Qawaid al-Fiqh
- Author died
- 1395 AH
- Editions
- al-Sadaf Publishers
Qawaid al-Fiqh (The Rules of Jurisprudence) is a compendium on Hanafi legal maxims, terminology, and mufti etiquette compiled by the Indian-Bangladeshi Hanafi jurist and hadith scholar Muhammad 'Amim al-Ihsan al-Mujaddidi al-Barkati (d. 1395 AH / 1975 CE).
Composition and Context
The author—who previously served as the mufti of the Nakhoda Mosque in Calcutta and later as the head teacher at the Madrasa-i-Alia in Dhaka, East Pakistan—composed and compiled the work in Dhaka across the late 1370s and early 1380s AH. Individual sections within the work bear completion dates recorded by the author in Dhaka, including 22 Rajab [1379 AH], 10 Muharram 1380 AH, and 12 Rabi' al-Awwal 1380 AH.
Structure and Contents
The work is organized into five distinct treatises (rasa'il) bringing together foundational texts and specialized compilations of the Hanafi legal tradition:
- The First Treatise: Reproduces Usul al-Karkhi by Abu al-Hasan al-Karkhi (d. 340 AH), containing the fundamental legal principles upon which Hanafi rulings are built.
- The Second Treatise: Contains Usul al-Masa'il al-Khilafiyyah, the foundational principles regarding disputed legal issues excerpted from Ta'sis al-Nazar by Abu Zayd al-Dabbusi, structured into eight sections treating differences between Abu Hanifa, his companions Abu Yusuf and Muhammad al-Shaybani, and other jurists.
- The Third Treatise: Titled al-Qawa'id al-Fiqhiyyah, comprising an enumeration of 426 legal maxims of the Hanafi school.
- The Fourth Treatise: Titled al-Ta'rifat al-Fiqhiyyah, an alphabetical glossary defining technical terms and complex vocabulary utilized by jurists and legal theorists in classical Hanafi literature.
- The Fifth Treatise: Titled Adab al-Mufti (also described as Rasm al-Mufti wa Adab al-Ifta'), a concise manual outlining the rules, responsibilities, and proper etiquette governing the mufti and the questioner (mustafti).
Publication
The book was printed in Pakistan in 1407 AH (1987 CE) by the Committee of Culture, Publishing, and Authorship (Lajnat al-Thaqafa wa al-Nashr wa al-Ta'lif).
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