This book presents a critical edition of the twelfth/eighteenth century manuscript on the subject of legal maxims ‘Umdat al-Nāzir ʿalā al-Ashbāh wa’l-Naẓāʾir’. It was composed by a distinguished Hanifite jurist Abū ‘l-Suʿūd al-Ḥusaynī and is a commentary on an earlier seminal text al-Ashbāh wa’l-Naẓāʾir’ authored by Ibn Nujaym in the tenth/sixteenth century. The volume is divided into three main parts the first of which provides an historical and theoretical introduction to the genre of al-qawāʿid al-fiqhiyyah (legal maxims). The second part introduces the two texts and their authors, discusses their literary legacy within the Ḥanafī School of law and covers issues of editing, authenticity and provenance. Finally, the third part of the book consists of four edited chapters of the ‘Umdat al-Nāzir ʿalā al-Ashbāh wa’l-Naẓāʾir’. The first of these is the author’s introduction to his work followed by three chapters, one for each of the first three qawāʿid. The work is important as a commentary on one of the most significant legal texts which revived interest in the subject within the Hanafi School of law after a stagnation period of five centuries. It is also the most copious of all the forty-four commentaries on Ibn Nujaym’s book and it is a combination of the commentaries of at least three well known Ḥanafite scholars. Because Abū’l-Suʿūd synthesizes the most authoritative opinions from these commentaries, ʿUmdat al-Nāẓir serves as a definitive summation of the discourse on legal maxims within the school.

The first part of this introductory monograph explores some of the historical and conceptual aspects of al-qawāʿid al-fiqhiyyah, as they relate to the genre’s designation, origin, development, and purpose or importance. The designation of al-qawāʿid al-fiqhiyyah seems not to have appeared until long after the first works that are now considered to belong to the genre; the earliest rudimentary beginnings were instead referred to as uṣūl. Medieval scholars proposed various definitions regarding the word qāʿidah (sing. of qawāʿid) alone and al-qawāʿid al-fiqhiyyah as a technical term. Chapter 1 explores some of the opinions ventured, with a view to formulating a uniform definition of the term and outlining the difference between al-qawāʿid al-fiqhiyyah and other legal genres whose titles also express expressions of principles.

Chapter 2 discusses al-ashbāh wa’l-naẓāʾir, a term that first appeared in the eighth/fourteenth century AH/CE to refer to al-qawāʿid al-fiqhiyyah. The chapter gives reasons for this term’s appearance and explains its relationship with al-qawāʿid al-fiqhiyyah.

Chapter 3 examines the sources from which classical scholars gathered their qawāʿid by various methods; I focus on the Ḥanafī school, for the simple reason that the author of Umdat al-Nāẓir ʿalā al-Ashbāh wa’l-Naẓāʾir, Abū ’l-Suʿūd, was a Ḥanafī scholar. The following chapter looks at the historical development of al-qawāʿid al-fiqhiyyah as a specific genre within the development of fiqh in general up to the tenth/sixteenth century AH/CE. This is the century when Ibn Nujaym compiled his Al-Ashbāh wa’l-Naẓāʾir: the work has inspired many commentaries over the following centuries, of which ‘Umdat al-Nāẓir ‘alā al-Ashbāh wa’l-Naẓāʾir is one.

Modern scholarship is divided on the question of whether al-qawāʿid al-fiqhiyyah might legitimately be used to arrive at legal rulings for unprecedented incidents, and those on both sides of the debate agree that the general rules proffered by most qawāʿid are predominantly, rather than universally, valid; this means that although al-qawāʿid are supposed to be universal, there are individual cases which are exceptions to the rules provided by particular qawāʿid—a factor that, according to those opposed to applying qawāʿid to new precedents, affects the authoritative quality of al-qawāʿid al-fiqhiyyah.

By examining the circumstances surrounding the evolution of al-qawāʿid, I contend in Chapter 5 that al-qawāʿid can be used to arrive at rulings for new incidents and explain why the development of the genre was ad hoc.

