Raf al-Ishtibah min Masa'il al-Miyah

Rafʿ al-Ishtibāh min Masāʾil al-Miyāh (The Removal of Ambiguity from Questions of Waters) is a legal treatise on the jurisprudence of water and ritual purity written by the Hanafi jurist and traditionist Ibn Qutlubugha (802–879 AH / 1400–1474 CE) Majmuat Rasail al-Allama …+1.

Title and Attribution

The treatise is attested under several slight titular variants in classical and bibliographical works. In authorial manuscripts and collections of his treatises, it appears as Rafʿ al-Ishtibāh ʿan Masāʾil al-Miyāh or Rafʿ al-Ishtibāh min Masāʾil al-Miyāh, and at times with the singular Masʾalah Majmuat Rasail al-Allama …+1. In bibliographical references, Katip Celebi listed it in Kashf al-Zunun under the title Rafʿ al-Ishtibāh ʿan Masīl al-Miyāh, while Isma'il Pasha al-Baghdadi recorded it in Hadiyyat al-ʿArifin as Rafʿ al-Ishtibāh ʿan Subul al-Miyāh Raf al-Ishtibah min Masa'…+1.

Purpose and Background

Ibn Qutlubugha states in the prologue that early authorities of the Hanafi school—such as Abu Hanifa in a report transmitted by Abu Yusuf through Ibrahim ibn Yusuf al-Balkhi—expressly forbade anyone qualified for legal examination from blindly following their statements without understanding the textual and methodological sources from which they derived their rulings Majmuat Rasail al-Allama …+1. The author was motivated to compose the work following a scholarly dispute regarding the legal status of well water (masʾalat al-biʾr) and the verification of the effective cause (tahqiq al-manat) Majmuat Rasail al-Allama …+1. His interlocutor held that scholars of their later era were not permitted to exercise independent critical appraisal and argued against him citing the standard manual al-Ikhtiyar by al-Mawsili, prompting Ibn Qutlubugha to compose a dedicated treatise investigating the genuine legal positions and source derivations of the early Hanafi masters Majmuat Rasail al-Allama …+1.

Contents and Method

The work focuses on the categorization of waters and the conditions under which water is deemed impure (najis) or purifying (tahur) Majmuat Rasail al-Allama …+1:

• Distinction between Large and Small Bodies of Water: Ibn Qutlubugha examines the classical definitions of abundant water (al-maʾ al-kathir) versus small quantities of water (al-maʾ al-qalil), reviewing the mechanical standard of non-communication of movement between opposing banks (lā yataḥarrak aḥad ṭarafayh bi-taḥarruk al-ākhar) Majmuat Rasail al-Allama …+1.
• Surface Area and Dimensions: He critically evaluates the jurists' conventional estimation of large water bodies as measuring ten-by-ten armlengths (ʿashr fī ʿashr), as well as variant opinions such as the fifteen-by-fifteen or twenty-by-twenty cubits attributed to Abu Mutiʿ al-Balkhi, along with considerations of water depth Raf al-Ishtibah min Masa'…+1.
• Contamination and Wells: The treatise addresses how impurities affect still and running water, visible versus invisible contamination, and the specific rulings on well water Raf al-Ishtibah min Masa'…+1.
• Evidentiary Critiques: Rather than adhering strictly to late compendia, Ibn Qutlubugha engages directly with earlier authorities such as Abu Bakr al-Jassas in Ahkam al-Qur'an, Abu Bakr Khwahar-Zadah in al-Mabsut, and his own teacher Ibn al-Humam in Fath al-Qadir, arguing that the foundational principle in the school turns upon the certainty or overriding presumption of impurity entering the water rather than mere dimensional conventions Majmuat Rasail al-Allama ….

The work concludes with citations of early traditionary reports from Ibn Abi Shaybah concerning the practice of the Companions and Successors regarding public basins and purification Majmuat Rasail al-Allama ….

Reception and Scholarly Impact

Later Hanafi jurists frequently cited the treatise's introduction as a representative statement on the legitimacy of critical legal preference (tarjih) over unquestioning imitation (taqlid). Ibn Abidin highlighted Ibn Qutlubugha's opening statement in Sharh Manzumat Uqud Rasm al-Mufti as evidence of his attainment of the rank of scholarly weighing (ahl al-tarjih) and legal verification Sharh al-Manzuma al-Musam…. Modern scholars of Hadith and legal theory, such as Jamal al-Din al-Qasimi, also cited this passage in Qawa'id al-Tahdith to illustrate the rejection of blind imitation among discerning Hanafi authorities Qawaid al-Tahdith min Fun….

Manuscripts and Editions

A preserved manuscript copy of the treatise is held at Princeton University Library in the Garrett Collection (MS 3393), occupying 16 folios (29 lines per page) at the beginning of a composite volume containing over twenty treatises by Ibn Qutlubugha Raf al-Ishtibah min Masa'….

The work has been published in modern editions, including:

• An edition prepared by Abu al-Mundhir Mahmud ibn Muhammad al-Minyawi under the title Rafʿ al-Ishtibāh min Masʾalat al-Miyāh Raf al-Ishtibah min Masa'….
• An edition edited by Abd al-Hamid Muhammad al-Darwish and Abd al-Alim Muhammad al-Darwish within Majmu'at Rasa'il al-ʿAllamah Qasim ibn Qutlubugha Majmuat Rasail al-Allama ….