Nihayat al-Muhtaj ila Sharh al-Minhaj
- Author died
- 1004 AH
- Editions
- Dar Al-Fikr
Nihayat al-Muhtaj ila Sharh al-Minhaj (The End of the Needy for the Explanation of the Minhaj) is an extensive legal commentary by the Egyptian Shafi'i jurist Shams al-Din al-Ramli (919–1004 AH / 1513–1596 CE) on the foundational legal manual Minhaj al-Talibin by al-Nawawi (d. 676 AH / 1277 CE).
Composition and Scope
Al-Ramli began writing Nihayat al-Muhtaj in 963 AH and completed it in 973 AH. The work serves as a comprehensive exposition of Shafi'i jurisprudence (fiqh), systematically unpacking the text, terminology, and legal rulings of al-Nawawi's Minhaj al-Talibin, and spans eight volumes in print.
Standing and Reception
Nihayat al-Muhtaj represents one of the two paramount reference authorities in the later Shafi'i legal tradition alongside Tuhfat al-Muhtaj by Ibn Hajar al-Haytami (d. 974 AH / 1566 CE). In late Shafi'i legal practice, jurists who do not possess the capacity for independent legal preference (tarjih) rely upon the shared rulings of these two works. In instances of disagreement between them, the Shafi'i scholars of Egypt give formal precedence to the positions articulated in al-Ramli's Nihayat al-Muhtaj, whereas scholars in Syria, Hadramawt, Dagestan, the Kurdish lands, and most of Yemen and the Hijaz favor the positions in al-Haytami's Tuhfah.
Glosses and Editions
The work attracted scholarly annotations and marginal glosses (hawashi), the most notable of which are:
- The gloss by Abu al-Diya' Nur al-Din Ali ibn Ali al-Shabramallisi al-Qahiri (d. 1087 AH / 1677 CE).
- The gloss by Ahmad ibn Abd al-Razzaq al-Maghribi al-Rashidi.
Nihayat al-Muhtaj was published in eight volumes accompanied by the glosses of al-Shabramallisi and al-Rashidi in Cairo in 1286 AH and at Bulaq in 1292 AH, followed by later editions including that of Mustafa al-Babi al-Halabi in 1357 AH (1938 CE).
Answer updated