Al-Nawawī’s Incomplete Magnum Opus: al-Majmū‘ Sharh al-Muhazzab
Nail OkuyucuAl-Nawawī made significant contributions to the literature of the Shāfiʿī school with his studies of the Shāfiʿī’s leading texts and had begun writing a commentary he titled al-Majmū‘ regarding one of these texts, al-Shīrāzī’s al-Muḥazzab. He considered his commentary to be a comprehensive book on fiqh, and in it, he didn’t just limit himself to the views and issues discussed within the Shāfiʿī school but also dealt with the views of almost all jurists and schools, including the early scholars. Al-Nawawī dealt with fiqh issues in light of his knowledge about related sciences, especially hadith, but was unable to complete the commentary due to the method he had followed and his desire to keep the scope wide. He was only able to write as far as the heading “Ribā” in the “Buyū‘” chapter following the topics of worships. Taqī al-Dīn al-Subkī attempted to complete the commentary but was also unable, instead only being able to comment on certain chapters. Muhammad Najīb al-Mutīī, a more recent Egyptian scholar, did manage to write a supplement to the rest of the work and complete the commentary. This work, in which al-Nawawī contributed to both Shāfiʿīyya and Islamic law in general, is one of the most important sources of the Shāfiʿī school and occupies a prominent place among comparative Islamic legal texts. This article discusses the process of composing the book, its place among al-Nawawī’s writings, and the salient features of its content and methodology and traces its influence on the later period.
Nevevî’nin Yarım Kalmış “Magnum Opus”u: el-Mecmû‘ Şerhu’l-Mühezzeb
Nail OkuyucuŞâfiî mezhebinin önde gelen fürû fıkıh metinleri üzerine yaptığı çalışmalarla mezhep literatürüne önemli katkılarda bulunan Nevevî, bu metinlerden biri olan Şîrâzî’nin el-Mühezzeb’i üzerine el-Mecmû‘ adını verdiği bir şerh yazmaya başlamış; geniş kapsamlı bir fıkıh kitabı olarak düşündüğü şerhte sadece Şâfiî mezhebinin görüşleri ile mezhep içinde tartışılan meselelerle sınırlı kalmayarak selef âlimleri de dâhil olacak şekilde neredeyse bütün fakihlerin ve mezheplerin görüşlerini ele almıştır. Fıkıh konularını başta hadis olmak üzere mücavir ilimlerdeki birikiminin ışığında ele alan Nevevî, takip ettiği yöntem ve kapsamı geniş tutmak isteyişinden ötürü şerhi tamamlayamamış, ibadet konularının ardından gelen “Büyû” bölümündeki “Ribâ” başlığına kadar yazabilmiştir. Eseri ikmal etmek için girişimde bulunan Takiyyüddin es-Sübkî de şerhi tamamlamaya muvaffak olamamış ve belli başlıkları şerh edebilmiştir. Eserin geri kalan kısmı üzerine son dönem Mısırlı âlimlerden Muhammed Necîb el-Mutîî tekmile yazmış ve şerhi tamamlamıştır. Nevevî’nin gerek Şâfiîliğe gerekse umumi manada İslam hukuk yazımına muhtelif açılardan katkılar sunduğu bu çalışma, Şâfiî fıkhının önemli kaynaklarından biri olmasının yanı sıra mukayeseli İslam hukuk kitapları arasında da seçkin bir yere sahiptir. Bu makalede kitabın telif süreci, Nevevî’nin telifleri arasındaki yeri, muhteva ve yönteminin öne çıkan hususiyetleri ele alınacak ve sonraki döneme olan etkilerinin izleri sürülecektir.
