Min Sharh Bulugh al-Maram lil-Turaifi
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- Min Sharh Bulugh al-Maram lil-Turaifi
Min Sharh Bulugh al-Maram lil-Turaifi (Excerpts from the Commentary on Bulugh al-Maram by al-Turaifi) is an Islamic legal and hadith commentary delivered by the contemporary scholar Abd al-Aziz al-Turaifi, based on Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani’s (d. 852 AH / 1449 CE) legal hadith collection Bulugh al-Maram min Adillat al-Ahkam. The text was transcribed and prepared for publication under the supervision of Hammud al-Mutayri.
Introduction and Scope
The work begins with an extensive introductory treatise underscoring the authority and status of the prophetic Sunnah in Islamic legislation. Al-Turaifi presents the Sunnah as divinely revealed guidance alongside the Quran, citing classical scholars and early texts—including al-Bukhari, al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, and Abu Nu'aym al-Isbahani—to demonstrate that prophetic statements and rulings constitute binding revelation. He also emphasizes the virtue of verifying authentic reports (sahih) from defective ones (saqim) and defending the Sunnah.
Method and Structure
Before addressing the legal traditions, the commentary examines Ibn Hajar’s preface and technical terminology:
- Hadith Criticism and Juristic Conventions: The author evaluates the conventional abbreviations used by Ibn Hajar, such as "the seven" (al-sab'ah, denoting Ahmad and the authors of the Six Books), "the six" (al-sittah), "the four" (al-arba'ah), and "agreed upon" (muttafaq 'alayh). He contrasts Ibn Hajar's use of "agreed upon" (referring specifically to al-Bukhari and Muslim) with divergent terminological usages, such as that of Majd al-Din Ibn Taymiyyah in al-Muntaqa (who includes Ahmad ibn Hanbal) and Abu Nu'aym al-Isbahani in Hilyat al-Awliya' (who uses it for reports meeting general conditions of authenticity).
- Critique of Introductory Narrations: The commentary analyzes opening traditions such as those concerning the Basmalah, critically assessing their chains of transmission, variant phrasings, and degrees of weakness or defectiveness ('ilal).
The legal commentary opens with the Book of Purification (Kitab al-Taharah), defining ritual purity both linguistically and jurisprudentially—distinguishing between spiritual purification of the heart and ritual purification of the body (removing impurities and states of ritual impurity). It then proceeds to examine the individual legal hadiths in sequence, beginning with the tradition concerning the purity of sea water narrated by Abu Hurayrah.
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