Sharh al-Waraqat fi Usul al-Fiqh - al-Mahalli
- Author died
- 864 AH
- Editions
- Al-Quds University
Sharh al-Waraqat fi Usul al-Fiqh (Arabic: شرح الورقات في أصول الفقه) is a concise commentary on the foundational legal theory primer al-Waraqat by Imam al-Haramayn al-Juwayni (d. 478 AH), authored by the Shafi'i jurist and scholar Jalal al-Din al-Mahalli (791–864 AH / 1389–1459 CE) .
Content and Method
The work is composed as an interwoven commentary (sharh mamzuj) that explicates the concise treatise of al-Juwayni phrase by phrase . It covers the core topics of Islamic jurisprudence (usul al-fiqh), including the definitions of legal terminology and epistemic categories, divisions of speech (commands, prohibitions, truth, and metaphor), general (‘amm) and specific (khass) expressions, clarity and ambivalence, the legislative status of prophetic actions, consensus (ijma‘), reports (akhbar), analogy (qiyas), and the qualifications for independent legal reasoning (ijtihad) . Al-Mahalli relied on precise linguistic and legal analyses, unpacking concise expressions while supplying definitions, linguistic nuances, and technical boundaries .
Reception and Glosses
Al-Mahalli’s commentary gained widespread acceptance among students and scholars of legal theory and became one of the standard textbooks on al-Juwayni’s primer . Owing to its dense phrasing and subtle allusions, several later scholars composed extensive supercommentaries (hawashi) and explanatory works on it . Notable parmi them are:
- Ahmad ibn Qasim al-‘Abbadi (d. 992 AH), who wrote two separate commentaries on it: a larger commentary (al-Sharh al-Kabir) and a smaller one (al-Sharh al-Saghir) .
- Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Ru‘ayni, known as al-Hattab, who wrote a commentary on al-Waraqat that specifically addresses al-Mahalli’s commentary to clarify its dense points .
- Ali ibn Ahmad al-Bukhari al-Sha‘rani, who composed an explanatory commentary on it .
- Ahmad ibn Abd al-Haqq al-Sinbati (d. 994 AH), author of a marginal gloss (hashiyah) .
- Ahmad ibn Ahmad al-Qalyubi (d. 1069 AH), who penned a recognized hashiyah on the work .
- Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Banna al-Dimyati (d. 1117 AH), who composed marginal notes and glosses (taqrirat) .
- Ahmad ibn Abd al-Latif al-Khatib al-Jawi (d. 1306 AH), author of the supercommentary titled al-Nafahat ‘ala Sharh al-Waraqat .
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