Sharh Mushkilat al-Quduri
- Author died
- 651 AH
- Editions
- Al-Turāth al-Dhahabī
Sharh Mushkilat al-Quduri (Explanation of the Obscurities of al-Quduri) is a Hanafi legal commentary by the jurist Khawahir Zada Badr al-Din al-Kurdari (d. 651 AH / 1254 CE), written to elucidate the complex and ambiguous passages of Mukhtasar al-Quduri by Abu al-Husayn al-Quduri (d. 428 AH).
Author and Context
The author was Muhammad ibn Mahmud ibn 'Abd al-Karim al-Kurdari, given the honorific Badr al-Din and known as Khawahir Zada. The title Khawahir Zada (meaning "sister's son") derived from his relation to his maternal uncle, the prominent Hanafi scholar Shams al-A'imma Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Sattar al-Kurdari (d. 642 AH), who raised him and under whom he studied jurisprudence. His own students included the jurists Abu al-Barakat Hafiz al-Din al-Nasafi and Abu al-Mahamid Mahmud ibn Muhammad al-Afshanji al-Bukhari. Al-Kurdari died at the end of Dhu al-Qa'da 651 AH (1254 CE) and was buried alongside his uncle. In manuscript colophons and covers, the work is also referred to as Kitab Khawahir Zada 'ala Sharh al-Quduri and Kitab Khawahir Zada Sharh al-Quduri.
Structure and Method
The work is structured according to the traditional legal divisions of Mukhtasar al-Quduri, divided into main books (kutub) and thematic chapters (abwab). The author's method is characterized by several distinctive features:
- Selective Focus on Difficulties: The work does not provide a continuous word-by-word commentary on every phrase of the original text; instead, it focuses specifically on the mushkilat—the obscure, difficult, or potentially confusing legal formulations in al-Quduri's compendium—while passing over straightforward rulings.
- Textual Framing: The author typically cites only two or three introductory words from a given ruling in the base text before commencing his explanation, rather than quoting the complete legal problem.
- Chapter Sequencing and Thematic Links: While maintaining the overall sequence of books and chapters found in al-Quduri's manual, the author may alter the internal ordering of specific issues within a chapter. He frequently deduces and explains the rationale and thematic connection (munasaba) between successive chapters, even when the relationship appears distant—such as the link between praying inside the Ka'bah and the rules concerning martyrs.
- Doctrinal Debates: Al-Kurdari details internal differences of opinion within the Hanafi school, citing the views of Abu Hanifa, Abu Yusuf, and Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Shaybani, as well as Zufar ibn al-Hudhayl and al-Hasan ibn Ziyad, generally without evaluating or preferring one over another. He also frequently presents opposing arguments from the Shafi'i school, reflecting the longstanding scholastic debates between Hanafi and Shafi'i jurists.
- Use of Persian: The commentary incorporates Persian terminology throughout the discussions, occasionally noting the Persian equivalent explicitly when explaining Arabic legal and material terms (such as leather socks or camels), and at other times embedding Persian vocabulary directly in the prose.
Transmission and Manuscripts
Surviving manuscript copies of the work are preserved across several historical collections in Istanbul, including the Yeni Cami, Bayezid, Husrev Pasha, Feyzullah, and Sehid Ali Pasha libraries. The text was later edited and prepared for publication through academic research at the World Islamic Sciences and Education University in Jordan, with sections divided among editors including Ahmad Rashid al-Muhaylibi, Muhammad 'Umar al-'Utaybi, and Sa'd Mijbil al-'Azimi.
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