Introduction

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In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful.

Presentation by His Eminence, the erudite scholar Shaykh Abd Allah ibn Abd al-Azīz ibn Aqīl
Former Chairman of the Permanent Committee of the Supreme Judicial Council

Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. May Allah send blessings and peace upon His servant and trustworthy Messenger, who said, “When Allah wills good for someone, He grants him understanding of the religion,” and upon his family and his illustrious, blessed Companions.

To proceed: Our Shaykh, the erudite scholar Abd al-Rahmān ibn Nāsir al-Sa'dī, was among those whom Allah granted understanding of the religion. This occupied him for most of his time through learning and teaching, study and instruction, and authorship. One of his most important works on Islamic jurisprudence is Manhaj al-Sālikīn wa-Tawdīh al-Fiqh fī al-Dīn (The Way of the Travelers and the Clarification of Jurisprudence in Religion). This book is concise in wording yet comprehensive in meaning. May Allah have mercy on him: he devoted close attention to it before writing it, took great care over it while writing it, and was pleased with it after its completion. He would commend it to his students, encouraging them to devote themselves to memorizing, studying, learning, and teaching it.

He wrote me a letter about it dated 13 Muharram 1360 AH and sent it to me in Abū Arīsh, where I was serving as a judge. He wrote: “We abridged it until it became shorter than all the concise works with which you are familiar, including Mukhtasar al-Muqni (The Abridgment of al-Muqni), al-Umdah, and Akhsar al-Mukhtasarāt (The Concisest of Abridgments). It is shorter than all of them because it is limited to what is needed in each chapter. Despite this, it is clear and includes the supporting evidence.