al-Iqnāʿ

al-Iqnāʿ fī Fiqh al-Imām Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal

Al-Iqnāʿ is a comprehensive 16th-century Hanbalī fiqh compendium authored by Shaykh Sharf ad-Dīn Abū al-Najāʾ Mūsā ibn Aḥmad al-Ḥajjāwī al-Maqdisī al-Ṣāliḥī (d. 968 AH). 

It is explicitly on the madhhab of Imām Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, and later jurists called it the “dīwān of the Hanbalī madhhab”. The renowned biographer Ibn Badrān praises al-Iqnāʿ as a “expansice single volume of much benefit,” noting that its author al-Ḥajjāwī was “a mujtahid of Damascus (ṣāliḥī), relied upon in the Hanbalī school of Syria”. 

The work compiles the preferred rulings of earlier and later Hanbalī scholars: as al-Iqnāʿ’s preface explains, al-Ḥajjāwī “ endeavored to present [Imām Aḥmad’s] transmitted opinions and abbreviate them… focusing on the one view favored by the masters of preference (ahl al-tarjīḥ), such as the Qāḍī ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn al-Mardāwī in his works al-Inṣāf, Taṣḥīḥ al-Furūʿ and at-Tanqīḥ… [and] sometimes noted opposing opinions when they were strong, or cited a ruling’s original author to avoid mere emulation”. 

In short, al-Iqnāʿ “gathers the preferred [rulings] from the sayings of earlier and later scholars”, creating a concise yet authoritative manual of Hanbalī law.

Content Overview and Subject Matter

Al-Iqnāʿ covers virtually the entire spectrum of classical fiqh (ʿibādāt and muʿāmalāt) in a single set. It is organized into chapters (abwāb and furūʿ) following the established Hanbalī format. The first volume treats ritual purity and worship: purification (water, najāsāt, wudūʾ, ghusl, tayammum), prayer (salāt), ablution (wipe over khuffain), nullifiers of wudūʾ, sunnan al-wudūʾ, and rules of salāt (conditions, times, postures, optional parts). The second volume deals with ritual and social worship: Friday prayer, congregational prayer, funeral rites, zakāt, fasting (sawm), and pilgrimage (Ḥajj and ʿumrah). 

Subsequent volumes turn to transactions and civil law: contracts and partnerships, sales and its conditions, ribā and currency exchange, loans (qirḍ), guarantees (ḍamān), partnerships (sharīkah), agency (wakālah), endowments (waqf), wills, and judicial matters. For example, the table of contents shows extensive sections on sales (its definition, conditions, khiyār, etc.), riba, salam (forward sales), partnership types (e.g. ḥamal, mudārabah, muwāzanah) and more. 

Throughout, al-Iqnāʿ generally condenses and unifies material from Ibn Muflih’s al-Furūʿ and al-Mardāwī’s works: as one modern summary notes, al-Ḥajjāwī “formed a text that joins Ibn Muflih’s al-Furūʿ and the salient corrections of al-Mardāwī, collecting the preferred opinions”.

In practice, the book presents each legal issue briefly – often omitting detailed proofs – and usually states only the chosen or most credible ruling. For instance, in the chapter on a sale, the text might simply assert the correct conditions for validity without lengthy argument, or say “the position of Qāḍī ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn is that…” (implicitly following Al-Mardāwī’s preference). 

The overall style is terse and precise: its author reports opinions with chains when needed, attributes rulings to specific earlier scholars when clarifications are required, and otherwise stays focused on the juristic conclusions. This yields a text that, while compact, is highly structured and ‘jamīʿ’ (comprehensive in scope).

Methodological Approach

The methodological hallmark of al-Iqnāʿ is its preference-based condensation. Al-Ḥajjāwī openly states in his introduction:

“I have endeavored to record [Imām Aḥmad’s] narratives and summarize them—omitting lengthy proofs and evidence—and adhere to one stance, namely the one preferred by the masters of tahrīḥ (preference). In particular, I followed the opinion defended by Shaykh al-Islām Qāḍī ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn in his works al-Inṣāf, Taṣḥīḥ al-Furūʿ, and at-Tanqīḥ. I have occasionally mentioned other positions if they were strong, and even attributed a ruling to its original author when needed. Sometimes differences are left unresolved if no authoritative refutation (muṣaḥḥiḥ) was available.”

Thus al-Iqnāʿ is generally not a commentary; rather, it is a standalone text that summarizes and harmonizes. Its author largely forgoes raw isnād lists or exhaustive argumentation. Instead, he cites the mujtahid (jurist-experts) he trusts most. In practice, this means al-Ḥajjāwī often follows Al-Mardāwī’s choices: he leans on the ḥujjah (authoritative) stance of al-Inṣāf and at times of al-Tanqīḥ, but he is especially guided by what ahl al-tarjīḥ among later Hanbalis asserted. 

Later scholars note that he relied more on al-Mardāwī’s al-Inṣāf than on the slightly earlier al-Tanqīḥ. For this reason, when al-Iqnāʿ and Ibn Najjār’s al-Muntahā al-Irādāt (which merges al-Muqnīʿ and al-Tanqīḥ) conflict, many jurists regard al-Muntahā as having the stronger authority.

In sum, the method of al-Iqnāʿ is to present a single, muʿtamad (reliance-worthy) position for each issue, grounded in the mainstream of the madhhab. Disputed points are only briefly signaled. This approach has the advantage of clarity and precision: since the preferred view is highlighted, students and judges can quickly see the school’s ruling. On the other hand, the reader must know or investigate sources for the arguments underlying that ruling. (Notably, al-Ḥajjāwī’s succinct style was later explained by al-Buhūtī in Kashf al-Qināʿ and by others.)

Place in Hanbalī Curriculum

Historically, al-Iqnāʿ became a standard upper-level text in the Hanbalī curriculum, studied alongside works like al-Muntahā al-Irādāt (Ibn Najjār’s 17th-century epitome of al-Muqnīʿ). Thus al-Iqnāʿ sits in the classical curriculum as one of the final muʿtamad (authoritative) texts, with students often learning both it and the Muntahā to ensure they cover all nuances of the madhhab. 

Commentaries and Influence

Due to its prominence, al-Iqnāʿ attracted major commentarial works. Most notably, Manṣūr ibn Yūnus al-Buhūtī  (d. 1051H) wrote a lengthy Sharḥ (explanation) entitled Kashf al-Qināʿ ʿan Matn al-Iqnāʿ(“Lifting the Veil from the Text of al-Iqnāʿ”). This multi-volume work explicates and justifies al-Ḥajjāwī’s terse statements. Al-Buhūtī also composed a terse gloss (ḥashīyah) on al-Iqnāʿ. 

In sum, al-Iqnāʿ is valued for its precision and comprehensiveness. Later biographers and jurists regard it as an indispensable reference. Its precise formulations (often matching the language of the original muʿālaqs like Imām Aḥmad’s students) are frequently quoted when clarifying Hanbalī doctrine. Even though students must often consult Buhūtī’s Kashshaf to fully grasp all implications, al-Iqnāʿ itself stands as a clear distillation of the school’s teachings.