Al-Muwāfaqāt (Concordances) Occurring in the Noble Qur’an Attributed to the Commander of the Faithful Abu Ḥafṣ ʿUmar ibn al-Khattab al-ʿAdawi al-Qurashi (may Allah be pleased with him), by the Humble Servant of God, Abu al-ʿAbbas Aḥmad ibn ʿAli ibn al-Naqib al-Maqdisi al-Ḥanafi (751–816 AH): A Critical Edition and Study

Abstract

Abstract:

This research focuses on the manuscript Al-Muwāfaqāt fī al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm, authored by Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī ibn al-Naqīb al-Maqdisī al-Ḥanafī (d. 816 AH), which collects instances of agreement between Qur’anic revelation and the sayings or judgments of the Commander of the Faithful, ʿUmar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him).

The study pursues two main objectives: first, a biographical analysis of the author—his full name, lineage, scholarly affiliations, teachers, students, works, theological creed, juristic school, scholarly stature, and scholarly reception; and second, a critical investigation of the manuscript—its title, attribution to the author, sources, subject matter, methodological framework, scholarly value, manuscript description, representative samples, and finally, a fully verified edition of the text.

The central research question addresses how to carry out a rigorous study and scholarly verification of a previously unedited manuscript and its author.

The study’s key findings reveal that the author developed a novel methodology in compiling the muwafaqat according to the sequence of the Qur’anic muṣḥaf, a structure not observed in other works. The author identifies twenty concordances in total—ten of them verified as authentic or acceptable, and ten classified as weak. His scholarly voice is evident in his commentary and critique of certain concordances, as few entries are presented without explanatory notes. Once published, this edition will represent only the second independent work exclusively dedicated to the topic of muwāfaqāt, following Nuzhat Dhawī al-Albāb by al-Maqdisī.