The Mukhtasar al-Quduri

This is a translation of a small opuscule, Mukhtasar, written by the head of the Baghdadi Hanafi guild Abu’l-Husayn al-Quduri (d. 428/1037). This is one of the first works of this genre, preceded only by al-Tahawi (d. 321/933). Books in the Mukhtasar genre were used to train lawyers in the sacred law quickly as well as for memorisation for reference purposes. The Mukhatsar of al-Quduri gained much popularity in the Hanafi school of law due to the position its author held in the guild as well as due to the superior arrangement of its contents, which was until then lacking in legal textbooks. It was incorporated into the Darse Nizami syllabus taught in the religious seminaries of the Asian sub-continent as well as their affiliate seminaries in the Western world as an elementary text of Islamic sacred law. With the steady growth of Islam in the public sphere, coupled with the demands for accessibility of classical Islamic literature, translation of classical texts has found a niche in the book market. The translation under review is another example of the steady growth of translations of elementary pedagogical texts. The translation is mostly clear and precise and faithful to the Arabic original. It boasts many benefits to its merit. First of all the inter-linear Arabic text with the English translation makes it easy for novices to compare and contrast the two languages. Where classical Arabic rarely employs punctuations, the translator breaks down large passages into bullet points without compromising the Arabic. He also uses sub-headings to group themes together, something which is missing in the Arabic original. This then adds another layer of contribution to al-Quduri’s already superior arrangement. The translator uses square parenthesis to bring out the ellipses in the, otherwise somewhat obscure, Arabic text.