بسم الله وحده والصلاة والسلام على من لا نبي بعده
ʿĀlimah Siddiqa al-Fārsiyyah
Student, Takhassus Fil Hadith
Checked and Approved:
Mufti Ismail Moosa
www.ulumalhadith.com
Title: Kitāb al-Faqīh Wa al-Mutafaqqih
Genre: Ḥadīth, Advice, Fiqh, Etiquettes
Language: Arabic
Author: Imām Abūbakr Aḥmad bin ʿAlī Al-Khatīb Al-Baghdādī
Publisher: Dar Ibn al-Jawzi
Pages: Approx. 1000
“O acquirer of knowledge, what blessed treasure you acquire,
which equates neither to pearls nor gold.”
-Abū al-Aswad ad-Du’alī
The Book
Kitāb al-Faqīh Wa al-Mutafaqqih (lit. The Jurist and the Student of the Law) is from among the books of Imām Al-Khatīb Al-Baghdādī. He divided this book into four sections, each containing several chapters. In the first section of the book, he discusses the merits of jurisprudence and acquiring its science. In the second, he briefly discusses jurisprudence and its various principles. In the third section, he deals with the concept of debates and objections and their rulings. Finally, in the last section, he discusses the topic of ijtihad, and the importance and merits of the scholars and jurists, concluding with advice to the people of Ḥadīth in particular and to others in general.
The Author
Imām Abūbakr Aḥmad bin ʿAlī bin Thābit was, as described by Imām adh-Dhahabi, “The most peerless imam, erudite scholar and mufti, meticulous Ḥadīth master, scholar of his time in Ḥadīth, prolific author, and seal of the Ḥadīth masters”. He was born in Jumadal Akhirah in the year 392 AH. He is often known as “al-Khatib” in reference to his father, who was the main sermonizer (Khatib) in a masjid in the village of Darzījān for 20 years. His father was a great Ḥāfidh of the Qur’ān too. Thus, he imbedded this love of the Qur’ān and the love of seeking knowledge in his son Abūbakr and would send him off to attend the circles of scholars from a young age.
Imam Al-Khatib wrote abundantly on the science of Ḥadīth and became the undisputed Ḥadīth authority in his time, his books reaching a total of 104 books. ‘Allamah Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) said in his introduction to Sharh Nukhbah al-Fikar: “There is hardly a single discipline among the sciences of Ḥadīth in which al-Khatib did not author a monograph.” Then he cited the Ḥadīth master Imam Ibn Nuqta’s praise: “Whoever gives credit where credit is due knows that Ḥadīth scholars, after al-Khatib, all depend on his books.” He was one of the foremost scholars in the science of Ḥadīth. He was an expert in its minute defects, its chains of transmission, its narrators and transmitters, the sound and the rare, the unique and the denounced, the defective and the discarded.
Excerpts From the Book
Chapter of: Those Whose Statuses are Raised from the Position of Slavery to the Position of Kings
Imam Al-Khatīb Al-Baghdādī narrates: Anas (Radhi Allahu ‘anhu) reported that the Prophet (ṣallā llāhu ʿalayhī wa-sallam) said: “Indeed al-Hikmah (wisdom and understanding) increases a noble one in nobility and raises a slave in rank until it makes him sit in the gatherings of the kings.”
He further reported that Abū Al-ʿĀliyah would be greatly respected and brought close by Ibn ‘Abbas (Radhi Allahu ‘anh) who would say: “This is the nature of this knowledge: it increases the noble in nobility and puts the slaves on the couches [of the kings].”
Likewise, Ibrahim bin Ishaq al-Harabi reports that ‘Ata bin Abi Rabah was a black slave to a woman from the People of Makkah. In Makkah, the Umayyad Caliph, Sulaiman bin Abd al-Malik, came to ‘Ata accompanied by his two sons and sat in front of him whilst he was praying. When ‘Ata (Rahimahullah) finished his prayer, he turned to them, and they continued asking him questions regarding the rites of Hajj. They continued asking until ‘Ata turned his back to them. Thus, Sulaiman instructed his sons to stand, so they stood to leave. Sulaiman told his sons: “My sons! Do no weaken in your pursuit of knowledge, for I will not forget our humility in front of this ex-slave!”
When he was asked about the man by his sons, the Caliph answered: “This was ‘Ata bin Abi Rabah.” Then he said: “My children seek knowledge. For through knowledge and learning the humble becomes great. The fool becomes wise, and slaves become superior to kings.”
The Passing Away of the Scholars
It is reported from Ibn ‘Abbas (Radhi Allahu ‘anh) that he interpreted the verse: {Have they not seen that We are coming to the land narrowing it down from all its sides?} [Ra’d: 41] as: “This refers to the passing away of its scholars and jurists.”
It is reported from Ibn Ma‘ud (Radhi Allahu ‘anh) that he said: “Seek knowledge before it is taken away by the passing away of its transmitters. Seek knowledge, for you do not know when he will require it. You will soon find people who will call you to the book of Allah, whilst they would have casted it behind their backs…”
Seeking Knowledge is Obligatory Upon Every Muslim
Hasan bin ar-Rabi’ says he asked ‘Abdullah bin al-Mubarak: “Seeking knowledge is obligatory upon every Muslim” — what is the meaning of this? He replied: “Seeking knowledge is obligatory meaning every time a man encounters an issue from the matters of his religion [which he does not know how to fulfill], he must acquire knowledge of it [through asking and learning].”
‘Abdullah bin al-Mubarak has elaborated on it in another report saying: “If a man does not have wealth, it is not incumbent upon him to learn [the laws of] az-Zakah. When he acquires 200 dirhams, it becomes necessary upon him to learn how much he needs to take out from it for giving az-Zakah, when he needs to give it, who he needs to give it to, and everything else related to this.”
Definition of the Word Fiqh
It is reported from Yahya an-Nahwi who said: “Fa-qu-ha is when a man has complete understanding of something, and fa-qi-ha is when he has merely acquired something from knowledge.”
Muslim bin Qutaibah ad-Dinuri said: “Linguistically, ‘al-Fiqh’ means comprehension, such as it is said: ‘So and so does not understand [la yafqahu] my speech’, and Allah Ta‘ala has stated: {And there is not a single thing that does not extol His purity along with His praise, but you do not understand their extolling.} [Isra: 44] Here, the word ‘la yafqahun’ means ‘la yafhamun’ i.e., to not understand. Moreover, knowledge is called ‘Fiqh’ because it is understood though comprehension [al-fahm], and a scholar is known as a ‘Faqih’, because he understands the knowledge through comprehension and his intellect.
It is reported from Abu al-‘Abbas Tha’lab that he was asked regarding the statement of Allah Ta‘ala: {He gives wisdom to whom He wills, and whoever is given wisdom is certainly given a lot of good.} [Baqarah: 269] — Regarding what al-Hikmah refers to and he replied: “al-Fahm”.
Conclusion
Kitab al-Faqih Wa al-Mutafaqqih is not only a book that discusses the virtues of knowledge and of Fiqh and Fuqaha, but it also discusses the principles of Fiqh such as Muhkam, Mutashabih, Haqiqah and Majaz, the etiquettes of debating, etc. A student can really benefit from the content of this book as it is a balance between technical knowledge and general advice given by Imam Al-Khatīb Al-Baghdādī. Furthermore, the division of the book into four different sections allows the student to select the part which they want to focus on and give it preference over other parts and makes reviewing this much more convenient.
The book has two volumes. Volume 1 can be accessed here and volume 2 here.