Abū Zakariyyā Yahyā b. Sharaf Muhyī al-Dīn al-Nawawī (631-676/1234-1277) was one of the leading scholars of the 13th century CE (7th century AH) and had acquired competence in various branches of Islamic sciences, especially fiqh and hadith. He gained a well-deserved reputation that has grown since his lifetime to the present day. Al-Nawawī wrote many works in various genres related to a number of different disciplines. His best known and most widely read books today are those on hadith. Al-Takrīb and Irshād, which he wrote on the Mustalah al-hadith, Riyād al-Sālihīn and al-Azkār, which are considered among the most reliable examples of the hadith compilation genre, and Sahīh al-Muslim’s commentary Minhāj, one of the leading books in the commentary literature, have become classics and been widely read and followed for centuries. Al-Nawawī’s works on Islamic substantive law manifest themselves as various types of texts written around the leading furūʿ fiqh texts of the Shāfi‘ī school of law. Al-Nawawī produced many texts in the form of commentaries, nukat, ta‘līq, and treatises, and was one of the main actors involved in the Shāfi‘ī school of law’s transition from an earlier school to a later one. During the Mutakaddimīn period, Shāfi‘īsm was divided into two sub-schools in parallel with the geographical extent of its spread, and the conflicts between them gradually deepened over time. Al-Nawawī also worked on texts that represented the two wing s of the school, as well as on books with highly representational power. In addition to the books by al-Ghazālī and al-Rāfiʿī, which represent the Khorasan branch of the school (tarīqa al-Khorasāniyyīn), his studies on the books by al-Shirāzī, which represent the Irāqī branch of the school (tarīqa al-Irāqiyyīn), have made significant contributions to Shāfi‘īsm.
Among al-Nawawī’s many works that have transformed the literature of the school, the one that stands out in various aspects and is perhaps the most important is the commentary he had begun to write called al-Majmū‘ on al-Shirāzī’s al-Muhazzab. As the name suggests, although this commentary was based on a Shāfi‘ī text that he considered a comprehensive book on substantive law, he did not confine it to this school but instead presented comprehensive content in an effort to address the views of almost all jurists and schools, including the first generations of ulamā (salaf). Thanks to the method he had developed and successfully applied in this work, al-Nawawī brought new expansions to writings on furūʿ fiqh commentaries. He took important steps to add new dimensions to textual commentary that are now classical in content and method and that have long been adopted and followed by jurists of all schools. The information he added to the book from fields related to fiqh, such as hadith and biographical dictionaries of the ulamā (tabakāt), as well as the comparative evaluations presented in this direction, require that the work should be seen as a book that represents more than Shāfi‘īsm. In evaluating the hadith narrations that serve as evidence of religious norms, al-Nawawī attempted to bring together the data of hadith scholarship and the information produced in the field of biographical dictionaries with the problems of substantive law, thus bringing important additions to the commentary activity. These expansions were compatible with the new tendencies in Islamic scholarly writing after the Mongol invasion and the Crusades and were effective over authors of the later period of Islam (mutaʿahhirūn), guiding the authors of the Shāfi‘ī school in particular. Parallel to the scholarly notions that became widespread during the Mamluk period, this method of writing paved the way for al-Nawawī to indirectly influence authors of other schools
Al-Nawawī began the book with a long introduction in which he explained the method he would follow regarding the commentary and presented important evaluations by opening many headings on various topics. In addition to the information he provided and the analyses he made over the Shāfi‘ī literature, he also addressed important topics related to the etiquette and qualifications for issuing religious opinion (ādāb al-fatwā), the processes of education, the etiquette of teacher-student relations, and especially his evaluations of al-Shīrāzī and al-Muhazzab. Al-Nawawī’s writing of the first version of his work, in which he had initially followed a broad and detailed commentary style, left off at the beginning of the topics of worship before adopting a more intermediate style of writing. A copy of the first version of the book is now available, which was worked on up until the end of the heading “Hayd”. The second version was left unfinished because of his method and his desire to keep the scope wide, with al-Nawawī only being able to write the commentary up to the title of “Ribā” in the chapter “al-Buyūʿ”, which comes after the subjects of worship. Afterward, many Shāfi‘ī authors attempted to complete the work. The only commentator whose work has survived to the present day is Taqī al-Dīn al-Subkī (d. 756/1355), who belonged to one of the leading scientific families of the Mamluk period. Al-Subkī completed the heading of “Ribā” that alNawawī had left unfinished, as well as the remaining heading in the “al-Buyūʿ” chapter, but he too was unable to complete the commentary. The remaining part of the work was annotated and completed by Muhammad Najīb al-Mutī‘ī (d. 1985), one of the late Egyptian scholars, thus bringing to an end a history of more than seven centuries.
