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مَرَاتِبُ الْكُتُبِ · Marātib al-Kutub: Ranking the Books, From the Six Down to the Ones You May Not Use
كُتُبُ ظَاهِرِ الرِّوَايَةِ السِّتَّةُ (أَبْيَاتُ ١١-١٤) · The Six Books of Zahir al-Riwaya, as the Verse Lists Them
The books of ẓāhir al-riwāya came to six. They are also called al-Uṣūl. Muḥammad al-Shaybānī (d. 189H) wrote them, and set out Abū Ḥanīfa's madhhab in them. The verse names them in its own order, to fit the metre: al-Jāmiʿ al-Ṣaghīr, al-Jāmiʿ al-Kabīr, al-Siyar al-Kabīr, al-Siyar al-Ṣaghīr, then al-Ziyādāt with al-Mabsūṭ. For the order that matters, which is the order he wrote them in, see the next line.
- وَكُتُبُ ظَاهِرِ الرِّوَايَاتِ أَتَتْ سِتًّا وَبِالْأُصُولِ أَيْضًا سُمِّيَتْ. صَنَّفَهَا مُحَمَّدٌ الشَّيْبَانِيُّ، حَرَّرَ فِيهَا الْمَذْهَبَ النُّعْمَانِيَّ: الْجَامِعُ الصَّغِيرُ وَالْكَبِيرُ، وَالسِّيَرُ الْكَبِيرُ وَالصَّغِيرُ، ثُمَّ الزِّيَادَاتُ مَعَ الْمَبْسُوطِ
The order he wrote them in: al-Mabsūṭ first, also called al-Aṣl. Then al-Jāmiʿ al-Ṣaghīr. Then al-Jāmiʿ al-Kabīr. Then al-Ziyādāt. Then al-Siyar al-Kabīr, last of the six. Al-Siyar al-Ṣaghīr comes before al-Siyar al-Kabīr, but the sharḥ does not place it against the other four. All six are by Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan al-Shaybānī (d. 189H). This is the order to learn, because a later book beats an earlier one when they clash.
- الْمَبْسُوطُ، الزِّيَادَاتُ، الْجَامِعَانِ (الصَّغِيرُ وَالْكَبِيرُ)، السِّيَرَانِ (الصَّغِيرُ وَالْكَبِيرُ) — كُلُّهَا لِمُحَمَّدِ بْنِ الْحَسَنِ الشَّيْبَانِيِّ
These are called Masāʾil al-Uṣūl. They are the strongest layer of the madhhab.
- تُسَمَّى مَسَائِلَ الْأُصُولِ — وَهِيَ أَقْوَى طَبَقَاتِ الْمَذْهَبِ
Careful: scholars argue about the edges of "the six." Some do not count al-Siyar al-Ṣaghīr. Some leave al-Ziyādāt out of "ẓāhir al-riwāya" while still counting it among "al-Uṣūl." Some add al-Muḥīṭ. Do not be thrown by a list that differs by one.
- حُدُودُ "السِّتَّةِ" نَفْسُهَا مُخْتَلَفٌ فِيهَا بَيْنَ الْمُحَقِّقِينَ: بَعْضُهُمْ لَا يَعُدُّ السِّيَرَ الصَّغِيرَ مِنْهَا، وَبَعْضُهُمْ يُسْقِطُ الزِّيَادَاتِ مِنْ "ظَاهِرِ الرِّوَايَةِ" مَعَ عَدِّهَا مِنَ "الْأُصُولِ"، وَبَعْضُهُمْ يُضِيفُ الْمُحِيطَ إِلَيْهَا
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خِلَافُ ابْنِ كَمَالٍ بَاشَا مَعَ ابْنِ عَابِدِينَ: هَلْ ظَاهِرُ الرِّوَايَةِ أَعَمُّ مِنْ رِوَايَةِ الْأُصُولِ؟ · A Small Note: Is "Zahir al-Riwaya" Wider Than "Riwayat al-Usul"?
Most scholars say the two terms mean the same thing. Ibn Kamāl Bāshā (d. 940H) said ẓāhir al-riwāya is wider. Ibn ʿĀbidīn answered him, and the majority view stands.
- الْجُمْهُورُ: لَا فَرْقَ بَيْنَهُمَا، وَرِوَايَةُ النَّوَادِرِ لَا تَكُونُ ظَاهِرَ رِوَايَةٍ إِلَّا إِذَا ذُكِرَتْ فِي كُتُبِ الْأُصُولِ. ابْنُ كَمَالٍ بَاشَا: رِوَايَةُ الْأُصُولِ خَاصَّةٌ بِالْأُمَّهَاتِ السِّتِّ، وَظَاهِرُ الرِّوَايَةِ عَامٌّ قَدْ يُطْلَقُ عَلَى مَا فِي غَيْرِهَا مِمَّا يَكُونُ نَادِرَ الرِّوَايَةِ
So treat the two as one and the same. A nawādir report counts as ẓāhir al-riwāya when the Uṣūl books carry its substance too.
