Author’s Introduction

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

In Him we seek aid.1

All praise belongs to Allah. We praise Him, seek His aid and forgiveness, and repent to Him. We seek refuge in Allah from the evils within ourselves and from our wicked deeds. No one can misguide whomever Allah guides, and no one can guide whomever He leads astray. I bear witness that none is worthy of worship except Allah alone, without partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger—may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him.

To proceed:

This is a concise book of Islamic jurisprudence in which I have brought together legal issues and their evidence. (I have confined it to the most important and beneficial matters because of the pressing need for this subject. I also often cite only the scriptural text when the ruling it contains is clear, so that beginners may easily memorize and understand it.) 2 This is because knowledge is the recognition of the truth through its evidence.

Islamic jurisprudence is knowledge of the subsidiary rulings of Islamic law through their evidence from the Quran, the sunnah, scholarly consensus, and valid analogy. I confine myself to well-known evidence for fear of undue length. (When an issue is disputed, I give only the view that I consider strongest in light of the evidence of Islamic law.)