This is a Level Two course in the Islamic Studies Curriculum. This course provides an introduction to the science of Usul al-fiqh and serves as a clear first step for the students of knowledge in building their understanding of this critical science.
Ibn Habib al-Halabi’s Mukhtasar al-Manar is a clear, concise, and precise summary of a central primer (matn) of Hanafi legal methodology: Imam Nasafi’s Manar. Legal methodology (usul al-fiqh) looks at the inner workings of Islamic law, showing how the imams of the Hanafi school established principles for textual interpretation and then derived rulings from the primary texts of the Quran and Sunna.
Students will learn about the importance of Usul al-fiqh; the four primary sources of Islamic law; how textual understanding and interpretation works—and why it matters; and issues related to independent legal judgment (ijtihad), and principled following (taqlid).
- Teacher: Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Mukhtasar al-Manar is an abridgement of Abu al-Barakat al-Nasafi’s precious work, Al-Manar. The Manar is an advanced text, however, and is not suitable as the first study of Usul al-fiqh for most students.
Seeing this problem, ibn al-Habib summarized the Manar in his work Mukhtasar al-Manar with a focus on simplifying. He made his work more clear and removed issues that would be too nuanced for most beginners - thereby making his abridgement useful for anyone who wants to master the science of Usul al-fiqh from the bottom up, step by step.
- This course is for adults.
- It is particularly beneficial for students of the Islamic Studies Curriculum.
- This is a Level Two course and is for students who have already studied at least one Level Two book in the science of Fiqh.
- This course can also be taken by anyone who is interested in understanding how rulings are derived, how the Hanafis acted on the Quran and Hadiths, and more.
At the end of this course, students will be able to :
- Understand the wisdom of legal rulings.
- Develop a deeper understanding of the vocabulary of the jurists.
- Appreciate how the Hanafis understood the commands of the Quran.
- Appreciate how the Hanafis understood the commands of the Sunna.
- Understand how the Hanafis ascribed rulings to different actions.
