Uddat al-Buruq fi Jam ma fi al-Madhhab min al-Jumu wa al-Furuq
- Author died
- 914 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Gharb al-Islāmī
Uddat al-Buruq fi Jam‘ ma fi al-Madhhab min al-Jumu‘ wa al-Furuq (The Equipment of Flashes in Gathering the School's Groupings and Distinctions) is a treatise on Maliki legal distinctions (al-furuq al-fiqhiyya) by the North African jurist Ahmad ibn Yahya al-Wansharisi (d. 914 AH / 1508 CE) .
Composition and Title
Al-Wansharisi authored the work twice . He initially drafted it while residing in Tlemcen, but that original manuscript was lost when his residence was looted during an ordeal with the local ruler that compelled his flight to Fez in 874 AH . In the introduction, he recounts that unruly individuals pillaged his property and took the manuscript, causing him immense distress . He reconstituted and finalized the second version in Fez, finishing it on 15 Rabi‘ al-Thani 885 AH . The book's rhyming title may have been influenced by a similarly named work on groupings and distinctions by Abu al-Ala al-Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Basri . In certain manuscript copies, the title appears with slight scribal variation as ‘Uddat al-Furuq, while its Fez lithograph edition bore the title ‘Uddat al-Furuq fi Talkhis ma fi al-Madhhab min al-Jumu‘ wa al-Furuq .
Scope and Method
Al-Wansharisi stated that the purpose of compiling the work was to provide a reference for resolving apparent discrepancies and contradictions encountered across al-Mudawwana and other foundational texts (ummahat al-riwayat) of the Maliki school .
The work is organized sequentially according to standard substantive law chapters (abwab al-fiqh), using headings such as Furuq Kitab al-Tahara (Distinctions of the Book of Purification) and Furuq Kitab al-Salat (Distinctions of the Book of Prayer) . In total, the text contains 1,155 legal distinctions between parallel subsidiary cases (furu‘) . Al-Wansharisi's method generally entails identifying the authorities who issued particular legal rulings, attributing distinctions directly to their originators, and occasionally presenting multiple differentiating points between two analogous cases . He also introduces overarching legal maxims (qawa‘id) and outlines the subordinate branch rulings governed by them . Within the book, al-Wansharisi refers back to only three of his other writings: Idah al-Masalik ila Qawaid al-Imam Malik (twice), Ida’at al-Duluk (once), and Tanbih al-Talib al-Darrak (once) .
Editions
The book was early printed as a lithograph in Fez . It was later edited critically by Hamza Abu Faris and published by Dar al-Gharb al-Islami in Beirut in 1410 AH / 1990 CE . Another edition, edited by Ahmad Farid al-Mazyadi, was published alongside Idah al-Masalik by Dar al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyya in Beirut in 1426 AH / 2005 CE .
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