Genealogy of the Abu Shujā‘ series

One of the first names students of the Shāfi‘ī school learn is ``Abū Shujā‘.''

Abū Shujā is Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn Aḥmad al-Aṣfahānī. He was born in 433 AH. He taught Shāfi‘ī fiqh in Baṣra for forty years. He was appointed judge of Aṣfahān, Persia. During the period of his judgeship, justice and religiosity spread. He died in Medina, though it is not certain in which year. He was buried in a mosque he had built close to the Prophet's Mosque . It is said that he lived 166 years without losing use of any of his faculties. When asked about this, he explained that he preserved his faculties from disobedience, so Allāh preserved them. In addition to our book, his works include a commentary on al-Māwardī's Iqnā‘. May Allāh grant him His mercy.

His text is usually the first book in the Shāfi‘ī syllabus that covers the whole range of legal topics. The book is known to have two different titles: Ghāyat al-Taqrīb and Ghāyat al-Ikhstiṣār. It is also dubbed Matn Abī Shujā‘.

Chances are that the student will read the book at several stages in his study.

In his early stages, he is likely to read the text alone or with a brief commentary, such as Ibn Qāsim al-Ghazzī's Fatḥ al-Qarīb al-Mujīb, also entitled al-Qawl al-Mukhtār fī Ghāyat al-Ikhtiṣār. Students interested in memorizing the text may prefer al-‘Amariṭī’s versification in 1225 lines, entitled Naẓm al-Ghāyat wa al-Taqrīb.

Next, he might move with a full commentary which includes additional issues and evidence, such Walī al-Dīn al-Baṣīr’s al-Nihāyah or al-Khaṭīb al-Sharbīnī's Iqnā‘. If he has memorized al-‘Amariṭī's versification, he may prefer its commentary Tuḥfat al-Ḥabīb by al-Fashanī.

After this, he might read the various meta-commentaries and marginal notes (hawāshī). These include al-Jāwī's commentary Qūt al-Ḥabīb al-Gharīb and al-Bājūrī's notes – both on Ibn Qāsim's commentary; and al-Bijīrmī's notes on al-Sharbīnī's Iqnā‘.

The text has been set into verse many times. The most popular today is Nihāyat al-Tadrīb by Sharaf al-Dīn Yaḥyā al-‘Imrīṭī (989H). It is 1225 lines long, and includes additions and corrections. It has a commentary Tuḥfat al-Ḥabīb, by al-Fashanī (978H)

Less popular attempts include:

• Aḥmad al-Ibshīṭī (883H)
• ‘Abd al-Qādir bin al-Muẓaffar (892H)
• Nashr al-Shu‘ā ‘alā Matn Abī Shujā‘, by al-Dusarī (931H)
• Aḥmad bin ‘Abd al-Sallam (931H)

<style float-right box center>
Major books in the series </style>

• al-Iqnā‘, Aḥmad bin Muḥammad (931H), with its meta-commentary Tashnīf al-Asmā' bi Ḥalli Alfāẓ Abī Shujā‘, by Aḥmad bin Muḥammad (931H).
• Sharḥ Mukhtaṣar Abī Shujā‘, by Aḥmad al-Akhṣāṣī (889H)
• Tuḥfạt al-Ḥabib, by Ibn Daqīq al-‘Īd (702H)
• Kifāyat al-Akhyār, by al-Husnī (829H)
• al-Nihāyah fī Sharḥ al-Ghāyah, by Walī al-Dīn al-Baṣīr (972H)
• al-Iqnā‘ fī Ḥall Alfāẓ Abī Shujā‘, by Muḥammad al-Khaṭīb al-Shirbīnī (977H). It has numerous meta-commentaries:
  • Taqrīrāt, by al-Bājūrī (1277H) and Shaykh ‘Iwaḍ
  • al-Bijīrmī (1221H)
  • al-Mudābighī (1170H)
  • al-Ajhūrī (1190H)
  • al-Nabrāwī
• Fatḥ al-Qarīb al-Mujīb, by Ibn Qāsim al-Ghazzī (918H). It has numerous meta-commentaries:
  • al-‘Azīzī
  • al-Qalyūbī (1069H)
  • al-Barmāwī (1106H)
  • al-Bājūrī (1277H)
  • Qūt al-Ḥabīb al-Gharib, by al-Nawawī al-Jāwī

Abū Bakr bin Qāḍī ‘Ajlūn (928H) has a ‘Umdat al-Nuẓẓām fī Taṣḥīḥ Ghāyat al-Ikhtiṣār which – going by the title – polishes up mistakes and weak rulings.

Many recent editions include glosses of technical terms and point out places where later scholar differed with rulings given in the book, such as Mājid al-Ḥamawī’s edition of the book.

In al-Tahdhīb fī Adillat Matn al-Ghāyat wa al-Taqrīb, Dr Muṣṭafā al-Bughā gives basic textual evidence for most of the rulings in the book. He includes glosses for difficult words and citations for narrations. One must be aware that he does not stick to the narrations given in Shāfi‘ī books which specialize in evidence, and that he rarely presents the argumentation or reasoning. Nonetheless, the book is very useful.