Sharh al-Adud ala Mukhtasar al-Muntaha al-Usuli wa maahu Hashiyat al-Sad wa al-Jurjani
- Author died
- 756 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyyah
Sharh al-Adud ala Mukhtasar al-Muntaha al-Usuli wa maahu Hashiyat al-Sad wa al-Jurjani (The Commentary of al-Adud on the Summary of the Usul Objective, with the Supercommentaries of al-Sad and al-Jurjani) is a composite corpus of Islamic legal theory centered on the classical commentary composed by Adud al-Din al-Iji (d. 756 AH / 1355 CE) alongside major supercommentaries and marginal glosses .
Base Text and Background
The core text commented upon is Mukhtasar al-Muntaha (widely known as Mukhtasar Ibn al-Hajib), authored by the Maliki jurist and grammarian Ibn al-Hajib (570–646 AH / 1174–1249 CE) . Ibn al-Hajib first authored a comprehensive manual titled Muntaha al-Su'l wa-al-Amal fi Ilmay al-Usul wa-al-Jadal, which condensed the arrangement of Sayf al-Din al-Amidi's al-Ihkam, and subsequently produced this concise abridgment by excising nearly a quarter of the text . Ibn al-Hajib structured the work into fundamental principles (al-mabadi'), scriptural proofs (al-adilla al-sam'iyya), and legal reasoning and preference (al-ijtihad wa-al-tarjih) .
Commentary of al-Iji
Adud al-Din al-Iji completed his commentary on Mukhtasar al-Muntaha on 26 Sha'ban 734 AH (1334 CE) . The commentary opens with praise to God for creating mankind and instituting legal rulings to govern worldly livelihood and eternal salvation . Al-Iji's work gained wide acclaim in traditional madrasa curricula for its dialectical rigor, analytical precision, and systematic exposition of intricate theoretical debates .
Supercommentaries and Glosses
The commentary generated a rich tradition of secondary scholarship, most prominently the supercommentaries of:
- Sa'd al-Din al-Taftazani (722–792 AH / 1322–1390 CE; also reported as d. 791 AH or 793 AH), who praised al-Iji's commentary as unprecedented among earlier writings and likened it to fresh water amid a brackish sea .
- Al-Sayyid al-Sharif Ali ibn Muhammad al-Jurjani (740–816 AH / 1339–1413 CE), whose gloss engaged closely with al-Iji's analysis and arguments .
- Hasan al-Harawi al-Fanari, known as Mulla Hasan Chalabi (840–886 AH / 1436–1481 CE), who penned extensive sub-glosses on al-Jurjani's annotations .
- The Maliki scholar and rector of al-Azhar, Muhammad Abu al-Fadl al-Jizawi (1263–1346 AH / 1847–1927 CE), who authored a detailed marginal commentary spanning the base text, al-Iji's commentary, and the supercommentaries of both al-Taftazani and al-Jurjani .
The glosses of al-Jurjani and al-Harawi in standard editions conclude just before the discussion on the permissibility of prohibiting an unspecified single item (yajuzu an yuharrima wahidan la bi-aynih) .
Structure and Editions
In standard historical and modern printings—including the major al-Amiriyya edition printed at Bulaq in 1316 AH (1898 CE)—the text is arranged in a multi-layered format: Ibn al-Hajib's base summary and al-Iji's primary commentary appear together at the top of the page, followed successively in the lower registers and margins by the glosses of al-Taftazani, al-Jurjani, al-Harawi, and al-Jizawi .
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