi Arba Rasa'il -…+1.
4. Nazm ahkam al-wudu' wa-al-salah (Poetic Versification of the Rulings of Ablution and Prayer): A 31-verse pedagogical didactic poem summarizing the prerequisite conditions and obligations of minor ablution (wudu'), the conditions of major ritual purification (ghusl), dry ablution (tayammum), the conditions and integral pillars (arkan) of ritual prayer (salah), and the requirements for leading prayer (imamah) Majmu fihi Arba Rasa'il -…+1.