The Codification of Islamic Juridical Principles (Qawāʿid Fiqhiyya): A Historical Outline

103 The Codification of Islamic Juridical Principles

The Qawāʿid of Al-Shahīd al-Awwal has been revised and recast by several jurists who followed him. A number of these recensions are:

1- Naḍd al-Qawāʿid al-Fiqhiyyah ʿalā Madhhab al-Imāmīyyah, by Fāḍil Miqdād b. ʿAbd Allāh al-Suyūrī al-Ḥillī (d. 826-1423), an eminent pupil of Al-Shahīd al-Awwal. After deleting the redundant parts of the work, he named it Jāmiʿ al-Fawāʾid fī Talkhīṣ al-Qawāʿid. Later, adding only the new “Bāb Qismah” he recast the work according to the furūʿ of fiqh and entitled it Naḍd al-Qawāʿid al-Fiqhiyyah ʿalā Madhhab al-Imāmiyyah.

C. Other Works on Qawāʿid al-Fiqhīyyah:

Since Al-Shahīd al-Awwal, other celebrated jurists have attempted to collect and compile works on the juridical principles. As noted above, some wrote notes and glosses or composed commentaries on the Shahīd’s work. Others, however, while drawing on the works of their predecessors, compiled independent works for the benefit of the juristic circles, namely:

1- Al-Aqṭāb al-Fiqhīyyah ʿalā Madhhab al-Imāmīyyah, by Muḥammad b. ʿAlī b. Ibrāhīm al-Iḥsāʾī, known as Ibn Abī Jumhūr (d. 901-1495), recently published by Marʿashī Library in Qum.