Sharh Umdat al-Fiqh - Ibn Taymiyya - Kitab al-Siyam
- Author died
- 728 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Anṣārī
Sharh Umdat al-Fiqh – Kitab al-Siyam is the commentary on the "Book of Fasting" from Ibn Qudama's foundational Hanbali primer Umdat al-Fiqh, authored by Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728 AH / 1328 CE) to elucidate the legal rulings, prophetic traditions, and doctrinal narrations governing fasting in Islamic jurisprudence .
Composition and Scope
The base text, Umdat al-Fiqh, was designed by Ibn Qudama (d. 620 AH) as an accessible guide for beginners structured around a single authoritative position per issue, each chapter introduced with an authentic hadith . Ibn Taymiyya expanded this base text into an extensive commentary (Sharh al-Umdah), focusing primarily on acts of worship (ibadat) . Kitab al-Siyam constitutes the section dedicated to fasting, treating the linguistic and legal definitions of the fast, the sighting of the new moon, conditions of obligation and validity, exemptions, invalidators, and voluntary fasting .
The overarching work Sharh al-Umdah was documented across biographical sources as a four-volume compilation; the earliest recorded mention appeared in the catalogue of Ibn Taymiyya's writings by his student Ibn Rushayyiq (d. 749 AH), followed by Ibn Abd al-Hadi (d. 744 AH) in al-Uqud al-Durriyya, al-Safadi (d. 764 AH), Ibn Shakir al-Kutubi (d. 764 AH), Ibn Rajab (d. 795 AH) in Dhayl Tabaqat al-Hanabila, and Mujir al-Din al-Ulaymi (d. 928 AH) .
Method and Legal Approach
In commenting on Kitab al-Siyam, Ibn Taymiyya adopted a comprehensive comparative approach within the Hanbali school:
- Textual Evidence and Hadith Criticism: He cited relevant hadiths and transmitted reports (athar) attributed to early authorities, evaluating their authenticity through sound grading (tashih) and weakening (tad'if), while noting variant transmission routes and textual variations .
- Hanbali School Narrations: He catalogued the divergent transmissions (riwayat), interpretive positions (wujuh), and views recorded by classical Hanbali jurists, subjecting each position to critical analysis and legal weighting (tarjih) .
- Linguistic and Conceptual Precision: He examined the linguistic roots of key terms—such as defining fasting (siyam) as restraint and cessation from action, paired conceptually with prayer (salah) as active motion toward the Divine—before developing their precise legal parameters .
Transmission and Reception
Sharh al-Umdah served as a major reference for subsequent Hanbali authorities who routinely cited Ibn Taymiyya's specific choices, arguments, and transmissions from it . Among those who relied extensively on the commentary were Shams al-Din Ibn Muflih in al-Furu', Shams al-Din al-Zarkashi in his commentary on Mukhtasar al-Khiraqi, Burhan al-Din Ibn Muflih in al-Mubdi', and Ala' al-Din al-Mardawi in al-Insaf .
Manuscripts preserving Kitab al-Siyam include a codex held at the King Fahd National Library in Riyadh (transferred from the Riyadh Public Library, MS 710/86), which contains Kitab al-Siyam alongside Kitab al-Hajj across 383 folios, labeled as the fourth volume of the commentary . Another manuscript lineage stems from a copy written in the hand of the Hanbali jurist Abu Bakr ibn Zayd al-Jura'i al-Dimashqi (d. 883 AH) . Modern scholars have edited and published Kitab al-Siyam both as an independent legal study and within the multi-volume print editions of the extant portions of Sharh al-Umdah .
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