al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya (Kuwaiti Fiqh Encyclopedia)

The Kuwaiti Jurisprudential Encyclopedia is a modern encyclopedia of jurisprudence published by the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs in Kuwait. It arranges the terms of jurisprudence alphabetically, sets out in each question the different jurisprudential positions with their evidence, and covers the jurisprudential heritage up to the thirteenth century AH. ^{1 2}

The introduction defines the encyclopedia as a book comprising the information of one or more sciences, presented under commonly accepted headings in a set order, in a simplified style, with the information attributed to its sources. Its basic arrangement is by the terms in common use in jurisprudence. The introduction distinguishes it from compendia and lengthy treatises that do not take terms as the basis of research. ¹

The introduction says that the encyclopedia includes a modern formulation of the heritage of Islamic jurisprudence up to the thirteenth century AH. It excludes codifications, whether positive, because they are not Islamic jurisprudence, or legislative, because they generally rest on recent independent reasoning, and it also excludes personal preference and sectarian debate. ²

A question is presented by listing its various opinions. The position taken by most jurists is given first, each position is followed by the views of the four schools that agree with it, and the positions of the early generations are noted where available. The introduction says that this method is difficult for authors, and that it allows the reader to see the points of agreement and disagreement. ³

The file held here is a digital copy in Nur Book format. The file name says "Part 3 of 45", but the title page of the scan says "Part One" and names a second edition. The edition, the part number and the number of parts have not been verified, and the entry is not attributed to a particular edition until these are checked. The publisher is what the imprint page states: the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, Kuwait. ^{4 5 6}

This encyclopedia is not the other digital copy held in the museum under the name "Jurisprudential Encyclopedia" (the comprehensive version), which its title page attributes to Durar al-Sunniyya. The pages read here are the introduction and the first entries only.