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تَرْتِيبُ تَصْنِيفِ كُتُبِ ظَاهِرِ الرِّوَايَةِ، وَتَقَدُّمُ اللَّاحِقِ عَلَى السَّابِقِ عِنْدَ التَّعَارُضِ · Chronology of the Six Books — the Later One Wins on Conflict
Verses 17 to 19. Al-Mabsūṭ became known as "al-Aṣl" because it came first of the six. Al-Jāmiʿ al-Ṣaghīr came after it, so where the two clash, al-Jāmiʿ al-Ṣaghīr wins. Al-Siyar al-Kabīr was written last of the six, and it is the one relied on.
- وَاشْتُهِرَ الْمَبْسُوطُ بِالْأَصْلِ وَذَا لِسَبْقِهِ تَصْنِيفًا، كَذَا الْجَامِعُ الصَّغِيرُ بَعْدَهُ فَمَا فِيهِ عَلَى الْأَصْلِ لِذَا تَقَدَّمَا، وَآخِرُ السِّتَّةِ تَصْنِيفًا وَرَدَ السِّيَرُ الْكَبِيرُ فَهُوَ الْمُعْتَمَدُ
The rule for a muqallid: act on the latest written work, which is al-Siyar. Unless the later mashāyikh chose otherwise. Then act on their choice, even if it is Zufar's view.
- والمقلّد يأخذ بالتصنيف الأخير، وهو السير إلا أن يختار المشايخ المتأخرون خلافه، فيجب العمل به، ولو كان قول زفر
- لِأَنَّ الْجَامِعَ الصَّغِيرَ صُنِّفَ بَعْدَ الْأَصْلِ فَصَارَ بِمَنْزِلَةِ النَّاسِخِ لَهُ، فَيَتَقَدَّمُ عَلَيْهِ عِنْدَ التَّعَارُضِ؛ سُمِّيَ الْأَصْلُ أَصْلًا لِأَنَّهُ صُنِّفَ أَوَّلًا، ثُمَّ الْجَامِعُ الصَّغِيرُ، ثُمَّ الْكَبِيرُ، ثُمَّ الزِّيَادَاتُ
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الْكَافِي لِلْحَاكِمِ الشَّهِيدِ يَجْمَعُ الْكُتُبَ السِّتَّةَ، وَأَقْوَى شُرُوحِهِ مَبْسُوطُ السَّرَخْسِيِّ · al-Kafi Gathers the Six Books, and al-Sarakhsi's Mabsut Is Its Great Commentary
Verse 20. Al-Kāfī, by al-Ḥākim al-Shahīd (d. 334H), gathers the six base books into one. It earns its name, "the Sufficient one." Its strongest commentary is al-Sarakhsī's (d. c. 500H) Mabsūṭ. That transmission is relied on. Scholars do not act against it and do not turn away from it.
- وَيَجْمَعُ السِّتَّ كِتَابُ الْكَافِي لِلْحَاكِمِ الشَّهِيدِ فَهُوَ الْكَافِي؛ أَقْوَى شُرُوحِهِ الَّذِي كَالشَّمْسِ مَبْسُوطُ شَمْسِ الْأَئِمَّةِ السَّرَخْسِيِّ، مُعْتَمَدُ النُّقُولِ لَيْسَ يُعْمَلُ بِخِلَافِهِ وَلَيْسَ عَنْهُ يُعْدَلُ
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الْمُتُونُ الْمُعْتَبَرَةُ · al-Mutun al-Mu'tabara
Al-Wiqāya, by Burhān al-Sharīʿa al-Maḥbūbī (d. c. 673H). Kanz al-Daqāʾiq, by al-Nasafī (d. 710H). Al-Mukhtār, by al-Mawṣilī (d. 683H). Majmaʿ al-Baḥrayn, by Ibn al-Sāʿātī (d. 694H). Tanwīr al-Abṣār, by al-Timurtāshī (d. 1004H).
- الْوِقَايَةُ، كَنْزُ الدَّقَائِقِ، الْمُخْتَارُ، مَجْمَعُ الْبَحْرَيْنِ، تَنْوِيرُ الْأَبْصَارِ
These authors keep rejected views out of their books. They belong to the tier of muqallids who can tell views apart, tier six.
- أَلَّا يَذْكُرُوا الْأَقْوَالَ الْمَرْدُودَةَ — وَهُمْ مِنْ "أَصْحَابِ التَّمْيِيزِ"
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التَّحَرُّزُ مِنَ الْكُتُبِ الْمُخْتَصَرَةِ · Be Careful With the Heavily Shortened Books
These are texts squeezed so tight they almost turn into riddles. They leave gaps in their citations. Sometimes they prefer a view that is not the stronger one. Later books are the worst offenders, above all the ones nobody edited carefully.
