Overview

This is widely considered to be Shaykh Da’ud al-Fatani’s magnum opus in regards to Islamic law and theology, and constitutes his last major work. Snouck Hurgronje refers to it as a “great work on Law and Dogma … much used in the East-Indies.” (Hurgronje, Mekka in the Latter Part of the 19th Century, p. 287). The bulk of the book is a survey of the Fatawa of Shaykh Muhammad Ramli, writings by Muhammad bin Ahmad bin Hamzah (d. 1004/1596), and the Kashf al-Litham ‘an As‘ilat al-Anam (The Revelation of the Mask of Peoples’ Questions) by Shaykh Husayn bin Muhammad al-Mahalli (790-862/1388-1458), all of whom were major figures in the development of the Shafi madhhab. He also deals with a vast array of issues of daily life including fasting, hajj, halal diet, jinaya, jihad, marriage, oaths and vows, principles of jurisprudence, tawhid, wasiyya, zakat, and other legal subjects. This book later became a model for the work Kashf al-Litham by Shaykh Zayn al-‘Abidin ibn Muhammad al-Fatani.

Authorship

Completed 1257 AH [1841] by Shaykh Daud b. ‘Abd Allah al-Fatani, in Mecca.

Manuscripts

This work was popular in the network from the date of its authorship, being distributed most fervently in the 1850s. The level of copying of this text is all the more impressive of an accomplishment by the scholars of the Patani network because of its tremendous size, exceeding 850 pages according to some copying styles. Perhaps due to the immense size of the volumes, or the frequency by which they were employed, we are left with few good-quality copies of this manuscript.

34 known manuscript copies

Manuscripts with dated colophons (4):

1. 1851/2. Copied by Mahmud b. Muhammad Yusuf b. ‘Abd al-Samad, 1268 AH. PNM 1688: 350 ff.
2. 1854, Apr 13. Copied “waktu duha, 15 Rajab 1270 AH,” in Mecca. PNM 2222: 222 ff., incomplete. Black & orange-red ink.
3. 1854/5. Copied by Haji Muhammad Awan b. Wan Kelantan, “hari Juma, 1271 AH,” in Mecca. PNM 553: 443 ff., incomplete.
4. 1857/8. Copied by Muhammad Fatani, 1274 AH. PNM 558 pp.

Manuscripts without colophons (30):

1. IAM 30: 672 pp., incomplete. Now lost.
2. IAM 72: 732 pp., incomplete. Now lost.
3. IAM 147: 102 pp., incomplete, poor condition.
4. IAM 242: 423 pp., incomplete.
5. IAM 405: 26 pp., incomplete, pages mixed together.
6. IAM 476: 528 pp., incomplete.
7. IAM 477: 492 pp., incomplete. Now lost.
8. IAM 478: 663 pp., good condition. Now lost.
9. MNJ Cat. ML 779 [VI 60]: 1021 pp., 2 vols.
10. MNT 84.2
11. MNT 84.260
12. MNT D53: 53 ff.
13. PNM 664: 57 ff., incomplete.
14. PNM 709: 8 ff., incomplete.
15. PNM 917: 259 ff., incomplete.
16. PNM 918: 110 ff., incomplete.
17. PNM 1130: 20 ff., incomplete.
18. PNM 1166: 10 ff., incomplete.
19. PNM 1211(1): 71 ff., incomplete.
20. PNM 1264A: 59 ff., incomplete. Compiled with PNM 1264B: Durr al-Thamin.
21. PNM 1414: 87 ff., incomplete.
22. PNM 1474: 58 ff., incomplete.
23. PNM 1945: 60 pp., incomplete.
24. PNM 2041: 456 pp.
25. PNM 2045(1): 195 pp., incomplete.
26. PNM 2552: 17 ff., incomplete.
27. PNM 2629: 402 ff., incomplete.
28. PNM 2639: 164 ff., incomplete.
29. PNM 2897: 146 ff., incomplete.
30. PNM 3347: 241 ff., incomplete.

Published Editions

1. 1859. Cairo: Dar al-Kutub al-Arabiyya, 1276 AH.
2. 1874/5. Singapore: Kampung Gelam, Masjid Sultan Ali Iskandar Shah, 1291 AH. Holding: British Library–Oriental and India Office Collections
3. 1885. Mecca: publisher unknown. Holding: UL.
4. 1887. Mecca: Matbaah al-Misriyya al-Hamiyya. Holding: PNM.
5. 1890. Mecca: publisher unknown. Holding: UL.
6. 1913/4. Mecca: unknown publisher, 1332 AH.
7. 1928/9. Singapore: Matbaah Sulaiman Marie, 1347 AH. Holding: PNM.
8. Undated. Cairo: Maktabat al-Imam.
9. Undated. Pulau Pinang: Dar a’-Mu’arif (based on first Cairo ed.). Holding: UKM.
10. Undated. Bangkok: Muhammad al-Nahdi.
11. 1984. Singapore: Pustaka Nasional (based on first Cairo ed.).