Al-Maqasid: Nawawi's Manual of Islam

By Abū Zakariyyā Yaḥyā ibn Sharaf al-Nawawī and Yahya ibn Sharaf al Nawawi

Book Overview

Imam Nawawi's collection of forty two hadith brings together some of the most important and pivotal Prophetic traditions. Each tradition encapsulates a great rule of the religion of Islam, described by Islamic religious scholars as an "axis" in Islam. The commentary of the great hadith master Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Daqiq al-'Id is simple but erudite.Mokrane Guezzou is a well-known translator of over ten works including the Qur'an commentary Wahidi's Asbab al-Nuzul.Ibn Daqiq al-'Id (d.1302) is accounted as one of Islam's great scholars in the fundamentals of Islamic law and belief.Imam Nawawi (1233-77) was an authority on hadith and a biographer, lexicologist, and Sufi.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1847740677
• ISBN13: 9781847740670
• Release Date: July 2014
• Publisher: Kube Publishing Ltd
• Length: 200 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 4.3" x 7.1"

Customer Reviews

Perfect manual for the Average Muslim

This is a perfect text for one's everyday life. It focuses on the fiqh regarding the five pillars of the faith, as well as a nice notes and appendix section.

Excellent primer on Islamic law

Al Maqasid of Imam Nawawi is an excellent primer for people learning the basics of Islamic practice and law according to the madhhab of Imam Shafi'i. The text covers basic beliefs, the five pillars, spirituality, and contains various essays in the appendix section that deal with current trends that need explanation from the traditional Islamic perspective. This text is a required a in Shafi'i fiqh course offered at sunnipath.com.

A little gem on the practical requirements of islam

Excellent book with notes and references from Reliance of the Traveler. Its written in a way that is very easy to understand. I really liked the notes added by the translator/author, especially the role of tasawwuf(sufism) in Islam. The explanation was simple and engaging.

Superb explanations about 4 traditional madhabs.

This book is a must read for those who think madhab is bida'ah and Wahabbism is the best Islamic way of life. Although this book does not touch Wahabbism in particular, but you can sense it. One point I must say that this book originally does not discuss about Wahabbism. But is just a topic added (together with many other topics such as Sufism) by Sheikh Nuh Ha Mim Keller. This book discusses largely about Iman, Salat, Fasting, Zakah, and Hajj in the point of view of Shafi'ie school.

Islamic Law to be lived

The main difference between this book and "Reliance of the Traveller" is simply their level of complexity and their purpose. The Reliance is an advanced reference book while the Maqasid is a manual for life to be learnt and lived. I believe that this book is much more important for the average person than the Reliance. The text itself of written by Imam Nawawi and that is all that needs to be said about how good the actual text is. I do not personally like the way the commentary is set up as it just goes in brackets in the middle of the text. The commentary itself is outstanding however, clarifying many issues and even relating to the rulings of other madhabs on occasion (this book is for the Shafi'i madhab). The appendices are worth the price of the book by themselves and deal with many of the pressing issues of the day. The book looks attractive and unlike many recent books I have bought, it seems very well bound. Overall it is a great achievment that should not be overshadowed be the Reliance.