Mukhtasar Khuqayr fi Fiqh al-Imam Ahmad
- Author died
- 1349 AH
- Editions
- Rakāʼiz lil-Nashr wa-al-Tawzīʻ
Mukhtasar Khuqayr fi Fiqh al-Imam Ahmad (Arabic: مختصر في فقه الإمام أحمد بن حنبل, Abridgment in the Jurisprudence of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal) is a concise legal primer (matn) in the Hanbali school of jurisprudence, dictated by the Meccan scholar Abu Bakr Khawqir (1284–1349 AH / 1867–1930 CE) .
Composition and Historical Context
The work was dictated by Khuqayr to one of his students as an accessible introductory manual for beginners . In his historical survey of Hanbali legal literature, Bakr Abu Zayd noted that the tradition of composing independent school primers had effectively concluded with Ibn Balban's (d. 1083 AH) Kafi al-Mubtadi and Akhsar al-Mukhtasarat, after which only two later primers are known: Khuqayr's Mukhtasar and the Mukhtasar fi al-Fiqh of 'Abd Allah ibn Sulayman ibn Bulayhid (d. 1359 AH) .
Sources and Methodology
Scholars have differed over the primary textual foundation of the work:
- Abridgment of Muntaha al-Iradat: Its modern editor, 'Abd al-Salam al-Shuway'ir, characterized the text as an abridgment of Ibn al-Najjar al-Futuhi's Muntaha al-Iradat, stating that Khuqayr simplified its difficult phrasing using explanations from Mansur al-Bahuti's commentary and supplemented it with additional rulings from al-Hajjawi's al-Iqna' .
- Compilation from standard primers: Ahmad ibn Nasir al-Qu'aymi disputed this classification, arguing that the text cannot be considered an abridgment of al-Muntaha. Instead, he demonstrated that substantial portions of the book were lifted verbatim from earlier standard Hanbali manuals:
- From al-Hajjawi's Zad al-Mustaqni': the sections on shrouding and funeral prayers, zakat al-fitr, nullifiers of fasting, recommended and disliked practices of fasting, making up missed fasts, nearly the entire Book of Hajj, and the text from the beginning of the Book of Judicature (Kitab al-Qada') through to the final chapter on Acknowledgment (al-Iqrar) .
- From Mar'i ibn Yusuf al-Karmi's Dalil al-Talib: chapters such as the nullifiers of ablution and portions of wiping over footwear (al-mash 'ala al-khuffayn) and dry ablution (tayammum) .
In a comparative evaluation with Akhsar al-Mukhtasarat, Muhammad al-Fawzan noted that while Akhsar al-Mukhtasarat encompasses more legal issues and possesses an established corpus of written commentaries, Khuqayr's text has no written commentary; nevertheless, al-Fawzan favored Khuqayr's phrasing and structural flow on the premise that its core derived from al-Muntaha . Al-Qu'aymi concluded that both works are among the shortest manuals in the madhhab, though Akhsar al-Mukhtasarat remains the established and widely studied standard .
Publication History
The work was first printed in Cairo by al-Matba'a al-Muniriyya in 1349 AH, the year of the author's death, spanning 40 pages . It was later edited and reissued by 'Abd al-Salam ibn Muhammad al-Shuway'ir, published by Maktabat al-Rushd in Riyadh .
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