AL-IDAH FI SHARH AL-ISLAH FI AL-FIQH AL-HANAFI: A CLARIFYING COMMENTARY ON AL-ISLAH
IBN KAMAL PASHA (D. 1534 AD)
Ottoman Turkey, dated 928 AH (1512 AD)

Arabic manuscript on paper, composed of 312 folios (624 pages), complete. 23 lines to the page, written in black cursive script, occasionally underlined in red. Glosses and notes in the margins, commentaries on the final pages. A table of contents is provided on the first page.

Ibn Kamal Pasha (also known as Shams Al-Din Ahmad ibn Sulayman ibn Kamal Pasha and Kemalpashazade in Turkish, 873 AH -940 AH / 1468 AD-1534 AD) was one of the most distinguished scholars of the Ottoman world, renowned as the 'Mufti of the Two Realms' for his vast mastery of Islamic law, theology, and scholarship. Descending from a prominent Ottoman family, he inherited strong political and intellectual connections, as both his grandfather and father held high imperial offices and military roles. He achieved exceptional academic prestige, mastering Arabic, Persian, and Turkish, and producing works across multiple disciplines, including jurisprudence, history, literature, and Qurʾanic exegesis. Commissioned by Sultan Bayezid II, he wrote the Tawarikh Al-i Osman, a major chronicle of Ottoman history. Throughout his career he held important posts as teacher, judge, and military judge, accompanying imperial campaigns and overseeing administrative reforms. He authored more than 300 works, among which the Al-Idah fi Sharh al-Islah, a treatise on Hanafi Jurisprudence and dedicated his life to teaching, legal scholarship, and writing. He died in Constantinople after a highly influential intellectual career.

21.5cm x 15.2cm

For further references on the subject see: E.J. Brill's First Edition, Encyclopedia of Islam, 1913-1936, art. Kemal Pasha Zadeh and cf. Brockelmann, Gesch. d. Arab. Litt., vol. II, p. 449; Several 16th century works by this author are preserved in Western collections, including: a copy of Nigaristan in the British Library (Or 16860) and other two copies of the same title at the University Library, Cambridge University (X.13 and X.14).