Mazid al-Nima li-Jam al-Aqwal al-Aimma
- Author died
- 1170 AH
- Editions
- Abd al-Karim ibn Sunaytan al-Umari
Mazid al-Niʿma li-Jamʿ Aqwal al-Aʾimma (The Abundant Blessing in Compiling the Statements of the Imams) is a compendium of comparative jurisprudence (fiqh muqāran) authored by the Egyptian Shafi'i jurist Husayn ibn Muhammad al-Mahalli (d. 1170 AH / 1757 CE), covering acts of worship according to the four Sunni legal schools.
Composition and Title
The author states in his introduction that he composed the work in response to a request from students or acquaintances who asked him to compile the rulings of the quarter of acts of worship (rubʿ al-ʿibādāt) across the four schools arranged by chapter.
Slight variations appear on manuscript covers: the copy in Dar al-Kutub al-Misriyya records the title as Mazīd al-Niʿma fī Jamīʿ Aqwāl al-Aʾimma, while the copy preserved at King Saud University renders it Mazīd al-Niʿma fī Jamʿ Aqwāl al-Aʾimma. However, the author explicitly designated it in his preface as Mazīd al-Niʿma li-Jamʿ Aqwāl al-Aʾimma, the exact title adopted by bibliographers such as Isma'il Pasha al-Baghdadi in Īḍāḥ al-maknūn and Hadiyyat al-ʿārifīn, and by Khayr al-Din al-Zirikli in al-Aʿlām.
Structure and Contents
The work is organized into five main books (abwāb):
- Purification (Kitāb al-Ṭahāra): Covers waters, vessels, the tooth-stick (siwāk), circumcision, impurities, post-elimination cleansing (istinbāʾ and istinjāʾ), ablution (wuḍūʾ), nullifiers of ablution, handling the Mus-haf, dry ablution (tayammum), wiping over leather socks, ritual bathing (ghusl), and menstruation.
- Prayer (Kitāb al-Ṣalāt): Begins with the importance and rulings regarding abandoning prayer, the call to prayer (adhān) and its commencement (iqāma), prescribed and prohibited prayer times, core pillars and rules, and dedicated sections on congregational prayer, the traveler's prayer, the Friday prayer, the two Eid prayers, the eclipse prayer, the prayer for rain (istisqāʾ), and funeral rites.
- Almsgiving (Kitāb al-Zakāt): Explains the obligation and conditions of zakat, followed by subsections on livestock, agriculture and crops, gold and silver, trade merchandise, the fast-breaking alms (zakāt al-fiṭr), and legitimate recipients (maṣārif al-zakāt).
- Fasting (Kitāb al-Ṣiyām): Outlines the rulings and obligations of fasting, moon sighting, conditions for breaking the fast, make-up days, and concludes with a chapter on spiritual retreat (iʿtikāf).
- Pilgrimage and Minor Pilgrimage (Kitāb al-Ḥajj wa-al-ʿUmra): Addresses the legal status of Hajj and Umrah, stages and types of iḥrām, designated geographical stations (mawāqīt), prohibitions in iḥrām, entering Mecca, the rites of the Day of Sacrifice (Yawm al-Naḥr), and the circumambulation of outpouring (Ṭawāf al-Ifāḍa).
Method and Evaluation
In each section, al-Mahalli outlines the positions of the four eponymous founders of the Sunni schools—Abu Hanifa, Malik ibn Anas, al-Shafi'i, and Ahmad ibn Hanbal. He begins each issue by stating what they agreed upon, if any consensus exists, followed by matters where they differed. He records alternate narrations (riwāyāt) reported from individual imams and occasionally notes the most sound (al-aṣaḥḥ) among them. He also selectively records opinions of jurists among the Companions, the Successors, or independent scholars within a school (such as Abu Yusuf, Dawud al-Zahiri, Ishaq ibn Rahwayh, and al-Nawawi) when they diverged from the mainstream opinion.
Al-Mahalli presents all issues stripped entirely of legal textual proofs (dalāʾil). The modern editor noted instances where the author erred in attributing specific rulings to the correct imam, reversed differing views, or misidentified which narration was considered the standard within a particular school.
Manuscripts and Publication
The primary surviving manuscript witnesses include:
- A copy in Dar al-Kutub al-Misriyya (MS 2991 Fiqh Shāfiʿī), comprising 92 folios, completed on Wednesday, 24 Dhu al-Hijjah 1181 AH (eleven years after the author's death), copied directly from and collated against al-Mahalli's original autograph.
- A copy preserved at King Saud University (MS 937 al-ʿIbādāt), written in Naskh script in 41 folios, completed on 14 Rajab 1315 AH by the scribe Muhammad ʿAbd Rabb al-Nabi.
The book was edited and published with verification of legal attributions by Abd al-Karim ibn Sunaytan al-Umari.
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