al-Buhuti

Mansur ibn Yunus ibn Salah ad-Din al-Buhuti (d. 1641 CE / 1051 AH) was the most authoritative Hanbali jurist of the Ottoman period and the final major systematizer of the Hanbali legal school. Born in Buhut in Upper Egypt, he settled in Cairo where he became the leading Hanbali authority and produced works that became the definitive references for the school.

Al-Buhuti's three major works form the backbone of Hanbali legal scholarship to this day. Kashshaf al-Qina an Matn al-Iqna is an authoritative commentary on al-Hajjawi's al-Iqna and became the primary reference for detailed Hanbali legal rulings. Sharh Muntaha al-Iradat is a comprehensive commentary on Ibn an-Najjar's Muntaha that serves as the other pillar of late Hanbali jurisprudence. Ar-Rawd al-Murbi Sharh Zad al-Mustaqni is a more concise commentary on al-Hajjawi's Zad al-Mustaqni that became the most widely studied Hanbali text at the intermediate level.

Al-Buhuti's works are characterized by their precision, thoroughness, and careful identification of the relied-upon position (mu'tamad) in the Hanbali school. When later Hanbali scholars and muftis need to determine the authoritative position of the school, they turn first to al-Buhuti's works. His contribution is comparable in importance to an-Nawawi's role in the Shafi'i school or ad-Dardir's in the Maliki school. He is universally recognized as the seal of the great Hanbali codifiers.