The Refined Essence Abridgment of Maʿalim al-Tanzil by the Scholar ʿAbd Allah ibn al-Wali al-Ward (d. after 1273 AH):

Abstract

This study aims to introduce the scholar ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿAbd al-Walī b. Muḥammad al-Ward (d. after 1273 AH), and to shed light on his book Al-Jawhar al-Aṣīl al-Mukhtaṣar min Maʿālim al-Tanzīl, highlighting its significance, distinctive features, methodology, and the way he structured its chapters, sections, and issues. The research examines and edits a sample from the work, namely Kitāb Dhikr al-Waṣiyya wa-Taḥrīḍ al-Waṣī fī Ḥifẓ Māl al-Wuratha (“The Book of Bequests and the Executor’s Duty to Safeguard the Heirs’ Property”).

The study is divided into three sections: the first introduces the author and his era, both in terms of influence and context; the second discusses his book Al-Jawhar al-Aṣīl; while the third provides a critical edition of a sample from the book, namely the section on bequests.

The researcher adopted the inductive-analytical approach in tracing the author’s methodology, and the historical approach in presenting the author and his era. His evidential method combined proofs from the Qur’an, the Sunnah, scholarly consensus, analogy, linguistic reasoning, and lived reality. Typically, he opened his discussions with biographical notes, followed by his own synthesized commentary summarizing his preferred opinions and judgments, then supported them with textual citations from al-Baghawī’s Maʿālim al-Tanzīl, and occasionally from other sources.

The researcher concludes by recommending further study of this work from jurisprudential, theological, and pedagogical perspectives.