Ibn Rushd - Bidayat al-Mujtahid

Bidayat al-Mujtahid Wa Nihayat al-Muqtasid
(2 Volume Full Set)
The Distinguished Jurist's Primer
by Ibn Rush-
Translated by Professor Imran Ahsan Khan Nyazee
Reviewed by Professor Mohammad Abdul Rauf
Published By Garnet Publishing UK
Vol. I • 660 pages • 240 x 168 mm • Paper • ISBN 1 85964 138 5
Vol. II • 676pp • 240 x 168 mm • Paper • ISBN 1 85964 139 3

The well known Book on Khilaf, a discipline that records and analyses the differences among Muslim Jurists.

Ibn Rushd’s Bidayat al-Mujtahid (The Distinguished Jurist’s Primer) occupies a unique place among the authoritative manuals of Islamic law. It is designed to prepare the jurist for the task of the mujtahid, the independent jurist, who derives the law and lays down precedents to be followed by the judge in the administration of justice. In this manual Ibn Rushd traces most of the issues of Islamic law, describing not only what the law is, but also elaborating the methodology of some of the greatest legal minds in Islam to show how such laws were derived.

This text provides a still-relevant basis for the interpretation and formulation of Islamic law. Combining his legal and philosophical knowledge, Ibn Rushd transcends the boundaries of different schools and presents a critical analysis of the opinions of the famous Muslim jurists and their methodologies.

The legal subject areas covered include marriage and divorce; sale and exchange of goods; wages, crop-sharing and speculative partnership; security for debts and insolvency; gifts, bequests and inheritance; and offences and judgements.

'My purpose in this treatise is to lay down in it for myself, by way of remembrance, the issues (Masa'il) of the Ahkam that are agreed upon and those that are disputed, along with their evidences, and to indicate those bases of the disputes that resemble general rules and principles, for the Faqih (jurist) may be presented with problems on which the Shara' (law) is silent"
The issues are mostly those that are expressly stated in the Manthuq (unstated text of the Nass), or are closely related to those that are so stated. They are the issues agreed upon by the Muslim Fuqaha (jurists) since the generation of the Sahabah (Companions - God be pleased with them) till such time that Taqlid (following qualified scholarship) was rampant, or those over which a difference of opinion among them became widely known- '
Taken from the Preface by Ibn Rushd '

Ibn Rushd was a Maliki Jurist (Qadi) but presents the views of other schools ( Hanifi, Shaf'ee, hanbali & Zahiri) with the usual Respect and objectivity. This book is among the best known example of the Shari'a science of Ilm al Khilaf (the knowledge of variant ruling)
It is one of the most well knows works of ilm-ul- Khilaf, a discipline that records and analyses the differences among Muslim Jurists.

This Book is part of a series of Arabic Works, made available in English by the 'Center for Muslim Contribution to Civilization'

Excellent Quality and Translation