Al-Jaṣṣās

Abū Bakr Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī al-Rāzī , widely known as al-Jaṣṣāṣ (; 370–305 AH/ 917–981 CE), was a leading Hanafi jurist and Qurʾān exegete in Baghdad of his time.

Early life Birth He was born at the year 305 AH (917 CE) in Rayy, a city near present-day Tehran, capital city of Iran.

Teachers He studied under many prominent scholars of his era, including:

Abū Suhayl al-Sajjād al-Thānī Abū al-Ḥasan al-Karkhī, a leading Hanafi jurist of his time. Sahl ibn Aḥmad al-Ṭabarī al-Khabbāz ibn Thaʿlab Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Muṣʿab al-Ḥākim al-Nīshābūrī ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Bahāʾīnī Abū al-Ḥasan Ibrāhīm ibn ʿAlī al-Shīrāzī

Scholarly life Career After completing his studies in Nishapur, he returned to Baghdad in 343 AH (954 CE) and assumed the position of a teacher and senior scholar (shaykh al-taʿlīm). Al-Khaṭīb notes that Abū Bakr al-Jaṣṣāṣ exemplified piety and integrity, as he twice declined the appointment to the high office of chief judge (qāḍī al-quḍāt), choosing instead to distance himself from worldly authority.

Books Imam al-Jaṣṣāṣ produced abundant scholarly works filled with valuable insights and contributions to Islamic jurisprudence and theology. He also wrote numerous commentaries and summaries, following the method of eminent scholars of the Hanafī school. Among his important works are:

'Aḥkām al-Qur'ān' – The well-known and celebrated book authored by him. Uṣūl al-Fiqh, titled al-Fuṣūl fī al-Uṣūl, published by the Kuwait Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, edited by Dr. Jaʿfar Jumʿa. A treatise on the issue of “al-Qurūʾ” (the waiting period of women after divorce). A commentary on the Mukhtaṣar of his teacher Abū al-Ḥasan al-Karkhī. A commentary on the Mukhtaṣar of al-Ṭaḥāwī. A commentary on al-Jāmiʿ al-Kabīr by Muḥammad al-Shaybānī. A commentary on al-Siyar al-Ḥasan. A summary of Ikhtilāf al-Fuqahāʾ (The Disagreement of the Jurists) by al-Ṭaḥāwī — a well-known and printed book, published by Majmaʿ al-Buḥūth al-ʿIlmiyya in Islamabad, Pakistan, and also repeatedly printed by Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya in Beirut. A commentary and explanation of al-Qāḍī ʿAbd Allāh's work written by Imām Abū Yūsuf. A commentary on al-Manāsik by Muḥammad al-Shaybānī. A book on al-Ribā (usury). A commentary on the Athār of al-Ṭaḥāwī by al-Ṭaḥāwī.