Mawsuat Masail al-Jumhur fi al-Fiqh al-Islami
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- Dār al-Salām lil-Ṭibāʻah wa-al-Nashr wa-al-Tawzīʻ wa-al-Tarjamah
Mawsuat Masail al-Jumhur fi al-Fiqh al-Islami (The Encyclopedia of Majority Rulings in Islamic Jurisprudence) is a modern Arabic reference work on comparative Islamic jurisprudence compiled by Muhammad Naim Sai, professor of jurisprudence and its principles at the American Open University in the United States. Published in Cairo by Dar al-Salam in 1426 AH (2005 CE), the work compiles and documents core legal issues on which the majority of Muslim jurists (jumhur al-ulama) agreed across early Islamic history.
Background and Purpose
The compilation was the product of research spanning nearly two decades, having remained in manuscript drafts for over seventeen years before publication. In the introduction, Sai articulates the project as a practical implementation of historical guidance attributed to early figures among the Successors and classical imams—such as Ubaydah al-Salmani, Abu al-Zinad, and Malik ibn Anas—who advised adhering to the positions held by the majority of scholars in matters of legal dispute.
The author also contrasts his work with earlier compilations of consensus, notably criticizing Sa'di Abu Habib's Mawsuat al-Ijma fi al-Fiqh al-Islami for blending definitively established consensus (ijma' muttafaq alayh) with claimed consensus (al-ijma' al-mudda'a) and disputed rulings without consistently clarifying points of contention in the apparatus. Sai sought instead to delineate the majority positions explicitly alongside any differing views.
Scope and Content
The encyclopedia covers the fundamental and governing questions of Islamic law (ummahat masail al-fiqh) across all classical domains of jurisprudence, spanning ritual acts of worship (ibadat)—including purification, prayer, zakat, fasting, and pilgrimage—as well as civil and commercial transactions (mu'amalat), family law, judicial claims, penal law, and bequests. The historical scope of juristic opinions documented in the encyclopedia begins with the era of the Prophet's Companions and the Successors and extends through the era of the independent mujtahid imams, such as Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari and Ibn al-Mundhir. In total, the compilation comprises 1,653 numbered juristic issues.
Method and Sources
The encyclopedia is organized systematically according to traditional fiqh book headings and sub-chapters. Under each numbered issue, the author states the prevailing view among the majority of scholars using formulations such as "the majority of the scholars hold" (jumhur al-ulama / akthar ahl al-ilm) or "the prevailing view among the jurists is" (madhhab al-ammah min al-fuqaha). He then records dissenting positions held by specific early authorities or school eponyms (such as Abu Hanifa, Malik, al-Shafi'i, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Ibrahim al-Nakha'i, or Ibn Abi Layla).
For documentation and transmission of opinions, the work draws upon classical comparative legal manuals and extensive commentaries, frequently referencing works such as Ibn al-Mundhir's al-Ishraf, Ibn Rushd's Bidayat al-Mujtahid, Ibn Qudamah's al-Mughni, al-Mawardi's al-Hawi al-Kabir, and al-Nawawi's Sharh Sahih Muslim and al-Majmu'.
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