Matn Abi Shuja al-Musamma al-Ghaya wa al-Taqrib
- Author died
- 593 AH
- Editions
- 'Alam al-Kutub
Matn Abi Shuja al-Musamma al-Ghaya wa al-Taqrib (Arabic: متن أبي شجاع المسمى الغاية والتقريب, lit. 'The Text of Abu Shuja Named The Utmost Aim and Summary Approximation') is an introductory compendium of Shafi'i jurisprudence by the Iraqi judge Abu Shuja Ahmad ibn al-Husayn al-Isfahani (d. 593 AH / 1197 CE) . Also known as Mukhtasar Abi Shuja, Ghayat al-Ikhtisar, or simply al-Taqrib, it is one of the most widely taught elementary legal primers in the Shafi'i school .
Composition and Purpose
In his opening preface, Abu Shuja states that he authored the manual in response to requests from friends who asked him to produce an extremely brief and concise primer of Shafi'i jurisprudence . They requested that he structure the text with extensive classifications (taqsimat) and clear enumerations of legal conditions and categories (hasr al-khisal) so that it would be accessible for students to learn and easy for beginners to memorize .
Structure and Content
Despite its small volume, the book encompasses all standard branches of Islamic jurisprudence, beginning with the book of ritual purity (Kitab al-Taharah) and proceeding through the chapters on acts of worship, commercial transactions, family law, penal codes, and judicial procedures . Its method is characterized by lucid expression, structured thematic subdivisions, and the distillation of legal rulings into concise enumerative points .
Reception and Commentaries
The work achieved widespread acceptance and became a foundational textbook in traditional Shafi'i curricula across the Muslim world . Scholars authored numerous commentaries (shuruh) and supercommentaries (hawashi) on it, among the most prominent being:
- Kifayat al-Akhyar fi Hall Ghayat al-Ikhtisar by Taqi al-Din al-Hisni (d. 829 AH) .
- Fath al-Qarib al-Mujib fi Sharh Alfaz al-Taqrib (also titled al-Qawl al-Mukhtar fi Sharh Ghayat al-Ikhtisar) by Ibn Qasim al-Ghazzi (d. 918 AH) . Prominent glosses on this commentary include those by Ibrahim al-Birmawi (d. 1106 AH), Ibrahim al-Bajuri (d. 1277 AH), and Nawawi al-Jawi (Qut al-Habib al-Gharib) .
- Al-Iqna' fi Hall Alfaz Abi Shuja by al-Khatib al-Shirbini (d. 977 AH), which was supplemented with a well-known supercommentary by Sulayman al-Bujayrimi (d. 1221 AH) titled Tuhfat al-Habib .
- Al-Nihayah fi Sharh al-Ghayah by Wali al-Din al-Basir (d. after 972 AH) .
- Fath al-Ghaffar bi-Kashf Mukhabbayat Ghayat al-Ikhtisar by Ahmad ibn Qasim al-Abbadi (d. 994 AH) .
- Al-Tadhhib fi Adillat Matn al-Ghayah wa al-Taqrib, a modern commentary documenting the legal textual proofs of the matn by Mustafa Dib al-Bugha .
The text was also rendered into verse by multiple jurists, most notably by Yahya ibn Musa al-Amriti in his poem Nihayat al-Tadrib fi Nazm Ghayat al-Taqrib . Other versifications include works by Ahmad ibn Isma'il al-Ibsheeti (d. 883 AH), Abd al-Qadir ibn Muhammad al-Hisni (d. 892 AH), and Abu Bakr ibn Abd Allah ibn Qadi Ajlun (d. 928 AH) in al-Kifayah fi Nazm al-Ghayah .
Editions and Translations
The primer was printed in Leiden in 1859 CE alongside a French translation edited by S. Keijzer, and it has since been printed repeatedly in Egypt and across the Middle East .
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