Unlike many jurists who remained within the confines of theory, al-Marghinani was also a practicing judge (Qadi) and a master of Hadith. His ability to blend primary sources (Qur’an and Sunnah) with Hanafi reasoning is what sets Al Hidayah apart from purely dogmatic texts.
: Detailed rules on ritual purity (tahara), prayer (salah), fasting (sawm), obligatory charity (zakat), and the pilgrimage (hajj).
Al-Marghinani was one of the most esteemed jurists of his era, based in the Transoxiana region. Al-Hidayah was written as a detailed commentary on his own earlier, more concise work, Bidayat al-Mubtadi . Its historical importance is immense:
Burhan al-Din al-Marghinani (d. 593/1197) was a renowned Hanafi jurist, theologian, and Quranic exegete from Marghinan, a town in modern-day Uzbekistan. He was a leading figure in the Hanafi school of thought and wrote extensively on various aspects of Islamic law. Al-Marghinani's works are still widely studied and referenced today, and Al-Hidayah is considered his magnum opus.