Tanbih al-Ruqud ala Masael al-Nuqud
- Author died
- 1252 AH
- Editions
- T Istanbul
Tanbih al-Ruqud ala Masael al-Nuqud (Awakening the Slumberers to Monetary Issues) is a specialized legal treatise on Islamic monetary jurisprudence authored by the Damascene Hanafi jurist Ibn Abidin (d. 1252 AH / 1836 CE) .
Context and Composition
Ibn Abidin completed the treatise in 1230 AH (1815 CE) . The work was written within the framework of the Hanafi school prevailing in the Ottoman Empire, motivated in part by recurring imperial decrees (al-amr al-sultani) that officially depreciated or adjusted the exchange rates of circulating coins, causing widespread disputes in commercial transactions, debts, and contracts .
In structuring his arguments, Ibn Abidin summarized and incorporated much of an earlier treatise on the subject, Badhl al-Majhud fi Tahrir As'ilat Taghayyur al-Nuqud by al-Khatib al-Timirtashi (d. 1004 AH), while challenging several of al-Timirtashi’s conclusions and clarifying the authoritative positions for legal issuing of verdicts (fatwa) in the school .
Contents and Legal Themes
The treatise focuses systematically on four main conditions that affect circulating currencies:
- Price depreciation (rukhs)
- Price appreciation (ghala')
- Market obsolescence or stagnation (kasad)
- Complete cessation of circulation (inqita')
Ibn Abidin emphasizes that these jurisprudential rulings primarily govern conventional, customary money (al-nuqud al-istilahiyyah)—such as copper coins (fulus) and heavily alloyed or adulterated dirhams (al-darahim allati ghalaba ghishshuha)—whose monetary character is established through public custom and convention rather than intrinsic monetary nature, meaning that if people abandon transacting with them, their monetary character lapses .
The work synthesizes classical Hanafi source texts, comparing the foundational opinions of Abu Hanifah, Abu Yusuf, and Muhammad al-Shaybani regarding whether a contract becomes void upon currency obsolescence or requires repayment of equivalent value or market value on specific dates . Ibn Abidin also reviews contemporary fatwas concerning payments following state devaluation, warning against settlement practices that unfairly shift financial loss entirely onto sellers or creditors .
Publication
The treatise is published as part of the author's collected short works, Majmu'at Rasa'il Ibn Abidin, appearing in its second volume .
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