Overview

This is a work on hadith, kalam, and fiqh concerning the situation of the deceased and the condition of Resurrection Day, including vivid descriptions of angels that exist in the Hereafter.  The text also discusses the interval of time between death and resurrection. Shaykh Daud al-Fatani mainly drew his material from Shaykh Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti’s Sharh al-Shudhur (Explanation of Fragments) and Shaykh Abu al-Wahhab al-Sharani’s Mukhtasar Tadhkirat Qurtabi (Summary of the Prescriptions of Qurtabi). Shaykh Daud al-Fatani considered the latter of these scholars to be his penghulu (master) who guided him along his path to God.

Authorship

Completed “malam Rabu, 20 Rabi al-awwal 1238 AH” [5 Dec 1822], by Shaykh Daud b. ‘Abd Allah al-Fatani, in Mecca, having begun writing the book the previous year (1237).

Manuscripts

This text experienced its main period of popularity in the 1850s and 1860s.

13 known manuscript copies

Manuscripts with dated colophons (5):

1. 26 Nov 1857. Copied “hari Ahad, 8 Rabi al-akhir 1274 AH, in Mecca.” PNM 2223: 435 pp., double red frame.
   
2. Dec 1857/Jan 1858. Copied Jumada al-awwal 1274 AH, in Mecca. IAM 375: 25 pp., incomplete.
3. Dec 1857/Jan 1858. Copied Jumada al-awwal 1274 AH, in Mecca. PNM 2298(1): 32 ff., incomplete, double red frame.
   
4. 1857/8. Copied 1274 AH, in Mecca. PNM 723: 160 ff., double red frame.
5. 8 Jan 1862. Copied 7 Rajab 1278 AH, in Mecca. PNM 2142: 192 ff.

Manuscripts with partially or undated colophons (2):

1. Copied by [Haji Ibrahim ibn Ismail]. IAM 149A: 45 pp., incomplete. Bound together with PNM 149B: Hidayat al-Mutaallim wa Umdat al-Muallim.
2. Copied “waktu zuhur, hari Sabtu.” PNM 1071: 32 ff.

Manuscripts without colophons:

1. IAM 142: 213 pp., incomplete.
2. IAM 145A: 46 pp. Bound together with IAM 145B: [Kitab fiqh] and IAM 145C: Al-Manhal al-Safi fi Bayan Ramz Ahl al-Sufi.
3. IAM 463: 282 pp., incomplete.
4. IAM x591A: 56 pp., incomplete. Bound together with IAM x591B: Fath al-Mannan li-Safwat al-Zubad. Now lost.
5. PNM 276: 10 ff., incomplete.
6. PNM 728(2)B: 60 ff. Bound together with PNM 728(2)A: [Faedah malam nisfu Sha’aban].

Published Editions

The book was printed regularly from the 1880s onwards in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. In these printed versions, publishers sometimes included it in the margins of another of Shaykh Daud al-Fatani’s books, Furu al-Masail wa Usul al-Wasail. In earlier manuscript copies, it was commonly paired in compilations with Fath al-Mannan li-Safwat al-Zubad, Hidayat al-Mutaallim wa Umdat al-Muallim, Al-Manhal al-Safi fi Bayan Ramz Ahl al-Sufi, as well as works by other scholars of the Patani network.

1. 1886. Mecca: al-Matba’ah al-Miriyya al-Kayna, 308 pp. Holding: UL. This edition was advertised and sold in Singapore in Dec 1887 and 1894.
2. 1892. Cairo:  205 pp. Holding: UL.
3. 1928. Singapore: 1347 AH.
4. Undated. Cairo: Maktabat al-Imam.
5. Undated. Penang: Dar al-Ma’arif, 394 pp. Based on 1892 Cairo edition (#2 above). Holding: UKM.
6. Undated. Bangkok: Maktabah Muhammad al-Nahdi.
7. 1984: Singapore: Pustaka Nasional. Based on 1892 Cairo edition (#2 above).