Mu'tiyat al-Aman min Hanth al-Ayman
- Author died
- 1089 AH
- Editions
- Al-Maktaba al-Asriyya al-Dhahabiyya
Mu'tiyat al-Aman min Hanth al-Ayman (Granting Safety from the Perjury of Oaths) is a jurisprudential treatise on the legal rulings of oaths and divorce by the Hanbali scholar and historian Ibn al-Imad al-Hanbali (d. 1089 AH / 1678 CE) .
Authorship and Title
The treatise was authored by Abu al-Falah Abd al-Hayy ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad Ibn al-Imad al-Hanbali, who affirmed his authorship at the conclusion of the text by noting that he had completed transcribing the manuscript in his own hand . The attribution is recorded in standard biographical reference works, including Hadiyyat al-Arifin by Ismail Pasha al-Baghdadi, al-A'lam by Khayr al-Din al-Zirikli, and Mu'jam al-Mu'allifin by Umar Rida Kahhala . While the title is established as Mu'tiyat al-Aman min Hanth al-Ayman on the title pages of extant manuscripts, one manuscript copy carries the descriptive addition: Risalah fi Ikhtilaf al-A'immah al-Arba'ah fi al-Talaq ("A Treatise on the Disagreement of the Four Imams Regarding Divorce"), referring to the author as al-Khalwati and recording his designated title for the work .
Purpose and Scope
Ibn al-Imad states in his introduction that the impetus for composing the work was the widespread and frequent utterance of formulas of oaths and divorce among people, which led him to compile the essential legal issues and rulings concerning those two topics into these leaves . Although Ibn al-Imad gained wider renown as an author of history and literature through his biographical compendium Shadharat al-Dhahab, this treatise reflects his specialized output in Islamic jurisprudence .
Structure and Method
The work opens with an introductory section explaining that swearing by God and breaking an oath (hanth) are each governed by the five legal classifications: obligation, recommendation, permissibility, reprehensibility, and prohibition . It addresses the repetition of oaths supported by textual proofs from the Quran, the Sunnah, and early traditions, as well as the rulings on fulfilling another person's oath, swearing by God's Face, and responding to one who makes a request by God . This is followed by a major heading titled Kitab al-Ayman (The Book of Oaths), which defines the oath, its legal basis, who is eligible to take one, the particles used for swearing, the role of intention, and the expressions that necessitate expiation (kaffarah) .
Ibn al-Imad arranges his discussions under concise headings preceded by the term fasl (section) . He frequently appends supplementary remarks titled tadhneeb (addendum), tammah (completion), or fa'idah (benefit) to clarify particular points or subsidiary cases . The legal positions are established primarily according to the Hanbali school of Ahmad ibn Hanbal, but he regularly incorporates the viewpoints of the Hanafi, Maliki, and Shafi'i schools, alongside opinions of the Companions, the Successors, and occasionally the Zahiri school . Among his primary cited references for comparative positions are Tanwir al-Absar wa-Jami al-Bihar by al-Timirtashi for Hanafi jurisprudence and Sharh Muntaha al-Iradat by Mansur al-Buhuti for the Hanbali school .
Manuscripts and Editions
An autograph manuscript in Ibn al-Imad's handwriting was held in the private collection of al-Zirikli and later preserved in the manuscripts department at Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University in Riyadh . Another manuscript copy is held at Dar al-Kutub al-Misriyya in Cairo under registration number 19952 B . The treatise was edited and published with academic annotations by Abd al-Karim ibn Sanitan al-Umari .
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