The Four Imams -
Their Lives, Works & Schools of Jurisprudence,
*[A5+] Hardback with dustjacket - 530 pages,
Written by Muhammad Abu Zahra,
Translated by Aisha Bewley,
Published by Dar al-Taqwa.

Back in Stock April 2022

Description :

 
This book is a compilation of four books which deal with the lives and works of the Four Imams who founded the four great canonical schools of thought of Islamic Jurisprudence (fiqh) :

---Imam Abu Hanifa, [d.150H],
---Imam Malik, [d.179H],
---Imam ash-Shafi'i, [d.204H],
---Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal,  [d.241H].
 

May Allah be pleased with them all.
 

The book was originally written in Arabic by the great Egyptian scholar and theologian Shaykh Muhammad Abu Zahra and is presented in English for the first time. In this book, there is a comprehensive, in depth analysis of the four Sunni madhabs and their founders, giving details of their biography and the methods they used in reaching their legal conclusions. This is particularly important in the world today when many thousands of Muslims find themselves in a situation where there is not enough knowledge and therefore, no traditional allegiance to a particular madhab. As a result of this ignorance, there is also a great deal of futile disagreements amongst the Muslims. This work therefore has been long overdue in the English language and will be a milestone in bridging the gap amongst the Muslims and uniting them. It makes a stimulating and enriching read for all who are interested in deepening their knowledge of Islam.

The Author : Shaykh Muhammad Abu Zahra (1898–1974) was an Egyptian public intellectual, scholar of Islamic law, author who served as a member of al-Azhar's Academy of Islamic Research. Muhammad Abu Zahra was born on March 29, 1898 in El-Mahalla El-Kubra, the second largest city in the Nile Delta. He taught at al-Azhar's faculty of theology and later, as Professor of Islamic law at Cairo University. Between 1933 and 1942, he taught courses courses on the history of relgions, denominations and sects at al-Azhar, during which time his lectures on comparative religion and Christianity were given, though the latter wasn't published until 1965.

His forty books include biographies of Abu Hanifah, Malik ibn Anas, Al-Shafi'i, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Zayd ibn Ali, Jafar as-Sadiq, Ali ibn al-Husayn Zayn al-'Abidin, Ibn Hazm and Ibn Taymiyyah, as well as works on personal status, pious endowments (waqf), property, and crime and punishment in Islamic law.

The Translator : Aisha Abdurrahman at Tarjumana Bewley is one today’s most prolific translators of classical Arabic work into English. Aisha Bewley not only understands Arabic but she is also aware of the basic meanings and nature of teachings and history of Islam. Her knowledge is born of experience and direct transmission, not merely academic theory and learning by rote. For more than twenty-five years she has been concerned with making the contents of many classical works in Arabic more accessible to English-speaking readers for the first time, including Ash-Shifa of Qadi “Iyad.

She is co-translator of the Qur'an. Other works include Muwatta of Imam Malik, Men of Madina & Women of Madina of Ibn Sa'd and she has also written a number of other books.

Table of Contents :

Book [I] : Imam Malik ibn Anas,

---[1] The Life of Imam Malik ibn Anas,
---[2] Imam Malik's great knowledge,
---[3] Madina,
---[4] A word about Sects,
---[5] Imam Malik's Fiqh,
---[6] Some of Imam Malik's students,
---[7] The fundamental principles of Imam Malik's Fiqh.

Book [II] : Imam Abu Hanifa,

---Preface,
---Foreword,
---[1] The Life & Times of Imam Abu Hanifa,
---[[2] The Knowledge of Imam Abu Hanifa & its Sources,
---[3] The Age of Imam Abu Hanifa,
---[4] The Opinions of Imam Abu Hanifa,
---[5] The Fiqh of Imam Abu Hanifa.

Book [III] : Imam al-Shafi'i,

---Preface,
---[1] Birth, Lineage and Life History,
---[2] Ash-Shafi'i's Knowledge and its Sources,
---[3] The Times of Imam ash-Shafi'i,
---[4] The Opinions and Fiqh of ash-Shafi'i,
---[5] The Principles of Imam ash-Shafi'i.

Book [IV] : Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal,

---Preface,
---[1] The Life of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal,
---[2] The Erudition of Imam Hanbal,
---[3] Imam Hanbal's Time and its Effect on him,
---[4] Imam Hanbal's Views,
---[5] The Hadiths' and Fiqh of Imam Hanbal,
---[6] Description of Hanbali Fiqh,

---Glossary,
---Index.

More Fiqh : Islamic Jurisprudence.

*Dimensions : 22 x 15cm.