The Four Imams and Their Schools
Abu Hanifa - Malik- Al-Shafi'i- Ahmad
By Gibril Fuad Haddad
Foreward by Sayyid Yusuf Hashim al-Rifa'i
ISBN-10: 190235009X
ISBN-13: 978-1902350097
Paperback 551 Pages
Muslim Academic Trust, London
THE GREAT EDIFICE of Islamic Law is held up by four towering figures of the
early middle ages: Abu Hanifa, Malik, al-Shafi’i, and Ibn Hanbal. Because of
their immense dedication and intellectual acuity, these men enjoy recognition to
this day as Islam’s most influential scholars. By assessing and ranking hadith,
by cultivating a deep knowledge of the Arabic language, and by virtue of their
great native intelligence, they are credited with having shaped the development
of the fundamental systems of Muslim jurisprudence, avoiding the twin pitfalls
of subjective rationalism and blind literalism. By doing so they not only
protected their religion from chaos and disorder, but showed the Muslims, both
ordinary and expert, the safest and most reliable ways of avoiding error in the
understanding and practice of the divine law.
This detailed study offers biographies of these four men and their leading
pupils. It surveys the distinctive features of their jurisprudence, and assesses
their achievement.
An especially helpful
feature is a long and detailed glossary of Islamic technical terms. Meticulously
rooted in the core texts of Islamic scholarship, this book will be an important
resource for Shari’a students everywhere.
Dr. Gibril Fouad Haddad was born in Beirut in 1380/1960. He embraced
Islam while a graduate student in French literature at Columbia University in
New York. He lives in Damascus. Since 1997 he has published many translations of
classical texts by the living masters of the past and present.
Recognised
as one of the world’s leading authorities on Classical Islam Hadith and Shari’a.
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