Kanz al-'irfan fi fiqh al-Qur'an (book)
 Bibliographical Information | |
| Author | al-Fadil al-Miqdad |
|---|---|
| Original title | کنز العرفان فی فقه القرآن |
| Language | Arabic |
| Subject | Exegesis of the Qur'an |
| Genre | Jurisprudential |
| Published | Qom, 1422/2001-2 |
| Publisher | Maktab-i Nawid-i Islam |
Kanz al-ʿirfān fī fiqh al-Qurʾān (Arabic: کنزُ الْعِرْفان فی فِقْه القُرْآن) is a book about Ayat al-Ahkam, which is written by the Shi'a scholar and jurist al-Miqdad b. 'Abd Allah al-Hilli, well-known as al-Fadil al-Miqdad (d. 826/1422-3). The book, which is a thematic commentary on the Qur'an, is arranged in the order of the chapters in jurisprudential books. The author, only dealt with the jurisprudential verses of the Qur'an and for reporting the opinions of other scholars, quoting hadiths and the occasion of revelation he has benefited from Majma' al-bayan.
Author
Al-Miqdad b. 'Abd Allah b. Muhammad al-Hilli al-Suyuri (d. 826/1422-3), well-known as al-Fadil al-Miqdad, the Shi'a jurist and theologian, is the author of the book. He was born in the village of Suyur near Hillah, as a member of the tribe of Banu Asad. He was one of the most famous students of al-Shahid al-Awwal and has narrated hadith from him. 'Ali b. Hilal al-Jaza'iri, Ibn Qattan al-Hilli and Hasan b. Rashid al-Hilli are some of his students.
Style of Book
In contrast to majority of Shi'a jurists, al-Fadil al-Suyuri believed that Ayat al-Ahkam are less than 500 verses, and many verses counted among these five hundred verses are repeated ones.
Unlike Ibn 'Arabi and Jassas who arranged their book in order of the chapters and verses (suras and ayas) of th Qur'an, al-Fadil al-Miqdad arranged his book according to the order of jurisprudential books. In addition to explaining the ruling based on the Qur'anic verses, he has quoted the opinions of other Islamic sects and criticized them.
Characteristics
There are a lot of similarities between Kanz al-'irfan and Majma' al-bayan, written by Fadl b. Hasan al-Tabrisi, in the order and arrangement of the content, elegant and efficient wording and consistency of the text. Some other characteristics of the book are:
- The book is arranged in the order of the chapters in jurisprudential books, which start form Tahara (cleanness) and ends with Diyat.
- The author only mentioned the verses that contain jurisprudential rulings and has avoided repeated and non-related verses.
- The author quotes the whole verse at first, then explains it, unlike al-Muqaddas al-Ardabili - in Zubdat al-Bayan - who has divided each verse into several phrases and explained each of them individually.
Credibility
The reputation and credibility of Kanz al-'irfan among Sunni scholars are similar to Majma' al-bayan, to the extent that a contemporary Sunni scholars has mentioned in his book (al-Tafsir wa al-mufassirun) that Kanz al-'irfan is one of the top four exegeses of the Qur'an.
Sources
The author benefited very much from Majma' al-bayan in quoting hadiths, scholars' opinions and occasion of revelations of the verses.
Manuscripts
The available copy of the book is compared to and corrected according to two printed versions and two manuscripts of the book. One of the printed versions is published individually (in medium octavo size) and the other is printed on the margin of the exegesis attributed to Imam Hasan al-'Askari (a).
Three manuscripts of the book are:
- An old corrected manuscript that has a lot of notes on the margins; however, some pages of this manuscript are missing.
- A corrected manuscript with some notes on the margins, by the beautiful handwriting of Mas'ud b. Haydar Hasani Zavari, written in 979/1571-2.
- A corrected manuscript with some notes on the margins, by the handwriting of Ali Akbar b. 'Ayn Allah Vaysi, written in 1401/1980-1.
The two last manuscripts are kept in the Ayatullah Mar'ashi Najafi Library in Qom.
References
- The material for this article has been mainly taken from کنزالعرفان فی فقه القرآن in Farsi WikiShia.