Introduction to the Hanbali Madhhab

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An Introduction to the Hanbali Madhhab : New,
[A5+] Large Paperback - 548 pages,
by 'Abd al-Qadir ibn Badran al-Dimashqi [d.1346h],
Transl. by Amr Abu Ayyub,
Published by Dar al-Arqam.

Now in Stock December 2022

Description :

Al-Madhkhal ila Madhhab al-Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal - this colossal book is the first complete English translation of Ibn Badran's work on the Hanbali madhhab.

Extracts from the Author's Introduction :

" Al-Imam Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Hanbali, may Allah be pleased with him, had the vastest knowledge of Ahadith of Allah's Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, as is plainly obvious to anyone that has familiarised themselves with his famous corpus, and was also most keen on acquiring information of the views and ways of thought of the Companions and their Successors.

Based on these facts, his school of thought is mainly supported by textual evidences; one would think he was born in the first generation of Islam by how closely he adhered to the Qur'an and the Sunnah. Nevertheless, due to his stringent and exorbitant abstention, he forbade others from writing his statements, so as to keep the doors of exercising legal thought open to those qualified, and so that people could know that the favours of Allah the Exalted never cease and that His repositories are never expended, contrary to the claims of those whose intellects are limited and the views professed by liars. Due to his sincerity, Allah the Exalted, sent someone who would inscribe his verdicts, gathering and organising them into what would become an independent school of thought with its rightful weight and recognition among scholars who wrote and authored.

After I organised this book, I called it, 'The Introduction to the School of Thought of al-Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal,' and I comprised it of most of the information needed by those who busy themselves with the study of this school of thought. I wrote my book in a way that I have never seen anyone else write, in making it eligible to be a framework to introduce the rest of the schools of thought. When someone is creative, they do not need to have made every requirement, but they simply need to open the door. " ---Ibn Badran al-Dimashqi.

Imam al-Subki, may Allah be pleased with him, said,“He was the virtuous imam and the leader of a way of thought. He
was patient during the midst of his inquisition. He was the teacher and exemplar of Ahl al-Sunnah.” [Tabaqat al-Shafiiyyah al-Kubra (2/27)].

Imam al-Shafi'i, may Allah be pleased with him, said of him,“Imam Ahmad is an imam in eight characteristics: He is an imam
in hadith, an imam in jurisprudence, an imam in language, an imam in Qur'an, an imam in poverty, an imam in asceticism, an imam in abstinence, and an imam in Sunnah.”[Tabaqat al-Hanabilah of Ibn Abi Yala (I/s)].

Ibn Taymiyyah said about al-Imam Ahmad, “He was the virtuous imam, and the complete leader with whom Allah clarified the truth, rejected falsehoods, clarified the correct methodology, and repudiated the innovations of innovators, the
heresies of heretics, and the doubts of the doubtful.” [Bayan Talbis al-Jahmiyyab 3/312)]

Ustadh Adham al-Junaydi stated,“Ibn Badran was skilled in all rational, literary,and mathematical sciences. He was encyclopedic in his knowledge of law and grammar. He was truly an authority. He was a virtuous shaykh,forsaking the vanities of this world, austere in his dress, home, and life.”'Alam al-Adab wa l-Fan (I/224-225)].

Shaykh Muhammad Bahjat al-Baytar said, “He had high aspirations and many efforts in reviving the religious and scholarly awakening in the Levant. He resembled the scholars of the Salaf in that he taught in private, preached in public, authored books, and forsook the vanities of the worldly life. ” [In the introduction of Munadamat al-Atlal].

Table of Contents :

---Publishers Foreword,
---Translator's Introduction,
---A Brief Biography of Imam Ahmad Hanbal.

---Author's Introduction,

---Chapter [1]. On the Beliefs that have been Reported from the Esteemed Imam Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Hanbal,
--------A garden of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal's speech about issues pertaining to principles of the religion,
--------Golden discussions on fundamentals,

---Chapter [2]. On the Reasons many Major scholars chose the school of Law of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal over others,
--------Like ibn al-Jawzi and others.

