Books on Shafi`i fiqh?    

You will benefit tremendously by the following books on Shafi’i fiqh:

1) The Reliance of the Traveler, translated by Nuh Ha Mim Keller

2) The Maqasid, also by Nuh Ha Mim Keller

The following resources can help you a great deal, as well:

1) An excellent website to ask questions about traditional or contemporary issues in the Shafi’i school is www.SunniPath.com. The people who answer the questions here are formally trained, or still are in training, in the shari`ah. You can sign up to receive daily e-mails to your account by going the following link: shafii-subscribe@yahoogroups.com 

2) You can sign up for Shafi`i fiqh courses that are being taught over this website by a qualified teacher. Having a live person to teach you over the internet is far better than trying to learn by yourself from books.

The following link will also be very helpful to giving you the basics of how to pray:

The ship to salvation

Although the above resources are very good, there is no comparison to having a live teacher of Shafi’i fiqh who can answer your questions, and show you an example of how the shari`ah is meant to be used to live life. You might ask around at your local mosque about teachers and see if you can find anyone qualified to teach you.

And Allah knows best.

SunniPath Q/A team