Tuhfat al-Turk fima yajibu an yu'mal fi al-mulk
- Author died
- 758 AH
- Editions
- ‘Abd al-Karīm Muḥammad Muṭī‘ al-Ḥamdāwī
Tuhfat al-Turk fima yajibu an yu'mal fi al-mulk (The Gift to the Turks on What Must Be Done in Governance) is a 14th-century treatise on Islamic political jurisprudence and statecraft by the Hanafi chief judge of Damascus, Najm al-Din al-Tarsusi (d. 758 AH / 1357 CE).
Context and Composition
The author, Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn Ali al-Tarsusi, served as the chief Hanafi judge of Damascus from 746 AH until his death. He completed the composition of the work on Wednesday, 14 Dhu al-Qi'da 753 AH (December 1352 CE). Addressed to the Mamluk ruling elite—referred to collectively as the Turks—the book was written to articulate a legal and administrative framework that legitimized Mamluk governance within Islamic law.
Structure and Content
The treatise is organized as a concise work divided into twelve chapters. It also incorporates within its text a specialized sub-treatise titled al-Nur al-lami' fima yu'malu bihi fi al-jami', which details the administrative regulations, staffing, and financial management of the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus.
A central theme of the work is the legal accommodation of Mamluk rule and an explicit defense of the practical superiority of Hanafi jurisprudence over the Shafi'i school in state administration. In discussing the qualifications of the supreme ruler (al-imam), al-Tarsusi contrasts the Shafi'i requirement of Qurayshite lineage, legal independent reasoning (ijtihad), and moral rectitude (adala) with the Hanafi position. He argues that strictly enforcing Shafi'i conditions would delegitimize non-Arab and Turkish rulers, invalidate their judicial appointments, and destabilize military allegiance and civil order. By contrast, he notes that Hanafi doctrine validates the investiture of both just and unjust rulers—drawing historical precedent from the Companions accepting offices under Mu'awiya despite his dispute with 'Ali—concluding that Hanafi jurisprudence is inherently more compatible with Turkish rule.
Attribution and Transmission
In bibliographical literature, including Hajji Khalifa's Kashf al-Zunun, as well as on several manuscript title pages, the work was occasionally attributed to al-Tarsusi's maternal grandfather, Ibn Abi al-'Izz, or inscribed under the name of Baha' al-Din ibn 'Ali al-Tarsusi. However, the bulk of manuscript colophons and primary biographical sources confirm Najm al-Din al-Tarsusi as the author.
Manuscripts of the text are preserved in multiple collections, including the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin (MS 5614), the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris (MSS 2445 and 2446), the 'Arif Hikmat Library in Medina (MS 10/83 Fiqh Hanafi), and several copies at the Süleymaniye Library in Istanbul (including the Aya Sofya, Hekimoğlu Ali Paşa, Halet Efendi, and Wahbah al-Baghdadi collections). A critical edition of the book was prepared and published by 'Abd al-Karim Muhammad Muti' al-Hamdawi.
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