Nihayat al-Zayn
- Author died
- 1316 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Fikr
Nihayat al-Zayn (fully titled Nihāyat al-Zayn fī Irshād al-Mubtadiʾīn) is a single-volume legal manual in Shafi'i jurisprudence written by the Southeast Asian scholar Muhammad Nawawi al-Jawi (d. 1316 AH / 1898 CE) as an extensive commentary on Zayn al-Din al-Malibari's primer Qurrat al-ʿAyn bi-Muhimmāt al-Dīn .
Authorship and Purpose
The work was authored by Abu ʿAbd al-Muʿti Muhammad Nawawi ibn ʿUmar al-Bantani al-Tanari al-Jawi—also recorded as Muhammad Nuri—who migrated to Mecca and died there . In the introduction to the book, the author explicitly identifies himself as Ashʿari in creed and Shafiʿi in legal school . He composed the commentary on Qurrat al-ʿAyn bi-Muhimmāt al-Dīn by Zayn al-Din ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAziz ibn Zayn al-Din ibn ʿAli al-Malibari al-Fannani to guide beginning students and benefit his fellow seekers of knowledge .
Subject and Scope
Nihayat al-Zayn serves as an exposition of substantive Shafiʿi legal rulings across positive law (furuʿ al-fiqh) . In his prologue, al-Jawi contextualizes jurisprudence as the study of practical legal rulings derived from detailed evidence, highlighting its foundational principles, categories of actions, and theological underpinnings . He integrates lexical elucidations, theological remarks regarding the divine names and attributes, and detailed legal distinctions throughout his commentary on the base text .
Publication History
The work was published in a single volume (mujallad) . Early print editions include those issued in Cairo by al-Matbaʿa al-Wahbiyya in 1297 AH (featuring the original text and marginal glosses) and Matbaʿat Sharaf in 1299 AH . It was subsequently reissued in modern editions by publishers including Dar al-Fikr in Beirut .
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