Tuhfat al-Raki wa al-Sajid bi-Ahkam al-Masajid
- Author died
- 883 AH
- Editions
- Wizārat al-Awqāf al-Kuwaytiyyah - Idārat Masājid Muḥāfaẓat al-Farwāniyyah - al-Murāqabah al-Thaqāfiyyah
Tuhfat al-Raki wa al-Sajid bi-Ahkam al-Masajid (The Gift to the Bower and Prostrator on the Legal Rulings of Mosques) is a treatise on the legal rulings, history, etiquette, and merits of mosques by the Hanbali jurist Taqi al-Din Abu Bakr ibn Zayd al-Jira'i (c. 825–883 AH / 1422–1478 CE) .
Purpose and Structure
Al-Jira'i composed the work to compile the virtues, historical accounts, and legal regulations concerning mosques and sacred sanctuaries . He organized the book into an introduction (muqaddimah), four major parts (kutub), and seventy-five chapters (abwab) :
- Introduction: Contains seven sections covering the excellence of mosques, the virtue of building and loving them, walking to them, their linguistic and legal definitions, their persistence on the Day of Resurrection, and the merits of staying within them .
- Book One: Comprises forty-eight chapters on the Kaaba and al-Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, detailing their names, construction, virtues, custodianship (sidana), the covering (kiswa), the Black Stone, the Yemeni Corner, the Hijr, the waterspout (mizab), places where prayers are answered, the boundaries of the Haram, Mina, Muzdalifah, Arafat, residency in Mecca (mujawara), and the prohibition of transporting stones or soil out of the sanctuary .
- Book Two: Comprises eighteen chapters dedicated to al-Masjid al-Nabawi in Medina, including its construction, merits, the Prophet’s pulpit and the Rawdah, the weeping trunk, historical renovations, the boundaries and virtues of Medina, the tombs of the Prophet ﷺ and his two companions, and Masjid Quba' .
- Book Three: Comprises five chapters on al-Masjid al-Aqsa in Jerusalem, treating its initial building, its merits, the conquest of Jerusalem, the prayer place built by Umar ibn al-Khattab, the Rock (al-Sakhrah), and its legal rulings .
- Book Four: Comprises four chapters addressing other mosques and historical notes on madrasas, including the first mosque built in Islam, the first mosque in Cairo, and a large compilation of specific legal rulings and manners governing mosques generally .
Method, Sources, and Reception
Biographers note that the work serves both as a historical compendium for the three sacred sanctuaries and a legal guide for mosques in general . Ibn Humayd praised it as "a book of eminent benefits and abundant returns," while remarking that much of its material was transmitted from I'lam al-Sajid bi-Ahkam al-Masajid by the Shafi'i scholar Badr al-Din al-Zarkashi . Modern editor and scholar Abd al-Rahman al-Uthaymin similarly categorized it as an abridgment of al-Zarkashi's work .
In contrast, other scholars and editors highlight significant distinctions: al-Jira'i did not explicitly declare the work an abridgment of al-Zarkashi, his chapter divisions and coverage diverge widely, he drew upon far more references, and he anchored the juridical positions primarily in the Hanbali school, whereas al-Zarkashi centered on Shafi'i jurisprudence . Al-Jira'i also cited his own work al-Awa'il within the text .
Editions and Manuscripts
The book was first edited by Taha al-Wali and published by al-Maktab al-Islami in Beirut (1401 AH / 1981 CE), relying on a single manuscript from Kuwait whose transcription was completed across three successive hands—Abd al-Rahman ibn Jalal, an unnamed scholar from Buraydah, and Abd Allah ibn Khalaf al-Dahyan in 1333 AH .
A subsequent edition was published by the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs in Kuwait in 1425 AH / 2004 CE, prepared by Salih Salim al-Nahham, Muhammad Bani al-Mutayri, Sabah Abd al-Karim al-Inazi, and Faysal Yusuf al-Ali . This edition was collated against three primary manuscripts—an Iraqi copy dated 1097 AH transcribed by Ibrahim ibn Tu'ma al-Salihi, the Kuwaiti copy, and a King Saud University copy—alongside an older copy discovered in the King Abdulaziz Public Library in Riyadh dating to 1056 AH .
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