The second part comprises three chapters. Chapter 6 discusses the importance of Ibn Nujaym’s Al-Ashbāh wa’l-Naẓāʾir.

Chapter 7 introduces Abū ’l-Suʿūd and ‘Umdat al-Nāẓir ‘alā al-Ashbāh wa’l-Naẓāʾir. The significance of the two authors and their literary legacy within the Ḥanafī school is discussed.

Chapter 8 describes the manuscripts that were used to edit the text, noting how their authenticity was determined and explaining the method of editing that I adopted.

This book presents a critical edition of the twelfth/eighteenth century ah/ce manuscript on the subject of legal maxims ʿUmdat al-Nāzir ʿalā al-Ashbāh wa’l-Naẓāʾir . It was composed by the distinguished Ḥanifite jurist Abū ‘l-Suʿūd al-Ḥusaynī and is a commentary on an earlier seminal text Al-Ashbāh wa’l-Naẓāʾir’ , authored by Ibn Nujaym in the tenth/sixteenth century. The volume is divided into three main parts, the first of which provides an historical and theoretical introduction to the genre of al-qawāʿid al-fiqhiyyah (legal maxims). The second part introduces the two texts and their authors, discusses their literary legacy within the Ḥanafī School of law and covers issues of editing, authenticity and provenance. Finally, the third part of the book consists of seven edited chapters of the ʿUmdat al-Nāzir ʿalā al-Ashbāh wa’l-Naẓāʾir . The first of these is the author’s introduction to his work followed by one for each of the first six qawāʿid . The work is important as a commentary on one of the most significant legal texts which revived interest in the subject within the Ḥanafī School of law after five centuries of stagnation. It is also the most copious of all the forty-four commentaries on Ibn Nujaym’s book and it is a combination of the commentaries of at least three well known Ḥanafite scholars. Because Abū’l-Suʿūd synthesises the most authoritative opinions from these commentaries, ʿUmdat al-Nāẓir serves as a definitive summation of the discourse on legal maxims within the school.

This book presents a critical edition of the twelfth/eighteenth century ah/ce manuscript on the subject of legal maxims ʿUmdat al-Nāzir ʿalā al-Ashbāh wa’l-Naẓāʾir . It was composed by the distinguished Ḥanifite jurist Abū ‘l-Suʿūd al-Ḥusaynī and is a commentary on an earlier seminal text Al-Ashbāh wa’l-Naẓāʾir’ , authored by Ibn Nujaym in the tenth/sixteenth century. The volume is divided into three main parts, the first of which provides an historical and theoretical introduction to the genre of al-qawāʿid al-fiqhiyyah (legal maxims). The second part introduces the two texts and their authors, discusses their literary legacy within the Ḥanafī School of law and covers issues of editing, authenticity and provenance. Finally, the third part of the book consists of seven edited chapters of the ʿUmdat al-Nāzir ʿalā al-Ashbāh wa’l-Naẓāʾir . The first of these is the author’s introduction to his work followed by one for each of the first six qawāʿid . The work is important as a commentary on one of the most significant legal texts which revived interest in the subject within the Ḥanafī School of law after five centuries of stagnation. It is also the most copious of all the forty-four commentaries on Ibn Nujaym’s book and it is a combination of the commentaries of at least three well known Ḥanafite scholars. Because Abū’l-Suʿūd synthesises the most authoritative opinions from these commentaries, ʿUmdat al-Nāẓir serves as a definitive summation of the discourse on legal maxims within the school.

The edited text of ‘Umdat al-Nāẓir ‘alā al-Ashbāh wa’l-Naẓāʾir that follows the present introduction includes Abū ’l-Suʿūd’s own brief introduction to his work, his commentary on Ibn Nujaym’s introduction to his Ashbāh, and his commentary on the six major qawāʿid included in Al-Ashbāh.