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Curriculum & Texts for Shafi`i fiqh

Answered by Sidi Moustafa Elqabbany

I was wondering where I can get good translations of the Shafi’i fiqh works used in Tarim? I know Shaykh Nuh’s translations of Umdat as Salik and al Maqasid and the translation of incomplete translation of Safina on the Majmu’ website (which I’m still waiting for it to be completed). I heard from people who came back from Dar al Mustafa say some of the western Muslim students have translated the basic matun of the Shafi’i fiqh but I want to know where I can get them.

Answer:
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

I posed these questions to some advanced students of knowledge. I have taken the liberty to edit their comments for the purpose of making them more suitable to be posted here.

Sidi Hamza Karamali says, “al-Maqasid is probably the best book for the layman who doesn’t have access to a scholar. All the other books are mutun [m: i.e. terse, legalistic texts] than require study under the guidance of an expert.”

Sidi Khalil Abdur-Rashid writes,

In reference to the initial question about the translations of Shafi’i Fiqh works used in Tarim, to my knowledge, those translations are all being completely redone. Sheikh Jamal Ud-Deen here in Atlanta, GA is working on Risalatul-Jaami’a. He has been given ijaaza from a sheikh in Tarim whose lineage goes back to the author of the text. Insha-Allah, I will be completing the Safina. A version has already been completed on paper, but it has some mistakes. It has comments included, which are from the Sharh and my teacher from Tarim. I hope to complete it by this summer. Sheikh Ibrahim in Tarim is working on the text Muqaddimat Al Hadramiyyah. Sheikh Jamal Ud-Deen is doing a class here in Atlanta on Matn Abi Shujaa. His class is being digitally recorded and transcribed so that a translation with notes can be made. I am not aware of anything which is already completed.

Secondly, in terms of the order of sequence of the books of the Shafi’i Madhhaab. I will give you the Tarimi tarteeb which has been in place for centuries. Specifically at Dar-Al-Mustafah it is as follows for fiqh:

1. Ar-Risalat Al-Jaami’a

2. Safinat An Najaa

3. Al-Mukhtasar Al Lateef

4. Al-Muqaddimat Al Haadramiyyah

5. Matn Abi Shujaa

6. Al Yaqoot An-Nafees

7. Az-Zubad

8. Umdat As-Saalik

9. Minhaaj At Taalibeen

(I believe that I`aanat At-Taalibeen is done before the Minhaaj, but not as a requirement. Not all the students will get to the Minhaaj. It alone requires 2 years of study after one has done all of the above 8 texts. In Dar Az-Zahra (the women’s school in Tarim) they only study books 1, 2, 3, and 5. They also do a text before book 1 which is written by Habib Omar called Ath-Dhukirah. It’s a text on basic Fiqh, Aqeedah and duahs. It’s very very nice.

In Aqeedah:

1. Aqeedat Al-Awaam

2. Durus At-Tawheed

3. Jawharat At-Tawheed

(There may be another text before the Jawharat which is Imam Al-Haddad’s Matn on Aqeedah.)

Insha-Allah this will be of benefit. This is as it was when I was present two years ago. If some changes have been made, I am not aware of it. I believe that it has not changed, as Habib Ali says, the tarteeb of Dar Al Mustafa is not random, but a prophetic one.

Sidi Mostafa Azzam suggests the following course of study,

Shafi`i Fiqh:

(required)

1. The Immaculate Raiment: The Essentials of Prayer

2. The Ladder of Success [m: i.e. a translation of Sullam At-Tawfiq…The translation hasn’t yet been started.]

3. The Little Gift: The Fiqh of Menstruation, Childbed, and Abnormal Uterine Bleeding (AUB)

(if they wish to continue)

4. The Ship to Salvation: Through Belief and Devotion

5. al-Risalat al-Jami`ah

6. The Objectives

7. al-Maqasid

`Aqidah:

(required)

1. Basic Beliefs of Islam: What Must Be Known by the Common Woman and Man

(if they wish to continue)

2. The Lustrous

3. The Epistle of Imam Bajuri

And Allah knows best.

Compiled by Moustafa Elqabbany
Metro Vancouver, Canada

This answer was indexed from Qibla.com, which used to have a repository of Islamic Q&A answered by various scholars. The website is no longer in existence. It has now been transformed into a learning portal with paid Islamic course offering under the brand of Kiflayn.

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