جهود العلامة أبي العُلاء محمد عبد الرحمن المباركفوري في تقرير القواعد الأصولية في كتابه تحفة الأحوذي بشرح جامع الترمذي.

The Contributions of the Eminent Scholar Abu al ula Muhammad AbdulRahman al Mubarakfuri to the Articulation of the Principles of Islamic Legal Theory in His Work Tuhfat al Ahwadhi a Commentary on Jami al Tirmidhi.

Abstract

This study examines the efforts of the Eminent Scholar Abu al ula al Mubarakfuri in articulating the Principles of Islamic  Legal Theory (usul al fiqh) through his work Tuhfat al Ahwadhi a Commentary on Jami al Tirmidhi.

The research aims to highlight his contributions to usul al fiqh and his methodological approach to employing its principles within a hadith based analytical framework.

The study begins with a concise biographical overview of al Mubarakfuri, including an introduction to his life, birth, scholarly formation, prominent teachers and students, as well as an outline of his scholarly stature and his efforts in serving the Prophetic Sunnah and the Islamic sciences.

It then introduces Tuhfat al Ahwadhi by discussing the reasons behind its compilation, its methodology and its scholarly standing among the commentaries on Jami al Tirmidhi.

The study also highlights the works distinctive integration of fiqh, hadith, and usul al fiqh, which has made it a significant reference for researchers and students of knowledge.

Using inductive and analytical methods, the research identifies and examines the usuli principles articulated by al Mubarakfuri throughout the commentary. Although he did not author an independent work on usul al fiqh, his commentary contains a substantial and clearly articulated body of usuli discussions. The number of extracted principles reaches approximately eighty, spanning  various areas, including principles related to legal ruling (both taklifi and wadh e), principles concerning legal evidences, rules governing linguistic indications, and principles related to reconciling and weighing apparently conflicting evidences.

The study concludes that al Mubarakfuri possessed a well-established mastery of usul al fiqh and employed its principles with precision in understanding hadith texts and deriving legal rulings. This demonstrates that Tuhfat al Ahwadhi is not merely a hadith commentary, but rather a comprehensive scholarly work that integrates hadith, fiqh, and their foundational principles, clearly showcasing al Mubarakfuris contribution to the articulation of usuli principles within an applied scholarly context.