- كُتُبٌ تَكَادُ مِنْ شِدَّةِ الِاخْتِصَارِ وَالْإِيجَازِ تَلْتَحِقُ بِالْأَلْغَازِ، مَعَ مَا اشْتَمَلَتْ عَلَيْهِ مِنَ السَّقْطِ فِي النَّقْلِ، وَتَرْجِيحِ مَا هُوَ خِلَافُ الرَّاجِحِ
Al-Durr al-Mukhtār, by al-Ḥaṣkafī (d. 1088H). Al-Nahr al-Fāʾiq, by Sirāj al-Dīn Ibn Nujaym (d. 1005H). Sharḥ al-Kanz, by Mulla Miskin. And al-Quhustānī (d. 962H).
- الدُّرُّ الْمُخْتَارُ، النَّهْرُ، مُلَّا مِسْكِينَ شَرْحُ الْكَنْزِ، الْقُهُسْتَانِيُّ
Named examples of exactly that: al-Qāhistānī's Sharḥ al-Niqāya, al-Durr al-Mukhtār, and al-Ashbāh wa'l-Naẓāʾir. They carry copying mistakes, and sometimes prefer a view that is not Ḥanafī at all.
- الْكُتُبُ الْمُتَأَخِّرَةُ، خُصُوصًا غَيْرُ الْمُحَرَّرَةِ كَشَرْحِ النُّقَايَةِ لِلْقُهُسْتَانِيِّ، وَالدُّرِّ الْمُخْتَارِ، وَالْأَشْبَاهِ وَالنَّظَائِرِ وَنَحْوِهَا؛ فَإِنَّهَا لِشِدَّةِ الِاخْتِصَارِ وَالْإِيجَازِ كَادَتْ تَلْتَحِقُ بِالْأَلْغَازِ، مَعَ مَا اشْتَمَلَتْ عَلَيْهِ مِنَ السَّقْطِ فِي النَّقْلِ، وَتَرْجِيحِ مَا هُوَ خِلَافُ الرَّاجِحِ، بَلْ مَا هُوَ مَذْهَبُ الْغَيْرِ
You may not give fatwā from a compilation nobody knows. This is reason five above, applied to named books: Mulla Miskin's Sharḥ al-Kanz, and al-Qāhistānī (d. 962H, also reported as 952H).
- لَا تَجُوزُ الْفَتْوَى مِنَ التَّصَانِيفِ غَيْرِ الْمَشْهُورَةِ؛ وَمِنَ الْكُتُبِ الْغَرِيبَةِ: مُلَّا مِسْكِينٍ شَرْحُ الْكَنْزِ وَالْقُهُسْتَانِيُّ، لِعَدَمِ الِاطِّلَاعِ عَلَى حَالِ مُؤَلِّفِيهِمَا
الْعِلْمُ بِالْمَأْخَذِ · Know the Source: a Condition on Those Shortened Books Only
- This condition belongs to those shortened books, not to the muʿtabar mutūn above them. You may not give fatwā out of those shortened books unless you know the original source they are quoting, and can get to it yourself.
- لَا يَجُوزُ الْإِفْتَاءُ مِنْ هَذِهِ الْكُتُبِ إِلَّا إِذَا عَلِمَ الْمَنْقُولَ عَنْهُ وَالِاطِّلَاعَ عَلَى مَأْخَذِهَا
- Shaykh Ṣāliḥ al-Junaynī, quoted by Ibn ʿĀbidīn (d. 1252H).
- الشَّيْخُ صَالِحُ الْجِنِينِيُّ، نَقَلَهُ ابْنُ عَابِدِينَ
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تَرْجِيحُ كُتُبِ الْفَتَاوَى · Choosing Between the Fatawa Collections
Sometimes two books each declare a different view to be the sound one. Take al-Khāniyya, by Fakhr al-Dīn Qāḍīkhān (d. 593H), against al-Bazzāziyya, by Ibn al-Bazzāz al-Kardarī (d. 827H). Qāḍīkhān's taṣḥīḥ is the stronger one.
- إِذَا تَعَارَضَ تَصْحِيحَانِ بَيْنَ كِتَابَيْنِ — كَالْخَانِيَّةِ وَالْبَزَّازِيَّةِ — فَتَصْحِيحُ قَاضِيخَانَ أَقْوَى
Al-ʿAllāma Qāsim said: "Qāḍīkhān (d. 593H) is among those most deserving to have his taṣḥīḥ relied on."
- قَالَ الْعَلَّامَةُ قَاسِمٌ: "إِنَّ قَاضِيخَانَ مِنْ أَحَقِّ مَنْ يُعْتَمَدُ عَلَى تَصْحِيحِهِ"
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