Sharh Mushkil al-Wasit
- Author died
- 643 AH
- Editions
- Dār Kunūz Ishbīlyā lil-Nashr wa-al-Tawzīʻ
Sharh Mushkil al-Wasit (Explanation of the Ambiguities of al-Wasit) is a specialized legal and critical commentary written by the Shafi'i jurist and hadith scholar Ibn al-Salah (d. 643 AH / 1245 CE) on al-Wasit fi al-Madhhab, the comprehensive compendium of Shafi'i jurisprudence by Abu Hamid al-Ghazali .
Title and Attribution
The author did not state a explicit title in an introduction, leading to slight variations across manuscripts and biographical dictionaries :
- Mushkil al-Wasit: recorded on manuscript frontispieces at Dar al-Kutub al-Misriyya and the Zahiriyya Library in Damascus, and used by Ibn Khallikan, Ibn Qadi Shuhbah, Mujir al-Din al-Hanbali, and Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani .
- Sharh Mushkil al-Wasit: found on another Zahiriyya manuscript and cited by Taqi al-Din al-Subki, 'Umar Rida Kahhala, and 'Abd al-Rahman Badawi .
- Ishkalat al-Wasit: cited by Shams al-Din al-Dawudi, al-Subki in his continuation of al-Nawawi's al-Majmu', and Ibn Kathir .
- Hawashi al-Wasit or Hawashi Ibn al-Salah: used by Ibn al-Rif'ah in Kifayat al-Nabih (al-Matlab al-'Ali) .
- Ta'liqa 'ala al-Wasit: noted by Katip Celebi (Kashf al-Zunun) and Isma'il Pasha al-Baghdadi .
- Sharh al-Wasit: appeared on a manuscript title page at Dar al-Kutub al-Misriyya and was listed by Khayr al-Din al-Zirikli, though that manuscript was determined to be an independent commentary postdating Ibn al-Salah due to frequent citations of al-Nawawi and al-Rafi'i .
The preferred title is Sharh Mushkil al-Wasit, as Ibn al-Salah composed a prior companion work titled Sharh Mushkil al-Muhadhdhab and repeatedly refers to this work in his text as a commentary (sharh) . The attribution of the work to Ibn al-Salah is undisputed, supported by cross-references to his other writings—including Ma'rifat Anwa' 'Ulum al-Hadith, Adab al-Mufti wa-l-Mustafti, and Silat al-Nasik fi Sifat al-Manasik—and citations across biographical and legal literature .
Purpose and Methodology
The work is not a continuous, word-by-word commentary on al-Ghazali's al-Wasit, but rather a critical examination of its intricate, ambiguous, or erroneous passages across doctrine ('aqidah), jurisprudence (fiqh), hadith, and Arabic lexicography . Ibn al-Salah assesses the authenticity of prophetic traditions cited by al-Ghazali, confirming those that are sound and identifying ungrounded, weak, or misattributed narrations .
In resolving complex legal formulations, Ibn al-Salah preserves numerous excerpts from earlier classical texts that have since been lost, and incorporates annotations made on al-Wasit by al-Ghazali's direct student Ahmad ibn Khalaf .
Reception and Influence
Because al-Wasit is one of the five central authoritative texts of the Shafi'i school, Ibn al-Salah's clarifications were widely adopted by later authorities . The book was extensively cited by Shafi'i jurists and hadith scholars, including al-Nawawi (in al-Majmu' and Tahdhib al-Asma' wa-l-Lughat), al-Dhahabi (in Siyar A'lam al-Nubala'), Ibn al-Rif'ah (in al-Matlab al-'Ali), Ibn al-Mulaqqin (who drew upon its hadith evaluations in Tadhkirat al-Akhyar), Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani (in al-Talkhis al-Habir and Fath al-Bari), Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Fayyumi (in al-Misbah al-Munir), Taqi al-Din al-Subki, al-Khatib al-Shirbini (in Mughni al-Muhtaj), and Shams al-Din al-Ramli (in Nihayat al-Muhtaj) .
Modern Publication
The text was edited as two master's theses submitted to the Department of Fiqh at the Islamic University of Madinah under the supervision of Hamad ibn Hammad al-Hammad :
- The first part, covering the text from the beginning through the end of the Book of Prayer (Kitab al-Salah), was edited by 'Abd al-Mun'im Khalifah Ahmad Bilal (defended on 17 Sha'ban 1419 AH) .
- The second part, covering from the Book of Zakat (Kitab al-Zakah) to the end of the work, was edited by Muhammad Bilal ibn Muhammad Amin (defended on 26 Dhu al-Qi'dah 1419 AH) .
The combined edition was published in Riyadh by Dar Kunuz Ishbilya in 1432 AH / 2011 CE .
Answer updated