Overview
This is a work on fiqh, kalam, and tasawwuf and, according to the author, intended as a introduction to the three Islamic sciences in question. This book, more than any other Shaykh Daud al-Fatani wrote, was intended for a wide readership among beginning students. He dealt with a vast array of issues including angels, fasting, hajj, judgment day, inheritance, marriage and divorce, ritual purification, prayers, transactions such as buying and selling, usul al-din, waqf, zakat, and other legal matters. He drew extensively from Nawawi’s Minhaj al-Talibin, its commentaries, and other foundational Shāfi‘ī writings, and thus revisited some concepts he touched upon in his earlier legal treatises such as Bughyat al-Tullab, Ghayat al-Taqrib, and Idah al-Bab.
Authorship
Completed 16 Jumada al-awwal 1252 [August 29, 1836] by Shaykh Daud b. ‘Abd Allah al-Fatani, in Ta’if.
Manuscripts
Because he tailored this work for a broad audience, this text became one of his most widely copied texts from the 1850s to the 1910s. Because of its length (400-500 pages) it was never included in manuscript compilations with other works.
68 known manuscript copies
Manuscripts with dated colophons (13):
- 1852, Mar 13. Copied “hari Juma, 21 Jumada al-awwal 1268 AH.” PNM 3119: 205 ff., single red frame.
- 1853, Nov 17. Copied by Mahmud b. Muhammad Yusuf b. Haji ‘Abd al-Qadir, “hari khamis, 15 Safar 1270 AH di Kampung Pusing, Yala.” PNM 1439: 257 ff. Folio 1 is tattered but the rest of the ms is in excellent condition; bound in a thin bark cover.
- 1853, Dec 18. Copied by [Haji] ‘Uthman Kelantan b. Salih, 17 Rabi al-awwal 1270 AH, in Mecca. IAM 20: 55 pp., incomplete.
- 1853/4. Copied by Muhammad Zayn al-Fatani, “waktu pagi, hari khamis, 2 hari bulan Haji, pada tahun 1270 AH in Mecca.” PNM 2764: 66 ff., incomplete. Double red frame. Owned by Cik Tok Nahan and Haji Bidin.
- 1861, Jan 13. Copied by Ibrahim Fatani, 1 Rajab 1277 AH in Mecca. PNM 152: 233 ff.
- 1864/5. Copied 1281 AH. PNM 323: 245 ff.
- 1865, Jul 10. Copied by Ahmad b. Haji Abu Bakr, 15 Safar 1282 AH, in Kampung Pusing, Yala. IAM 640: 327 ff. Now lost.
- 1872, Mar 16. Copied “waktu zuhur, hari Sabtu, 6 Muharam 1289 AH di Mecca.” PNM 2321: 105 ff., incomplete.
- 1873/4. Copied 1290 AH in Mecca. PNM 211: 12 ff., incomplete. Double maroon frame.
- 1880. Copied by Muhammad Yusuf in 1298 AH. MNT 83.173. Contains alternative author date of 5 Jumada al-awwal 1252 AH.
- 1881/2. Copied “hari Rabu 1299 AH.” PNM 899: 177 ff.
- 1886, Sep 2. Copied by Haji Wan Kencik b. Haji Paklah dari Bendang Jum negeri Yaring, “hari khamis, 3 Dhu’l-Hijja 1303 AH” in Mecca. PNM 2431: 176 ff., incomplete. Double red frame.
- 1912, Jul 3. Copied by Wan Telubung b. ‘Abd al-Rahman dari Kampung Atas, “waktu zuhur, hari Juma, 18 Rajab 1330 AH di Mecca.” PNM 2609: 175 ff., incomplete.
Manuscripts with undated or partially dated colophons (5):
- Copied by Muhammad Zayn b. Saibi Billah al-Fatani, 3 Muharam. PNM 494: 185 ff., incomplete.
