Tuhfat al-Muluk
- Author died
- 666 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Bashā'ir al-Islāmiyyah
Tuhfat al-Muluk (The Gift of Kings) is a concise manual of Hanafi jurisprudence (furu' al-fiqh) composed by Zayn al-Din al-Razi (d. 666 AH / 1268 CE), focusing primarily on acts of worship alongside selected legal and ethical topics .
Attribution and Purpose
The treatise is widely attributed across biographical and bibliographical traditions to Zayn al-Din Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr al-Razi . A variant report noted by Haji Khalifa mentions an alternative attribution of the text to Abu al-Makarim Shams al-Din Muhammad ibn Taj al-Din Ibrahim al-Tuqati . Al-Razi originally compiled this succinct abridgment for some of his brethren to provide a clear and accessible summary of legal rulings . The text opens with praise of God and blessings upon His chosen servants: الحمد لله وسلام على عباده الذين اصطفى ("Praise be to God, and peace be upon His servants whom He has chosen") .
Structure and Contents
The manual is structured into ten distinct books (kutub) that cover essential areas of positive law :
- Kitab al-Taharah (Purification)
- Kitab al-Salah (Prayer)
- Kitab al-Zakah (Almsgiving)
- Kitab al-Hajj (Pilgrimage)
- Kitab al-Sawm (Fasting)
- Kitab al-Jihad (Striving and warfare)
- Kitab al-Sayd (Hunting)
- Kitab al-Karahiyah (Disapproved matters and abominations)
- Kitab al-Fara'id (Inheritance shares)
- Kitab al-Kasb ma'a al-Adab (Earning a livelihood and etiquette)
Commentaries and Reception
Owing to its brevity and systematic arrangement, Tuhfat al-Muluk became a popular primer for students and was studied and commented upon by several notable scholars :
- Badr al-Din al-Ayni (d. 855 AH / 1451 CE) authored an extensive commentary titled Minhat al-Suluk fi Sharh Tuhfat al-Muluk . Al-Ayni noted that he was motivated to write it upon seeing students in Egypt actively occupied with memorizing and studying the text, and he also prepared an exposition for the Mamluk amir Shaykh al-Safawi (known as Shaykh al-Khassaki) .
- Abd al-Latif ibn Abd al-Aziz, known as Ibn Malak (or Ibn Malik), composed an intertwined commentary (sharh mamzuj) on the text .
- Zayn al-Din wrote a commentary entitled Hadiyyat al-Sa'luk fi Sharh Tuhfat al-Muluk .
- In contemporary scholarship, Abd al-Muhsin al-Qasim authored Al-Masbuk 'ala Minhat al-Suluk, a four-volume supercommentary and critical study of al-Ayni's commentary on the text based on multiple manuscripts .
Editions
Tuhfat al-Muluk has been published in a critical edition prepared by Abd Allah Nadhir Ahmad, issued by Dar al-Basha'ir al-Islamiyyah in Beirut (1417 AH / 1996 CE) .
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