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):

1. 1852, Mar 13. Copied “hari Juma, 21 Jumada al-awwal 1268 AH.” PNM 3119: 205 ff., single red frame.
2. 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.
3. 1853, Dec 18. Copied by [Haji] ‘Uthman Kelantan b. Salih, 17 Rabi al-awwal 1270 AH, in Mecca. IAM 20: 55 pp., incomplete.
4. 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.
5. 1861, Jan 13. Copied by Ibrahim Fatani, 1 Rajab 1277 AH in Mecca. PNM 152: 233 ff.
6. 1864/5. Copied 1281 AH. PNM 323: 245 ff.
7. 1865, Jul 10. Copied by Ahmad b. Haji Abu Bakr, 15 Safar 1282 AH, in Kampung Pusing, Yala. IAM 640: 327 ff. Now lost.
8. 1872, Mar 16. Copied “waktu zuhur, hari Sabtu, 6 Muharam 1289 AH di Mecca.” PNM 2321: 105 ff., incomplete.
9. 1873/4. Copied 1290 AH in Mecca. PNM 211: 12 ff., incomplete. Double maroon frame.
10. 1880. Copied by Muhammad Yusuf in 1298 AH. MNT 83.173. Contains alternative author date of 5 Jumada al-awwal 1252 AH.
11. 1881/2. Copied “hari Rabu 1299 AH.” PNM 899: 177 ff.
12. 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.
13. 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):

1. Copied by Muhammad Zayn b. Saibi Billah al-Fatani, 3 Muharam. PNM 494: 185 ff., incomplete.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Copied “hari Isnin, bulan Rabi al-akhir.” PNM 1291: 14 ff., incomplete.
5. 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):

1. DBP 42: 201 ff., incomplete (missing final sections), black & maroon ink.
2. IAM 34: 355 pp., incomplete (missing last page)
3. IAM 153: 166 pp., incomplete (pages mixed together, out of order). Now lost.
4. IAM 213: 354 pp., incomplete.
5. IAM 258: 84 pp., incomplete.
6. IAM 363: 27 pp., incomplete.
7. IAM 660: incomplete, poor condition. Now lost.
8. PNM 10: 79 ff., incomplete.
9. PNM 11: 62 ff., incomplete.
10. PNM 127: 153 ff.
11. PNM 178: 12 ff., incomplete.
12. PNM 208: 79 ff., incomplete.
13. PNM 209B: 12 ff., incomplete. In a compilation with PNM 209A: Durr al-Thamin.
14. PNM 249: 22 ff., incomplete.
15. PNM 255: 93 ff., incomplete.
16. PNM 296: 74 ff., incomplete.
17. PNM 316: 179 ff., incomplete.
18. PNM 496: 255 ff., incomplete.
19. PNM 546: 24 ff., incomplete.
20. PNM 577(1): 24 ff., incomplete.
21. PNM 606: 10 ff., incomplete.
22. PNM 625(3): 20 ff., incomplete.
23. PNM 635(1): 10 ff., incomplete.
24. PNM 639: 17 ff., incomplete.
25. PNM 697: 135 ff., incomplete.
26. PNM 718: 196 ff., incomplete.
27. PNM 740: 19 ff., incomplete.
28. PNM 767: 213 ff., incomplete.
29. PNM 827(3): 37 ff., incomplete.
30. PNM 901: 13 ff., incomplete.
31. PNM 915: 120 ff., incomplete.
32. PNM 1214: 57 ff., incomplete.
33. PNM 1250: 4 ff., incomplete.
34. PNM 1261: 4 ff., incomplete.
35. PNM 1282: 151 ff.
36. PNM 1299: 153 ff., incomplete.
37. PNM 1362: 186 ff., incomplete.
38. PNM 1431: 194 ff., incomplete.
39. PNM 1462: 67 ff., incomplete.
40. PNM 1623: 296 ff.
41. PNM 2143(1): 12 ff., incomplete.
42. PNM 2298(2): 36 ff., incomplete.
43. PNM 2322: 194 ff., incomplete.
44. PNM 2404(1): 81 ff., incomplete.
45. PNM 2426: 30 ff., incomplete.
46. PNM 2449: 92 ff., incomplete.
47. PNM 2560: 60 ff., incomplete.
48. PNM 2756: 213 ff., incomplete.
49. PNM 2795: 57 ff., incomplete.
50. PNM 3355: 84 ff., incomplete.

Published Editions

1. 1884. Place and publisher unknown, but presumably Mecca or Bombay. Holding: UL.
2. Undated, 2nd ed. Cairo: Isha al-Ba’bi al-Halabi. Holding: PNM.
3. Undated. Cairo: Dar al-Ihya’ al-Kutub al-Arabiyya. Holding: UKM.
4. Undated (probably 1980s). Singapore: Pustaka Nasional. Holding: UKM.
5. Undated. Bangkok: Muhammad al-Nahdi.
6. Undated. Surabaya: Sharikat Binkul Indah. Holding: McGill University, University of Minnesota.
7. 1994. Kuala Lumpur: Fakulti Syariah, Akademi Islam Universiti. Holding: PNM.