Al-Hidaya Sharh Bidayat al-Mubtadi (Part Four)

This is the fourth of a multi-part fiqh course dedicated to a careful study of al-Imam al-Marghinani's renowned work of legal commentary, al-Hidaya. The arguments presented in the Hidaya will be carefully analysed to show how the text really does convey a science of jurisprudence, and how a methodical approach to the text prepares one for the highest levels of legal reasoning.

In this course, we build on the last course's study of the marital contract by studying the remaining contracts in Islamic law. This includes contracts for trade, leasing, hiring, various forms of business partnership, money exchange, collaterals, and agency agreements. Further topics are covered to complete our picture of wealth, ownership, and legal capacity, including lost property, endowments, trusts, lent property, gifts, usurpation, and the reclamation of dead land. In addition to gaining a full view of theories of ownership, property, contracting, and social dealings, we deal with topical matters such as usury and other forms of impermissible contracts.

Chapters Covered

Chapters of the Hidaya are covered in the order below (21 chapters, approximately 273 pages of text in total). They are grouped here by subject matter to give a clearer sense of the course's overall shape; the sequence within each group reflects the order in which we will read them.

Sale and Exchange Contracts

1. Kitab al-Buyu' — Sales
2. Kitab al-Sarf — Money exchange
3. Kitab al-Rahn — Collateral
4. Kitab al-Ijara — Leasing / hire
5. Kitab al-Kafala — Guarantorship
6. Kitab al-Hawala — Debt transfer
7. Kitab al-Wakala — Agency

Partnerships

8. Kitab al-Shirka — Partnerships
9. Kitab al-Mudaraba — Profit-sharing partnership

Property, Possession, and Legal Capacity

10. Kitab al-Ghasb — Usurpation
11. Kitab al-Luqata — Lost property
12. Kitab al-Waqf — Endowments
13. Kitab al-Wadi'a — Trusts / deposits
14. Kitab al-'Ariya — Lent property
15. Kitab al-Hiba — Gifts
16. Kitab al-Hajr — Interdiction (legal incapacitation)
17. Kitab al-Ma'dhun — Authorisation
18. Kitab al-Shuf'a — Pre-emption

Agricultural Partnerships and Land

19. Kitab al-Muzara'a — Share-cropping
20. Kitab al-Musaqa — Irrigation share-cropping
21. Kitab Ihya' al-Mawat — Reclamation of dead land