Author Description

The only way to understand fiqh in its true meaning is to trace it from the beginning, that is, from its earliest expositions down to the present times. In the Ḥanafī School, our gateway to the legal thought of the earlier Imāms is the voluminous work of Imām al-Sarakhsī. The book is a commentary on the summarized work of Imām Muḥammad al-Shaybānī, who in turn has recorded the views of Imāms Abū Ḥanīfah and Abū Yūsuf along with those of a number of other well-known jurists. All later books have relied on the commentary of Imām al-Sarakhsī. Imām al-Sarakhsī was the greatest jurist of the Ḥanafī School. It is not without reason that the governing rule in Islamic law is: "when in doubt, follow Sarakhsī."