Tahbir al-Mukhtasar wa Huwa al-Sharh al-Wasat li-Bahram ala Mukhtasar Khalil
- Author died
- 805 AH
- Editions
- Markaz Najibawayh lil-Makhtutat wa-Khidmat al-Turath
Tahbir al-Mukhtasar (Tahbir al-Mukhtasar wa-Huwa al-Sharh al-Wasat li-Bahram ala Mukhtasar Khalil) is a commentary on Khalil ibn Ishaq al-Jundi’s Maliki legal compendium Mukhtasar Khalil, composed by the Maliki jurist and judge Bahram al-Dumayri (d. 805 AH / 1402–1403 CE; also recorded as 803 AH) . It serves as the intermediate work (al-Sharh al-Wasat) among Bahram's three commentaries on the Mukhtasar, positioned between his large commentary (al-Sharh al-Kabir) and his concise commentary (al-Sharh al-Saghir) .
Background and Composition
The author composed the work after Khalil passed away before completing the final fair copy of his Mukhtasar or explaining its difficult passages . Following requests from students to elucidate its obscure phraseology, articulate its objectives, and document differences of opinion among Maliki authorities, Bahram authored the commentary after performing istikharah (consultation prayer), entitling it Tahbir al-Mukhtasar (The Embellishment of the Summary) . In one manuscript copy, it is titled al-Muhabbar fi Sharh al-Mukhtasar .
Structure and Methodology
The work systematically follows the legal chapters of Mukhtasar Khalil, breaking down the base text clause by clause introduced by «قوله» ("his saying") . Bahram's approach includes:
- Clarifying concise, condensed, and complex phrasing in the original text .
- Citing differing transmissions (ikhtilaf al-riwayat) and methodological paths of early and later Maliki masters (turuq al-ashyakh), attributing rare citations directly to their original authorities as found in extensive sourcebooks .
- Supplementing omissions and cross-referencing Khalil's earlier work, al-Tawdih (his commentary on Ibn al-Hajib's Mukhtasar) .
- Frequently citing foundational Maliki references and authorities, including al-Mudawwanah, Ibn Abi Zayd al-Qayrawani’s al-Nawadir wa-al-Ziyadat, al-Lakhmi, al-Maziri, Abu al-Walid al-Baji, Ibn Yunus, and Ibn Rushd .
Reception and Marginalia
Bahram's commentaries were central to unlocking Khalil's text. Al-Hattab observed that the greater part of Mukhtasar Khalil became clear through Bahram's commentaries, noting that the intermediate commentary is the most famous among them . Al-Sakhawi described Bahram's commentary as widely beneficial and praised for its clarity in untying Khalil's phrasing without excessive lengthening in textual proofs and legal rationale, noting that it was relied upon by contemporaries and later scholars alike . The work was formally transmitted via scholarly chains (asanid); al-Hattab recorded receiving and reading almost the entire intermediate commentary under his father through chains passing through al-Bisati back to Bahram .
Later scholars wrote marginal glosses (hawashi) on the text, including a hashiyah by the Maliki jurist Hasan ibn Yusuf ibn Mahdi al-Zayati (d. 1023 AH), which was subsequently completed by his son Abd al-Aziz .
Editions
The text was published in five volumes by Markaz Najibawayh lil-Makhtutat wa-Khidmat al-Turath in Casablanca (first edition, 1434 AH / 2013 CE), edited by Ahmad ibn Abd al-Karim Najib and Hafiz ibn Abd al-Rahman Khayr . The edition was established from multiple manuscripts, including a primary copy held at Markaz Najibawayh, copies from the Hasaniyya Library in Rabat, and a manuscript preserved at the National Library in Ankara .
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