Sharḥ Al-Waraqāt: Al-Maḥalli’s notes on Imām al-Juwaynī’s Islamic jurisprudence pamphlet

Islamic jurisprudence concerns the knowledge and skills required of Muslim jurists and the etiquette they are expected to observe. These requirements and etiquette set standards for an answer being sound and acceptable to follow, and minimize the potential for errors. Just as rules of grammar protect those who follow them from mistakes in expressions, rules of logic protect those who follow them from mistakes in arguments; jurisprudence sets standards for interpreting legal texts and making legal arguments which, when followed correctly, protect from making mistakes in arriving at legal rulings. Students of jurisprudence read through a series of texts with their instructors. One of the first books of jurisprudence taught to students is the Waraqat of Imam al-Juwayni, often with a short commentary by Jalal al-Din al-Mahalli. This translation introduces these two texts to English-speaking audiences and should serve readers as an introduction to the basic topics of jurisprudence, preparing them to study more advanced material.

Remembrance and Prayer: The Way of Prophet Muhammad, was one of the first works of Shaykh al Ghazali’s to be translated into English. The book describes in vivid prose how the Prophet, upon him be peace, used to remember Allah and pray to Him. Not only are the exquisitely beautiful, deeply moving and penetrating words of the Prophet given in the English translation, but in the original Arabic as well, thus allowing those desirous of memorizing Arabic access to the original texts. The intimate relationship with Allah, which was the hallmark of the Prophet’s life, becomes clear and vivid. The book’s contents are immensely relevant. to the life and concerns of modern man, whose life has been made barren by the present secularist machinery.