Minnat al-Jalil li-Bayan Isqat ma ala al-Dhimma min Kathir wa Qalil
- Author died
- 1306 AH
- Editions
- T Istanbul
Minnat al-Jalil li-Bayan Isqat ma ala al-Dhimma min Kathir wa Qalil (The Grace of the Majestic in Explaining the Expiation of Financial and Ritual Liabilities, Great and Small) is a legal treatise on Hanafi jurisprudence by Muhammad Ala al-Din Ibn Abidin (1244–1306 AH / 1828–1889 CE), dealing with the discharge and expiation (isqat) of unperformed religious obligations on behalf of the deceased .
Background and Purpose
The treatise was written as an appendix (dhayl) to a work by the author's father, Ibn Abidin, titled Shifa al-Alil wa-Ball al-Ghalil fi Hukm al-Wasiyya bi-l-Khatamat wa-l-Tahalil (The Healing of the Ailing on the Ruling of Bequests for Quranic Recitations and Tahlil) . Ala al-Din Ibn Abidin composed the work during the reign of the Ottoman Sultan Abdülhamid II . He noted that he was prompted to compile it after observing errors and deficiencies committed by unlearned prayer leaders regarding the procedures for discharging liabilities (isqat ma fi al-dhimma) owed by deceased individuals . He relied primarily on his father's juristic opinions and writings, stating that no previous author had dedicated a standalone treatise exclusively to these specific legal rulings .
Subject Matter and Methodology
The work details the juristic principles and practical calculations for clearing a deceased person's record of missed prayers (salat), fasts (sawm), zakat, pilgrimage, unfulfilled vows (nudhur), expiations (kaffarat), and animal sacrifices (udhiyya) .
Regarding missed ritual prayers, the author explains that compensating for prayers with monetary or food expiation (fidya) is not directly established by text, consensus, or strict analogy, but is rooted in the juristic preference of later Hanafi authorities (istihsan al-mashayikh), who extended it from the scriptural ruling on fasting as a precautionary measure in the hope of divine acceptance .
The treatise provides detailed measurements and standards for calculating expiatory payments:
- Weights and Measures: It defines the legal dirham as 14 qirats and the customary dirham of the author's era as 16 qirats, equating one legal dirham to 70 barley grains . It calculates the legal sa' at 1,040 legal dirhams (or 910 customary dirhams) and records that the author verified half a sa' in 1296 AH using local Damascene dry measures (mudd and thumniyya) .
- Prayer Calculations: Daily missed prayers are counted as six obligations—adding the Witr prayer to the five daily prayers in accordance with the position of Abu Hanifa . The author calculates the required grain measures over days, months, and solar years (defined as 365 days, 5 hours, and 55 or 49 minutes) .
- Deductions for Maturity: When estimating a deceased person's missed obligations, a minimum period of pre-puberty is deducted from their total lifespan: twelve years for a male and nine years for a female .
- The Revolving Transfer (al-Dawr): To discharge large accumulated debts when the estate or the guardian's funds are limited, the author outlines the Hanafi practice of revolving a bag (surra) containing money, jewelry, or goods of equivalent value . The executor transfers ownership of the bag to an eligible poor person as expiation for a designated portion of missed prayers or fasts, after which the recipient voluntarily gifts it back to the executor, who repeats the process with other recipients until the calculated liability is fully covered .
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