---Chapter [3]. On the Fundamentals and Methods of His Legal Theory of Deriving Subsidiary Rulings,
--------The 1st Evidence : Divine texts,
--------The 2nd Evidence : Rulings of the Companions,
--------The 3rd Evidence : When the Companions differed, he would choose from their views,
--------The 4th Evidence : Mursal and weak narrations if nothing contradicts them,
--------The 5th Evidence : Analogy,

---Chapter [4]. On the Manner in which his Major Disciples Codified his School of Thought, deriving it from His Verdicts and Statements, and their Treatment of the Inheritance of Prophet Muhammad, as Interpreted by Imam Ahmad.
--------Gems in detailing how the disciples of Imam Ahmad understood his quotes and how they treated his narrations.

---Chapter [5]. On the Legal Theories Codified by the Ashab,
--------Introduction,
--------Expounding on the summation,
--------Section [One] On responsibilities,
--------On the ruling types,
--------Subsection [One]: Al-Wajib, obligatory,
--------A Subsection on ancillaries to obligatory actions,
--------Subsection [Two]; Al-Mandub, recommended,
--------Subsection [Three]; Al-Haram, forbidden,
--------Subsection [Four]; Al-Makruh, undesirable,
--------Subsection [Five]; Al-Mubah, lawful,
--------Section on the declaratory instructions,
--------Section [Four]; On languages,
--------Section [Five]; On legal theories,
--------The Noble Qur'an: The foundation of all principles,
--------The second foundational principle : The Sunnah,
--------A Section on some golden discussions on the Sunnah,
--------A chapter on Abrogation,
--------On commandments and prohibitions,
--------On generality and specificity.
--------On qualified and unqualified language,
--------Section on polysemes,
--------Section on explication,
--------Section on the pronounced and implied meanings,
--------The third foundational principle : consensus (ijma),
--------The fourth foundational principle : presumption of continuity,
--------On disputed evidences,
--------The fifth foundational principle : analogy,
--------Section : The pillars of legal analogy,
--------Section on the preconditions and requirement of Qiyas,
--------Subsection: On the preconditions of the ruling of the new case,
--------Subsection: On the ratio legis,
--------Subsection: The invalidators of al-Qiyas,
--------Section : Establishing a ratio legis through consensus,
--------Section : Establishing a ratio legis through deduction,
--------Subsection: On various types of analogy,
--------Subsection: On the objections to Qiyas,
--------An addendum to scholarly exertion (ijtihad) and blind-following (taqlid),
--------Section : On the categories of Mujtahid scholars,
--------Subsection: On blind-following,
--------Valuable discussions on categorising evidences and discovering preponderance.

---Chapter [6]. On the Terminologies beginners need to know, used by authors who wrote about the Fiqh of Imam Ahmad,
--------Some of the authors, and their brief background,

---Chapter [7]. On Famous Texts written on the madhhab, their styles, their Commentaries, and Explanations,
--------List of famous works,

---Chapter [8]. On the Categories of Jurisprudence according to our Ashab, and authorships about this topic,
--------The science of disputation (al-Jadal),
--------The singular views of Imam Ahmad (al-Mufradat),
--------The science of legal maxims (al-Qawa'id al-Fiqhiyyah),
--------The science of differentia (al-Furuq),
--------Rulings of governance (al-Ahkam al-Sultaniyyah),
--------Opposing innovations,
--------Mannerisms (al-Adab),
--------Legal theories (Usul al-Fiqh),
--------Referencing of al-Hadith, and ahadith on rulings (Ahadith al-Ahkam),
--------Exegesis (Tafsir),
--------Biographical accounts (Tabaqat),
--------Unique and beneficial points (on other ancillary important sciences a student should learn),
--------Subtleties and foundations (on how a student should learn),
--------Rectifying the deficiency of the earlier chapters [on studying creed].