Mawsuat Jamal Abd al-Nasir fi al-Fiqh al-Islami
- Author died
- -
- Editions
- Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs
Mawsuat Jamal Abd al-Nasir fi al-Fiqh al-Islami (Jamal Abd al-Nasir Encyclopedia of Islamic Jurisprudence) is a multi-volume comparative jurisprudence encyclopedia initiated in 1961 by Egypt's Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, compiling the rulings of eight Islamic schools of law in alphabetical order .
Origins and Establishment
The project originated at the Faculty of Sharia at Damascus University under its dean Mustafa al-Siba'i, following Syrian Presidential Decree No. 1711 on 3 May 1956, which sought to draft an encyclopedia of Islamic jurisprudence modeled after modern legal codifications . Following the political union between Egypt and Syria in 1958, Republican Decree No. 1536 of 1959 renewed the project to encompass collaboration between scholars from both regions .
During 1960, consultations between scholars in Damascus and Egypt's Minister of Awqaf, Ahmad Abd Allah Tu'aymah, led to the establishment of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs in Cairo . Under Ministerial Decree No. 1 of 1961 (Articles 29–33) and Decree No. 24 of 18 January 1961, a joint Egyptian-Syrian encyclopedia committee was constituted . Ministerial Decree No. 33 of 1961 formally named the work after President Gamal Abdel Nasser . A pilot specimen volume was published for expert review on 23 July 1961 (1381 AH), and the first official volume was issued in 1386 AH (1966 CE) under the committee presidency of Sheikh Hasan Ma'mun .
Structure and Methodology
The committee established specific methodological rules for drafting the encyclopedia:
- Entries are organized strictly alphabetically according to the spoken form of words, without reducing words to their triconsonantal linguistic roots .
- Classical chapter headings of jurisprudence (abwab al-fiqh) are treated as independent alphabetical entries .
- The work covers rulings across eight Islamic legal schools—the Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i, Hanbali, Zahiri, Imami, Zaydi, and Ibadi traditions—while discarding anomalous (shadhdh) opinions .
- Scriptural evidence is cited in moderation, providing only what is necessary to clarify each viewpoint .
- Foundational principles of legal theory (usul al-fiqh) and legal maxims (al-qawa'id al-fiqhiyya) are incorporated alongside substantive legal rulings .
Publication History and Reception
The work bore the title Mawsuat Jamal Abd al-Nasir fi al-Fiqh al-Islami through its first ten volumes, after which its title was modified to Mawsuat al-Fiqh al-Islami (Encyclopedia of Islamic Jurisprudence) . Published under the auspices of the Egyptian Ministry of Awqaf, the encyclopedia continued publication over subsequent decades, reaching 48 volumes by 1442 AH, concluding at that stage with the entry on tayammum (dry ablution) .
The publication faced criticism regarding its political naming and its early editorial presentation; scholars noted that early volumes appeared without attributing individual entries to their specific drafting jurists, prompting concerns regarding the anonymity of the contributors .
Answer updated