Shams al-‘Aimma al-Sarakhsī (d. 483/1090) is one of the most important representatives of Central Asian Transoxianan Hanafi jurists  and is considered among the scholars who could issue ijtihad on issues that had not been reported by the imams of the madhhab. Al-Sarakhsī wrote his book with the purpose of annotating one of the most prominent Imams of the Hanafi madhhab Muḥammad Ibn Ḥasan al-Shaybānī’s book al-Jāmi‘ al-Ṣaghīr, which is an annotation and accepted among the “ẓahir al-riwāya” works of the Hanafi school.

As in most of his works, al-Sarakhsī had his students dictate al-Jāmi‘ al-Ṣaghīr while he was in prison. While none of the other known copies of al-Jāmi‘ al-Ṣaghīr follows the original order of Imam Muhammad, the fact that al-Sarakhsī’s annotation of his work was faithful to the original composition of Imam Muhammad gives it a unique importance.

Al-Jāmi‘ al-Ṣaghīr was critically edited and prepared for publication by ISAM Critical Edition Publication Board member Prof. Ertuğrul Boynukalın and has been published in two volumes by ISAM. After its publication the work has become the oldest known copy of al-Jāmi‘ al-Ṣaghīr’s printed annotations.

The domestic edition and distribution of the book is done by Turkiye Diyanet Foundation Publications and the international edition and distribution is done by Darulrayaheen Publications in Beirut.

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