Book of Sales

Scholars—may Allah have mercy on them—begin their works with the acts of worship, then transactions, then marriage, then matters involving bloodshed, and then the judiciary. They begin with the acts of worship because this is the purpose for which mankind was created. They begin with prayer because it is the most important act of worship, and they place purification before it because it is one of its conditions; purification entails cleansing and freedom from defilement.

Thus, the proper order is to begin first with purification, and then build upon it. Hence, one of the well-known maxims among scholars is: “Clearing comes before adorning”—that is, a place is first cleared of harm, and then it is adorned. After prayer, they mention zakah, because it is the most emphatic pillar of Islam after prayer; then fasting, because it is the fourth pillar; and then Hajj.

Why do they place jihad in the section on acts of worship rather than, for example, in the chapter on prescribed punishments?

The answer is that jihad is more clearly an act of worship than an act of reprisal or deterrence. Hence, there are numerous texts concerning its virtue, reward, and encouragement to undertake it, so they included it among the acts of worship. They then begin the section on transactions with sales and related matters, and then mention marriage and what pertains to it, because filling one’s stomach takes precedence over marriage. People need food and drink from the time they are born, and among the greatest means of obtaining these is buying and selling. Thus, they begin the section on transactions with sales and related matters. Once a person has eaten his fill,