"The faqih is the one who is frugal in this world, desirous of the Hereafter, a person who has insight into his religion, who is constant in the worship of his Lord, who keeps himself well away from [violating] the characters of and property Muslims, and who is an advisor to them." [Hasan al-Basri]
Kanz al-Daqa'iq : The fiqh in Kanzul Daqaiq holds the same status that the definition of the principles of fiqh from the Quduri of Kaafiyyah, after Hidayatun Nahw, holds in Nahw. However, Kanzul Daqa'iq contains a tremendous treasure of concise and summarized fiqhi information, collected like water in the sea.
In the Hanafi madhhab curriculum, the following are the essential study works relied upon for students that traditionally, a student of Hanafi Law would study to get a grasp of the relied upon, transmitted positions of the school before specialising, and reading subject specific texts;
---Imam Quduri’s [d.428h] al-Mukhtasar,---Imam al-Mawsili’s [d.683h] al-Mukhtar,---Imam Burhan al-Shari`a’s [d.673h] al-Wiqaya,
---Imam Abi al-Barakat al-Nasafi [d.710h] Kanz al-Daqa'iq.
The lattar text is one that has enjoyed immense fame and academic scrutiny over the centuries. Kanz al-Daqa'iq is an abridgement of Imam al-Nasafi larger work al-Wafi. Subsequently al-Wafi would see further commentary titles as al-Kafi. Imam al-Nasafi sticks to two main points in this work;
---1]. Sticking to the issues of the Zahir al-Riwayah,
---2]. and not surpassing the 'mufta biha' sayngs of the three Imams i.e. Abu Hanifa, Abu Yusuf and Muhammad al-Shaybani, may Allah be pleased with them.
About the Author :
He is Imam Abu al-Barakat Hafiz al-Din 'Abd Allah b. Ahmad bin Muhammad al-Nasafi, al-Hanafi. He was born in town called Idhaj, in Samarqand and he died there as well in 710 After Hijri. He travelled to Iraq for knowledge and learned much from the scholars their eventually returning to his home town.
He was an expert on Usul, Fiqh, Kalam, Hadith being an Imam in all those fields. He was ascetic and didn't value much of the world and lived a humble life. He was raised in an envirement of scholarly upbringing. Imam al-Lacknawi called him "The full fletched Imam, head of jurisprudence and Usul, expert in Hadith sciences and its finery" while Imam ibn Hajar said of him "the expert [scholar] of the world".
Amongst his teachers were ;---Shams al-A'imah al-Kurdi, Muhammad b. Abd al-Sattar [d.642h],---Badr al-Din Khawahir Zadah, Muhammad b. Muhammad [d.651h],---Hamid al-Din al-Dharir, Ali b. Muhammad [d.666h].Imam Abu al-Barakat al-Nasafi also had many popular students;--- al-Hussayn b. Ali b. Hajjaj Hisam al-Din al-Safnaqi [d 714h],--- Muhammad b. Muhammad al-Jayli.Some of his popular 'Published' works include;---Madarik al-Tanzil wa Haqa'iq al-Ta'wil (aka Tafsir al-Nasafi),---'Umdat 'Aqidat Ahl al-Sunnah wa'l Jama'ah,---Kashf al-Asrar fi Sharh al-Manar,---Kanz al-Daqa'iq (a manual on Hanafi fiqh),---Al-Manar al-Anwar fi Usul al-Fiqh,Unpublished works:---Al-I'timad fi'l I'tiqad,---'Umdat al-'Aqa'id,---Al-Wafi, (Furu').---Al-Kafi fi Sharh al-Wafi,---Al-Musfa fi Sharh al-Manzumah,---Al-Mustasfa fi Sharh al-Fiqh al-Nafi', Some historians have disagreed on the exact date of his passing but Imam al-Lacknawi and Imam al-Baghdadi, Al-Qutluwbugha and others have accepted the date of 710 Hijri while Imam ibn Hajar believes it to be 701 Hijri.
