''Kitab al-Makasib'' or ''Makasib'' () is a two-volume Twelver Shi'ah legal manual of

Islamic Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

commercial Commercial may refer to: * (adjective for) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and services ** (adjective for) trade, the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money * a dose of advertising ...

law written on ''

Fiqh ''Fiqh'' (; ) is the term for Islamic jurisprudence.Fiqh
Encyclopædia Britannica ''Fiqh'' is of ...

'' by

Morteza Ansari Grand Ayatollah Sheikh Murtadha al-Ansari al-Tostari (1781–1864; ) known as Shaykh al-Ta'ifah () was an Arab Islamic scholar who was “generally acknowledged as the most eminent jurist of the time". He is considered to have laid the foundation ...

. It remains a key textbook in the modern

Hawza A hawza () or ḥawzah ʿilmīyah () is the collective term (plural hawzat) for a ''madrasa'' (i.e. seminary) where Marja', Shi'a Muslim scholars are educated. The word ''ḥawzah'' is Arabic, and has been adopted into Persian as a loan word. ...

and has been the subject of numerous commentaries. ''Makasib'' and the notable work of Akhund Khorasani, ''

Kefayah al-osul Kifayat al-Usul () (''Sufficiency of Principles'') is a two-volume book that contains the most notable works of Akhund Khorasani in the field of Principles of Islamic jurisprudence (''Usul al-Fiqh''). ''Kifayat al-Usul'' is often used in the a ...

'', are taught in advanced classes at the

seminaries A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clerg ...

. This book is one of the resources for the examination of the

Assembly of Experts The Assembly of Experts (), also translated as the Assembly of Experts of the Leadership or as the Council of Experts, is the deliberative body empowered to appoint the Supreme Leader of Iran. All directly elected members must first be vetted ...

Author

Sheikh Sheikh ( , , , , ''shuyūkh'' ) is an honorific title in the Arabic language, literally meaning "elder (administrative title), elder". It commonly designates a tribal chief or a Muslim ulama, scholar. Though this title generally refers to me ...

(1781,

Dezful Dezful (; pronounced ) is a city in the Central District of Dezful County, Khuzestan province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. History Dezful is one of the oldest cities in the Khuzestan province. According to ...

– 1864,

Najaf Najaf is the capital city of the Najaf Governorate in central Iraq, about 160 km (99 mi) south of Baghdad. Its estimated population in 2024 is about 1.41 million people. It is widely considered amongst the holiest cities of Shia Islam an ...

) was one of the most influential

Shia Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor (caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community (imam). However, his right is understood ...

scholars of the 19th century. He trained more than a thousand students. He was the leading Shia scholar in the late

Qajar The Guarded Domains of Iran, alternatively the Sublime State of Iran and commonly called Qajar Iran, Qajar Persia or the Qajar Empire, was the Iranian state under the rule of the Qajar dynasty, which was of Turkic origin,Cyrus Ghani. ''Iran an ...

period. After Muhammad Hasan al-Najafi, Ansari became the general

Marja' Marja (; plural ''marājiʿ''; ) is a title given to the highest level of Twelver Shia religious cleric, with the authority given by a hawzah (a seminary where Shi'a Muslim scholars are educated) to make legal decisions within the confines of Sh ...

of Shia. Two of his most significant works are ''Makasib'' and ''Faraed al-Osul'', which are both used as textbooks on Shia law.

Concept of the book

This book has three sections. The first section is about forbidden transactions (), the second is about sale (), and the third is about options in the sale (). The end of the book is devoted to other issues, such as ''

Taqiya In Islam, ''taqiyya'' ()R. STROTHMANN, MOKTAR DJEBLI. Encyclopedia of Islam, 2nd ed, Brill. "TAKIYYA", vol. 10, p. 134. Quote: "TAKIYYA "prudence, fear" ... denotes dispensing with the ordinances of religion in cases of constraint of preaching ...

'',

inheritance Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Offi ...

, and ''

rada The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, also known by its abbreviation RADA (), is a drama school in London, England, which provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in Bloomsbury, Central Lond ...

''.

Commentaries

''Makasib'' has been the subject of commentaries by Sheikh Abbas Qomi, Akhund Khorasani,

Muhammad Hossein Naini Marja', Grand Ayatollah Sheikh Mohammad-Hossein Naini Gharavi (; May 25, 1860 – August 14, 1936) was an Iranian Shia marja'. His father Mirza Abdol Rahim and grandfather Haji Mirza Saeed, both one were Sheikhs of Nain and Mohammad Hussein prov ...

Agha Zia Addin Araghi Zia'eddin Araghi also known as Agha Zia'eddin Araghi () was an eminent Shia jurist, Usuli and Mujtahid during the flourishing the Usul Fiqh in Ja'fari school in Shia after Muhammad Baqir Behbahani. Family Araghi was born in 1861 in Arak, Iran ...

, Mirza Abu'l-Hassan Azarbaijani Meshkini, and Sheikh Mousavi Khansari.

Editions

The first edition of the book was completed in

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

, 1886–7. The second edition was completed in Qom, and the last and popular (incomplete) edition was written by Muḥammad Kalāntar in five volumes in Najaf, 1972–5.

Corrected editions

There are numerous corrected editions of ''Makasib''. One of the editions was done by the Shaykh Ansari Congress; the first volume was published by 1415 AH and other volumes, namely, volumes 2–6, were gradually published until 1420 AH. The corrected edition was produced using one manuscript version and six printed ones. Another corrected edition was done by Hossein Amr Allahi and Muhammad Reza Fakir and issued by the institute of Islamic publication in

Qom Qom (; ) is a city in the Central District of Qom County, Qom province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is the seventh largest metropolis and also the seventh largest city in Iran. The city is ...

References