Maslak al-Raghib li Sharh Dalil al-Talib
- Author died
- 1094 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Tawḥīd lil-Nashr wa-al-Tawzīʿ · t Turki al-Nasr
Maslak al-Raghib li Sharh Dalil al-Talib (The Path of the Desirous: A Commentary on the Seeker's Guide) is a Hanbali legal commentary by the jurist Ibrahim ibn Abi Bakr al-Awfi al-Dhinnabi al-Salihi (d. 1094 AH / 1683 CE) . It serves as an early, medium-length explanation of Mar'i ibn Yusuf al-Karmi's foundational legal primer Dalil al-Talib li-Nayl al-Matalib .
Title and Attribution
The author explicitly named the work Maslak al-Raghib li Sharh Dalil al-Talib in his opening introduction . Modern scholars and bibliographers also record it without the preposition li as Maslak al-Raghib Sharh Dalil al-Talib, whereas Sulayman al-Hamdan recorded it under the variant Maslak al-Rakib li Sharh Dalil al-Talib .
In some bibliographical records and manuscript catalogs, the work was mistakenly attributed to Salih ibn Hasan al-Bahuti or suspected to be a commentary by Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Saffarini . However, the author establishes his authorship within the text by citing his other known treatise, Haqa'iq al-'Uyun al-Basirah, and quoting his teacher Mansur al-Bahuti in the same manner found across his legal writings .
Scope and Contents
Maslak al-Raghib is considered the earliest known commentary composed on Dalil al-Talib . The surviving text covers the curriculum of jurisprudence from the beginning of ritual purity through the Book of Agency (Kitab al-Wikalah), and it remains unverified whether the author completed the entire legal compendium beyond this point .
The author opened the commentary with a rhetorical preface showcasing Hanbali book titles, followed by an introduction on the excellence of religious knowledge and jurisprudence, divided into thematic chapters and substantiated with relevant hadiths .
Methodology and Sources
The book is characterized as a medium-length commentary that is neither exceedingly verbose nor excessively abridged . Its primary methodological features include:
- Interwoven exposition: Al-Awfi blended the original text of Dalil al-Talib directly into his commentary, occasionally doing so to a degree that impacted the lucidity of the legal issues .
- Reliance on late Hanbali authorities: He drew extensively on the commentaries and marginalia of his teacher Mansur al-Bahuti on al-Iqna' and Muntaha al-Iradat, citing them as authoritative reference points to complete and elucidate rulings .
- Textual evidence: He paid close attention to citing textual proofs (adillah) across most of the book .
- Comparative nuances and legal derivations: While largely following the accepted school position, he rarely noted divergences between al-Muntaha and al-Iqna', occasionally selected positions outside the standard school doctrine, and made independent legal extrapolations (takhrij)—such as deeming attendance at the mosque disliked for one who smokes tobacco by analogy to eating onions, ruling on bier adornments, and defining zakat thresholds for contemporary circulating currencies .
Reception and Editions
Subsequent Hanbali scholars utilized and quoted the work; notably, Ahmad ibn Ahmad ibn 'Iwad al-Maqdisi cited al-Awfi frequently under the designation "al-Sawalhi" and incorporated extensive passages from Maslak al-Raghib into his commentary Fath Wahhab al-Ma'arib .
The work was edited in academic dissertations—the portion from the beginning through the end of spiritual retreat (I'tikaf) was prepared by 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn Mishari al-Hazzani, and from pilgrimage (Hajj) to the end of agency (al-Wikalah) by 'Abd al-Qadir ibn Idris Nizam . It was published in two large volumes in 1434 AH (2013 CE) .
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