Uyun al-Adilla fi Masail al-Khilaf bayn Fuqaha al-Amsar - Kitab al-Tahara
- Author died
- 397 AH
- Editions
- T Jamiat al-Imam
Uyun al-Adilla fi Masail al-Khilaf bayn Fuqaha al-Amsar - Kitab al-Tahara (The Sources of Proofs in Disputed Issues Among the Jurists of the Regions – The Book of Purification) is the section on ritual purification from the comparative legal treatise authored by the Baghdadi Maliki jurist and judge Ibn al-Qassar (d. 397 AH / 1007 CE; another report gives 398 AH) .
Background and Purpose
The broader work was composed in response to a request addressed to Ibn al-Qassar to compile the evidences on disputed legal questions between Malik ibn Anas and the jurists of other major centers, explaining the supporting arguments for each position . The book came to be known by several variant titles, including Uyun al-Adilla and Kitab Masa'il al-Khilaf, while later bibliographers like Hajji Khalifa recorded it as Uyun al-Adilla wa-Idah al-Milla . It originally formed part of an encyclopedic compendium of high-level comparative jurisprudence (fiqh al-khilaf al-ali); al-Udfuwi reported that Ibn Daqiq al-Id owned a copy of the work spanning around thirty volumes .
Structure and Methodology
The section on purification covers 86 disputed legal questions (mas'ala) pertaining to ritual purity . In the extant arrangement, Kitab al-Tahara immediately follows the author's introductory discourse on legal theory (usul al-fiqh), which establishes the hermeneutical principles governing the substantive debates .
For each issue, Ibn al-Qassar outlines the positions held by the various legal schools, such as the Hanafis and Shafi'is, along with their textual and rational arguments, before expounding the proofs of the Maliki school . He conducts detailed evaluations of conflicting evidence by applying interpretive maxims, such as giving precedence to affirmative over negative reports and preferring prohibitive evidence over permissive texts .
Scholarly Reception and Abridgment
The work received high praise among classical jurists for its analytical depth. Abu Ishaq al-Shirazi stated that he knew of no work on comparative jurisprudence by the Malikis superior to it . Al-Qadi Abd al-Wahhab recounted that when he discussed Ibn al-Qassar and his defense of Malik's school with Abu Hamid al-Isfarayini, the latter remarked: "Your companion left nothing for anyone else to say" . Al-Qadi Abd al-Wahhab later abridged the work under the title Uyun al-Masa'il (also cited as Uyun al-Majalis) to facilitate memorization of the school's substantive rulings .
Manuscripts and Editions
The primary surviving manuscript witness for Kitab al-Tahara is preserved in the library of El Escorial in Spain (MS 1088), forming the first volume (al-sifr al-awwal) of the work in 187 folios, which contains the legal theory preface, the entire Book of Purification, and an initial portion of the Book of Prayer (Kitab al-Salat) .
Kitab al-Tahara was edited and published as an academic dissertation by Abd al-Hamid ibn Sa'd al-Sa'udi at Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University (1426 AH / 2006 CE) . It was subsequently included in a broader edition of the surviving volumes edited by Ahmad ibn Abd al-Salam Maghrawi, published by Dar Asfar in 1441 AH / 2020 CE .
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