A Treatise on the Introduction to Principles by Shaykh Mahmoud ibn Darwish Ali al-Hilli al-Najafi (d. ca. 1070 AH)

Abstract

Shaykh Mahmoud ibn Darwish, known as Husam al-Din al-Hilli (d. ca. 1070 AH), was one of the prominent scholars of Hilla. He authored numerous works, including Hidayat al-Mustarshidin, a book on jurisprudential branches that covered all acts of worship. Seeking divine guidance, he resolved to write a reasoning-based book addressing each of the branches mentioned in Hidayat al-Mustarshidin. He titled it Adillat al-Ahkam and structured it into an introduction and several books.
He composed a separate treatise dedicated to the introduction, titled Risala fi Muqaddimat al-Usul (“A Treatise on the Introduction to Principles”), in which he concisely addressed a number of topics related to the principles of jurisprudence. The treatise is divided into two sections: the first includes eight thematic headings, while the second discusses the terminology and classification of Hadiths attributed to the infallible Imams, thus concluding the introduction.