A Hanafi Classic: Studies on Mergînânî's el-Hidâye
A main research area of the history of fiqh is the compilation of an inventory of the field through an extensive literature review (tabakāt al-kutub). One of the most representative texts of the Hanafī fiqh literature is al-Hidāya of Merghinānī, who is an important scholar educated within the Hanafī fiqh tradition of Central Asia. In his lifetime, this region witnessed the political struggles between the Seljuks, Karahans and Karahitays. Merghinānī must have received support from the leading Hanafī scholars of the period and their families. He is situated at a strategic nexus in the transfer of knowledge and the chain of authority in the Hanafī fiqh tradition. Al-Hidāya's influence spread through Anatolia and the Damascus region in a short time, and then gained an important place in the Ottoman scholarly tradition. From the time it was written until today, this book has served as one of the most authoritative texts of the Hanafi School. It has been used as a textbook in the madrasas, and constituted a research topic for dozens of different types of genres such as sharh, hāshiyah, ta'līq, zawāid, citation of the hadith and translation. Some of these studies have not reached our present day. In recent years, the studies on al-Hidāya still continue in the form of new research and translations.
MURAT ŞİMŞEK
