About the text:
This course is based on Imam Abu Barakat al-Nasafi's Kanz al-Daqa’iq, referred to by many as the greatest of the summary works (Mukhtasarat) in the Hanafi school. This work is very precise, nuanced, terse, yet very comprehensive.
The Kanz is a summary of another of the author's works, the Wafi, an advanced text in the Hanafi school. The Kanz is not a beginner text, as it can be difficult to understand and grasp at times; this highlights the importance of a study of another primer prior to the study of the Kanz, the Kanz builds on previous foundations.
The Kanz has many great and important commentaries (shuruh), such as Tabyin al-Haqa’iq of Zayla‘i’, al-Bahr al-Ra’iq of Zayn ibn Nujaym (which also has the marginalia of Ibn ‘Abidin called Minha al-Khaliq), al-Nahr al-Fa’iq of ‘Umar ibn Nujaym and many more. Later works in the school, such as the Tanwir al-Absar of Imam Tumurtashi, were built upon the Kanz—a further proof of the deep influence and importance of Imam Nasafi’s Kanz al-Daqa’iq.
The commentary referenced in this class will be the commentary of Munla Miskin with the marginalia of Abu al-Su‘ud al-Husyni al-Misri.
About the Author:
Imam Abdullah ibn Ahmad ibn Mahmud al-Nasafi was among the greatest Hanafi imams of his time, hailing from Nasaf in modern-day Uzbekistan. He authored major contributions in Hanafi law (fiqh), legal theory (usul al-fiqh), tenets of faith (‘aqida) and exegesis (tafsir).
It is related that when Imam Nasafi intended to write a commentary on the Hidaya, the crown jewel of the Hanafi school, a great scholar - Taj al-Shari‘a, heard of Imam Nasafi’s intention and said, “This [writing a commentary on the Hidaya], does not befit his stature.”
Hearing this, Imam Nasafi instead wrote a work to rival the Hidaya, the Wafi, and then commented on it, the Kafi — and it was as if Imam Nasafi wrote a great commentary on the Hidaya! Imam Nasafi then summarized his Wafi into a very terse and very precise work, the Kanz.
His work in legal theory, al-Manar, is a foundational work in the Hanafi school with many great commentaries written on it, such as Kashf al-Asrar, Nur al-Anwar (which has the marginalia Qamr al-Aqmar), Fath al-Ghaffar, Ifada al-Anwar (which has the marginalia by Ibn ‘Abidin called Nasamat al-Ashar) and more.
He is also renowned outside the school, particularly for his Quranic exegesis, Madarik al-Tanzil.
He died in 710 AH / 1299 CE in Baghdad.