Burhan al-Din al-Marghinani

Burhān al-Dīn Abu’l-Ḥasan ‘Alī bin Abī Bakr bin ‘Abd al-Jalīl al-Farghānī al-Marghīnānī (برهان الدين المرغيناني) (1135-1197) was an Islamic scholar of the Hanafi school of jurisprudence.He was born to an Arab family whose lineage goes back to Caliph Abu Bakr al-Siddiq. He was born in Marghinan near Farghana (in present day Uzbekistan). He died in 1197 (593 AH). He is best known as the author of al-Hidayah, which is considered to be one of the most influential compendia of Hanafi jurisprudence (fiqh). Sheikh Muhammad Abd al-Hayy al-Laknawi mentioned in the book al-Fawa’id al-Bahiyyah, saying: And know that they divided our Hanafi companions into six classes, and the fourth: the class of those with preferential judgment, such as  Burhan al-Din al-Marginani, who are able to prefer some narrations over others. Some with good knowledge.

Life
Al-Marghanini performed the Hajj and visited Medina in the year 544 AH. He was thought to have died on the 14th of Dhu'l-Hijjah in the year 593 AH although one report indicated his year of death as 596 AH. He was buried in Samarqand.

Works
Al-Marghinani works (some extant and others known only from literary references) include:


 * Nashr al-madhhab
 * Kitab manasik al-hajj
 * Kitab fi-l-fara'id (also known as Fara'id al-‘Uthmani)
 * Kitab al-tajnis wa-l-mazid (collection of fatwas)
 * Mukhtarat al-nawazil (collection of fatwas, also known as Mukhtarat majmu` al-nawazil and Mukhtar al-fatawa)
 * Mazid fi furu‘ al-hanafiyya
 * A commentary on al-Shaybani's al-Jami‘ al-kabir
 * Kitab bidayat al-mubtadi (his principle work, based on al-Quduri's Mukhtasar and al-Shaybani's al-Jami‘ al-saghir)
 * Kifayat al-muntaha (unfinished 8-volume commentary on his own Kitab bidayat al-mubtadi )
 * Al-Hidayah ("The Guidance"), a work on Hanafi law and an abridgement of his commentary on Muhammad al-Shaybani's al-Jami‘ al-Saghir.

Teachers
Al-Marghinani's most important teachers were:
 * Najm al-din Abu Hafs Umar an-Nasafi, author of al-‘Aqa’id al-Nasafiyyah fi al-Tauhid;
 * Sadr al-Shahid Husam al-Din Umar bin Abd al-Aziz, the commentator of Adab al-Qadi, the most popular book of Imam Khassaf which contains the Islamic Legal and Judicial System.