Van İlahiyat Dergisi (Dec 2023)
The Tradition of Ikhtisâr in the Shafi'î Madhhab: A Comparison of the Works Named Ghayâ fi’l-Ikhtisâr and al-Yaqut al-Nafîs
Abstract
Ikhtisā r refers to the process of compilation a work by summarizing short and concise information or a large volume of work through abbreviation. It is intended to facilitate reading, learning and memorization, or to eliminate difficult parts in a book written in the form of Ikhtisār. The compilation of concise works that fulfilled their purpose has become widespread over time and transformed into a tradition and also concise works have been compiled in fiqh as in other disciplines of sciences. In particular, the work entitled Ghayā fi’l-Ikhtisār by Abu Shudjā al-Isfahā nı̄ (d. after 500/1107), which is one of the concise works written in the Shafi'ı̄ madhhab, constitutes an important part of this tradition. In this study, primarily, the concise works written in the field of usū l/ancestor and furū /descendant in the Shafi’ı̄ madhhab were identified and given in chronological order, right after that, Ghayā fi’l-Ikhtisār and Ahmad bin Omar al-Shatirı̄’s (d. 1360/1941) work entitled Al-Yaqut al-Nafıs̄ were examined in terms of the ikhtisār method. The comparative method was employed in order to determine the common and different aspects of these two works, which are among the basic sources of the Shafi'ı̄ madhhab, in terms of content and method. In this context, primarily, basic information regarding Ghayā fi’l-Ikhtisār and Al-Yaqut al-Nafıs̄ was presented, and right after that the classificcations and information in both works were compared and evaluated in terms of style. In this respect, it was determined that some of the topics in one of the aforementioned works are not included in the other work, and that there are certain differences between them in terms of the arrangement of the topics and the way they are explained. Based on this, in Ghayā fi’l-Ikhtisār the topics are dealt with in a brief manner and jurisprudential rulings are presented without giving much space to their evidences. In Al-Yaqut al-Nafıs̄ , on the other hand, each topic is dealt with in a detailed manner, and the elements, conditions and provisions related to the topics are mentioned as sub-headings. In particular, issues related to fiqh other than worship are explained with examples. Nevertheless, as in Ghayā fi’l-Ikhtisār the evidences of fiqh provisions are not included much. The topics in both works are arranged according to the Shafi'ı̄ fiqh methodology.
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