Sharh al-Masabih li-Ibn al-Malak
- Author died
- 854 AH
- Editions
- Idārat al-Thaqāfah al-Islāmiyyah
Sharh al-Masabih (also known as Sharh Masabih al-Sunnah) is an analytical commentary on Abu Muhammad al-Husayn ibn Mas'ud al-Baghawi's hadith compendium Masabih al-Sunnah, authored by the Hanafi jurist and hadith scholar Ibn al-Malak (Muhammad ibn Abd al-Latif, d. 854 AH / 1450 CE) .
Authorship and Background
The work was composed by Muhammad ibn Izz al-Din Abd al-Latif ibn Abd al-Aziz ibn Amin al-Din ibn Firishtah al-Rumi al-Karmani al-Hanafi, commonly known as Ibn al-Malak . In al-Badr al-Tali', Muhammad ibn Ali al-Shawkani uniquely attributed a commentary on al-Masabih to the author's father, Abd al-Latif (d. 801 AH); however, the text's opening explicitly identifies its author as Muhammad ibn Abd al-Latif, an attribution corroborated by bibliographers such as Katip Celebi (Hajji Khalifa) and modern editors .
In the author's preface, Ibn al-Malak states that although earlier commentaries on Masabih al-Sunnah existed in both extensive (basit) and intermediate (wasit) formats, a group of his colleagues requested a comprehensive commentary employing an integrated, phrase-by-phrase analytical style (tariqat al-hall) to untangle the text's intricacies directly .
Method and Sources
The commentary covers the bulk of the nearly five thousand hadiths collected in Masabih al-Sunnah . Ibn al-Malak's primary focus lies in clarifying difficult linguistic expressions, untangling grammatical and contextual ambiguities, and deriving legal implications from the prophetic traditions . While he incorporates the legal opinions of the four Sunni schools of jurisprudence—giving significant attention to the Shafi'i school alongside others—he prioritizes the legal framework of the Hanafi school, frequently signaling its normative positions with phrases such as "and according to us" (wa-'indana) .
Ibn al-Malak synthesized insights from previous commentators on al-Masabih and its derivative works, including al-Baghawi's Sharh al-Sunnah, Shihab al-Din al-Turibishti's al-Muyassar, al-Husayn ibn Mahmud al-Mazhari's al-Mafatih, Sharaf al-Din al-Tibi's commentary on Mishkat al-Masabih, and Zayn al-Arab . He also drew heavily upon the hadith and legal scholarship of his father, particularly Mabariq al-Azhar, the elder Ibn al-Malak's commentary on al-Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Saghani's Mashariq al-Anwar . Throughout the compilation, he abbreviated and streamlined these discussions, sometimes naming his sources but frequently incorporating their conclusions without explicit attribution .
Reception and Supercommentaries
Sharh al-Masabih served as a major reference for subsequent hadith commentators . Mulla Ali al-Qari relied on it extensively when composing his supercommentary Mirqat al-Mafatih, frequently citing Ibn al-Malak by name . The work also prompted direct supercommentaries, notably Diya al-Masabih by Fadl ibn Shams al-Siwasi (completed in 1009 AH / 1600–1601 CE), which was composed at the request of the contemporary grand mufti to resolve complex discussions in Ibn al-Malak's text .
A modern critical edition of Sharh al-Masabih was published in 1433 AH / 2012 CE under the supervision of Nur al-Din Talib, based on a collation of four manuscript witnesses .
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