- Copied by Muhammad Amin b. Encik Ahmad Fatani, “hari Sabtu, bulan Sha’ban” in Mecca. PNM 537: 148 ff. Black & pink ink, double pink frame.
- Copied by Haji Kam’u b. Sulayman Kelantan, hari Rabu, 12 Rajab, in Mecca. PNM 1239: 204 ff. Double red frame. Bound in red leather with floral designs.
- Copied “hari Isnin, bulan Rabi al-akhir.” PNM 1291: 14 ff., incomplete.
- Copied by Muhammad Zayn b. Saib dari Yaring Fatani, “waktu duha, hari Rabu, 3 Safar, in Mecca.” PNM 2438: 176 ff.
Manuscripts without colophons (50):
- DBP 42: 201 ff., incomplete (missing final sections), black & maroon ink.
- IAM 34: 355 pp., incomplete (missing last page)
- IAM 153: 166 pp., incomplete (pages mixed together, out of order). Now lost.
- IAM 213: 354 pp., incomplete.
- IAM 258: 84 pp., incomplete.
- IAM 363: 27 pp., incomplete.
- IAM 660: incomplete, poor condition. Now lost.
- PNM 10: 79 ff., incomplete.
- PNM 11: 62 ff., incomplete.
- PNM 127: 153 ff.
- PNM 178: 12 ff., incomplete.
- PNM 208: 79 ff., incomplete.
- PNM 209B: 12 ff., incomplete. In a compilation with PNM 209A: Durr al-Thamin.
- PNM 249: 22 ff., incomplete.
- PNM 255: 93 ff., incomplete.
- PNM 296: 74 ff., incomplete.
- PNM 316: 179 ff., incomplete.
- PNM 496: 255 ff., incomplete.
- PNM 546: 24 ff., incomplete.
- PNM 577(1): 24 ff., incomplete.
- PNM 606: 10 ff., incomplete.
- PNM 625(3): 20 ff., incomplete.
- PNM 635(1): 10 ff., incomplete.
- PNM 639: 17 ff., incomplete.
- PNM 697: 135 ff., incomplete.
- PNM 718: 196 ff., incomplete.
- PNM 740: 19 ff., incomplete.
- PNM 767: 213 ff., incomplete.
- PNM 827(3): 37 ff., incomplete.
- PNM 901: 13 ff., incomplete.
- PNM 915: 120 ff., incomplete.
- PNM 1214: 57 ff., incomplete.
- PNM 1250: 4 ff., incomplete.
- PNM 1261: 4 ff., incomplete.
- PNM 1282: 151 ff.
- PNM 1299: 153 ff., incomplete.
- PNM 1362: 186 ff., incomplete.
- PNM 1431: 194 ff., incomplete.
- PNM 1462: 67 ff., incomplete.
- PNM 1623: 296 ff.
- PNM 2143(1): 12 ff., incomplete.
- PNM 2298(2): 36 ff., incomplete.
- PNM 2322: 194 ff., incomplete.
- PNM 2404(1): 81 ff., incomplete.
- PNM 2426: 30 ff., incomplete.
- PNM 2449: 92 ff., incomplete.
- PNM 2560: 60 ff., incomplete.
- PNM 2756: 213 ff., incomplete.
- PNM 2795: 57 ff., incomplete.
- PNM 3355: 84 ff., incomplete.
Published Editions
- 1884. Place and publisher unknown, but presumably Mecca or Bombay. Holding: UL.
- Undated, 2nd ed. Cairo: Isha al-Ba’bi al-Halabi. Holding: PNM.
- Undated. Cairo: Dar al-Ihya’ al-Kutub al-Arabiyya. Holding: UKM.
- Undated (probably 1980s). Singapore: Pustaka Nasional. Holding: UKM.
- Undated. Bangkok: Muhammad al-Nahdi.
- Undated. Surabaya: Sharikat Binkul Indah. Holding: McGill University, University of Minnesota.
- 1994. Kuala Lumpur: Fakulti Syariah, Akademi Islam Universiti. Holding: PNM.