Hashiyat al-Allamah al-Ujhuri ala Sharh al-Imam al-Sanusi ala Mukhtasarihi fi Ilm al-Mantiq حاشية العلامة الأجهوري على شرح الإمام السنو سي على مختصره في علم المنطق

Ḥāshiyat al-ʿAllāmah al-Ujhūrī ʿalā Sharḥ al-Imām al-Sanūsī ʿalā Mukhtaṣarihi fī ʿIlm al-Manṭiq
(حاشية العلامة الأجهوري على شرح الإمام السنوسي على مختصره في علم المنطق)

This important ḥāshiyah by the celebrated Egyptian Shāfiʿī scholar Shaykh ʿAṭiyyatullāh al-Ujhūrī provides a detailed scholastic commentary on Imām al-Sanūsī’s abridgment and commentary on the principles of logic. It examines the terminology, conceptual distinctions, and analytical principles underlying classical ʿilm al-manṭiq, while engaging with important theological and epistemological questions.

1. Linguistic and Conceptual Foundations — Mabāḥith al-Alfāẓ wa’l-Mafāhīm

The opening sections establish the fundamental terminology of logic, beginning with the distinction between al-Mufrad (the simple term, whose parts do not independently indicate parts of its meaning) and al-Murakkab (the composite expression, whose parts indicate corresponding parts of its meaning). The discussion covers the divisions of simple terms—ism, fiʿl/kalimah, and adāh—as well as complete and incomplete composite expressions.

The work then examines al-Kullī (universal) and al-Juzʾī (particular), including the important distinction between al-Juzʾī al-Ḥaqīqī (real particular) and al-Juzʾī al-Iḍāfī (relative particular). It also discusses al-Nisab al-Arbaʿ, the four logical relations between concepts: al-Tasāwī (equivalence), al-Tabāyun (mutual exclusion), al-ʿUmūm wa’l-Khuṣūṣ al-Muṭlaq (absolute generality and particularity), and al-ʿUmūm wa’l-Khuṣūṣ al-Wajhī (partial overlap).

2. The Five Predicables and the Ten Categories — al-Kulliyyāt al-Khams wa’l-Maqūlāt

A substantial portion is devoted to the five predicables: Jins (genus), Nawʿ (species), Faṣl (differentia), Khāṣṣah (proprium), and ʿAraḍ ʿĀmm (general accident). The text explains their definitions and subdivisions, including proximate, intermediate, and remote genera, as well as the distinctions between real and relative species.

The discussion then turns to the Ten Categories (al-Maqūlāt al-ʿAshr): Jawhar (substance) and the nine accidental categories—Kamm (quantity), Kayf (quality), Iḍāfah (relation), Ayna (place), Matā (time), Waḍʿ (position), Jiddah/Milk (possession), Fiʿl (action), and Infiʿāl (passivity).

3. The Theory of Definition — al-Muʿarrifāt / al-Qawl al-Shāriḥ

The work explains the principles governing sound definitions and their role in attaining correct conceptualization (taṣawwur). It discusses the various forms of definition, including:

• al-Ḥadd al-Tāmm — complete real definition
• al-Ḥadd al-Nāqiṣ — incomplete real definition
• al-Rasm al-Tāmm — complete descriptive definition
• al-Rasm al-Nāqiṣ — incomplete descriptive definition
• al-Taʿrīf al-Lafẓī — nominal or linguistic definition

It further examines the conditions that make a definition valid, including being both comprehensive and exclusive (jāmiʿ māniʿ), and addresses logical errors such as circularity (al-Dawr), as well as defining something through an expression that is equally obscure or even more obscure than the term being defined.

4. Key Scholastic Discussions in al-Ujhūrī’s Ḥāshiyah

Al-Ujhūrī’s marginal commentary goes beyond explaining terminology, engaging with significant debates in logic, epistemology, and Ashʿarī theology. Among the notable discussions are:

The Ontological Status of the Categories: Al-Ujhūrī examines the relationship between the Aristotelian categories and Ashʿarī ontology, particularly the nature of substances and accidents (jawāhir wa-aʿrāḍ), and the theological implications of treating the categories as a framework for classifying created realities.

The Distinction between Relative Particular and Relative Species: The ḥāshiyah carefully differentiates al-Juzʾī al-Iḍāfī from al-Nawʿ al-Iḍāfī, clarifying the different perspectives from which a concept may be considered particular or species within the hierarchy of logical predication.

The Conditions of Definition: Al-Ujhūrī expands upon al-Sanūsī’s treatment of al-Muʿarrif, explaining the requirements of a sound definition and the problems caused by circularity, lack of comprehensiveness or exclusivity, and defining an unknown concept through something equally or more obscure.

Authors

Author of the Ḥāshiyah:
Shaykh ʿAṭiyyatullāh ibn ʿAṭiyyah al-Burhānī al-Qāhirī al-Azharī al-Shāfiʿī, commonly known as al-Ujhūrī or ʿAṭiyyah al-Ujhūrī (d. 1190/1194 AH; c. 1776–1780 CE).

Author of the Matn and Sharḥ:
Imām Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf al-Sanūsī al-Tilimsānī al-Mālikī (832–895 AH / 1428–1490 CE), the celebrated North African theologian and logician, best known for his Umm al-Barāhīn and his contributions to Ashʿarī theology and the logical sciences.

Edition and Layout

The volume is carefully arranged to facilitate the study of the matn, sharḥ, and ḥāshiyah together:

• The first 16 pages contain the complete matn of al-Sanūsī’s abridgment, allowing the reader to study the foundational text independently before proceeding to the commentaries.
• The remainder of the volume presents the texts in a traditional layered format: al-Sanūsī’s sharḥ appears at the top of the page, al-Ujhūrī’s ḥāshiyah below it, and the editor’s scholarly footnotes beneath the ḥāshiyah. This arrangement enables readers to follow the original text, its explanation, and the later marginal commentary simultaneously.

This carefully structured presentation makes the volume particularly convenient for students and researchers of ʿilm al-manṭiq, allowing the successive layers of the classical scholarly tradition to be studied together while keeping each clearly distinguishable.