Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
I was wondering if the new translation of Al Hidayah published by Amal Press is reliable to use for hanafi fiqh?
Walaikum assalam wa rahmatullah,
I pray that this finds you well, and in the best of health and spirits. May Allah grant you all good and success in this life and the next.
I have looked through the Amal Press translation of Imam Marghinani’s work, al-Hidaya, and found it to be a sound and reliable translation.
At the same time, though the translation is clear and lucid, it must be remembered that the Hidaya is a relatively advanced work of fiqh that focusses on legal reasoning much more than on legal details.
As such, it is a very useful text to understand the legal reasoning underlying Islamic rulings; to appreciate the sophistication and brilliance of Islamic legal methodology; and as a text to study with qualified scholars, when one has the requisite background knowledge. For all these reasons, I would highly recommend this translation for those interested in Islamic law.
However, it must be remembered that for specific situations, it is best that one consult a reliable scholar directly, or that one refer to more general texts that focus on clarifying and laying out legal details.
And Allah alone gives success.
Faraz Rabbani
Amal Press’ edition of al-Hidayah.
