Masail Abi al-Walid Ibn Rushd
- Author died
- 520 AH
- Editions
- Dar al-Jil
Masail Abi al-Walid Ibn Rushd (مسائل أبي الوليد ابن رشد, The Legal Issues of Abu al-Walid Ibn Rushd) is a major collection of legal responsa and fatwas issued by the Andalusian Maliki jurist and chief judge of Cordoba, Ibn Rushd al-Jadd (d. 520 AH / 1126 CE) .
Background and Compilation
The work is also cited across legal literature under variant titles, including Fatawa Ibn Rushd, Nawazil Ibn Rushd, and Ajwibat Ibn Rushd . It stands alongside al-Muqaddimat al-Mumahhadat and al-Bayan wa-al-Tahsil as one of the author's three authoritative references in the Maliki school . Unlike theoretical legal works that focus on hypothetical constructs and intricate subdivisions, the collection consists primarily of practical rulings (nawazil) resolving real cases and questions submitted to Ibn Rushd by judges, scholars, and individuals from various Andalusian cities, such as Almeria .
The material was gathered, attributed, and transmitted by his student Abu al-Hasan Ibn al-Wazzan (d. 543 AH / 1148 CE), who recorded the texts and presented them back to Ibn Rushd for review . In some transmissions, his student Abu Marwan ibn Masarra is also cited alongside Ibn al-Wazzan in collecting the queries .
Structure and Scope
The work contains 559 responsa, 556 of which were issued by Ibn Rushd himself, with three by other scholars . While the vast majority of the text is dedicated to practical jurisprudence across diverse social, financial, and ritual matters, it includes eleven answers on speculative theology (kalam), Arabic linguistics, and the textual meanings of prophetic hadiths .
The original compilation was neither arranged in chronological sequence by the date each ruling was issued, nor organized systematically according to the conventional chapters of substantive law (abwab al-fiqh) .
Reception and Editions
The collection received widespread study and acceptance among later jurists, who commended its sound legal sourcing (sahih al-ma'khadh) and rigorous methodology, although specific individual verdicts prompted occasional scholarly objections and reviews . It became a primary reference for subsequent compilations of judicial cases and verdicts in the Islamic West, cited extensively by scholars such as Ahmad al-Wansharisi .
A manuscript copy transcribed in 180 folios is held at the National Library of France (MS 1072), which was examined in an academic study by Abd al-Aziz al-Ahwani in 1958 . The text has been published in modern printed editions, including an edition prepared by Muhammad al-Habib al-Tijkani under the title Masail Abi al-Walid Ibn Rushd (Dar al-Jil / Dar al-Afaq al-Jadida, 1993) and an edition by al-Mukhtar ibn al-Tahir al-Tulayli under the title Fatawa Ibn Rushd (Dar al-Gharb al-Islami, 1987) .
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