Sharh 'Umdah al Fiqh

308 Pages·2007·1.22 MB·English

Fiqh of Worship (1)

International University in Latin America

Fiqh of Worship (1)

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Commentary on ‘Umdat al-Fiqh
(The Reliable Source of Fiqh)

by
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Muwaffaq-ud-Deen, Abdullah ibn Ahmad
ibn Muhammad ibn Qudamah al-Maqdisi

Commentary and translation by:
Dr.Hatem al-Haj

Educational Design
Committee on Curricula
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Fiqh of Worship (1)
All Rights Reserved
First Print
1428 A.H. – 2007A.D.
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Welcome, Seeker of Knowledge

This is the statement said by Prophet Muhammad, peace
and blessings be upon him, fourteen centuries ago and it has
been since then engraved in the hearts and minds of his
followers and the inheritors of his knowledge. They use it to
welcome seekers of knowledge from any part of the globe
whom they receive with a smiling face and whose interest
and devotion to seek such a precious knowledge they hold
dear.
Islamic Knowledge, dear learner, is the heritage of
prophethood as Prophets left no money to be inherited. They
left nothing but knowledge. The more one gets of that
knowledge, the larger his/her share of the Prophet’s
inheritance becomes. This is why seeking knowledge is the
most invaluable goal for which people can ever spend their
time and money. Any second that passes without learning
something new or performing a good deed will be a cause for
great regret.
Taking its very initial steps towards spreading the
authentic Islamic knowledge in the vast lands of Allah in His
Name and adopting the way of His Prophet Muhammad
(peace and prayers be upon him), the International University
started with its headquarters in the Latin America as a
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Fiqh of Worship (1)
beginning point for covering the entire vast continent. The
University seeks to follow the steps of the first generation of
Companions of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him)
who left Medina and set out to spread his knowledge and
guidance. Setting out instead of staying in Medina and being
close to the Prophetic Mosque where the reward for one
prayer is equal to 1000 prayers in any other mosque, the
Companions have actually paved the way for the Prophet's
message to spread all over the world.
Here is a piece of advice for the seeker of knowledge on
the outset of his/her journey: Make sure that you seek
knowledge only for the cause of Allah and keep away from
any personal benefit. As those who seek knowledge for the
sake of any worldly interest and not for the sake of Allah will
not enjoy the scent of Paradise. Remember the great hadith:
“Deeds are (rewarded) but by intentions and everyone will be
rewarded according to his intention.”
The best way to obtain Islamic knowledge is orally and
through live interaction and this has been the best means
adopted to graduate the scholars of Islam along the history. If
such mechanism is made possible and available, it should be
adopted and one should know that if s/he depends solely on
the book as the source of learning, he is more liable to err.
Therefore, one should not miss the lectures offered by the
Academy whether through the visiting professors or via
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video-conferencing. One should do his/her best to learn more
and more and be serious in obtaining Islamic knowledge.
One should also benefit from the self-assessment questions at
the end of each unit. Finally SAA wishes success for all
seekers of knowledge in both worlds. May Allah guide us all
to the right path.
Prof. Dr.
Salah As-Sawy
Chairman of the University

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Key to abbreviations:
Ag : agreed upon (reported by both al-Bukhari and
Muslim)
B : al-Bukhari
M : Muslim
A : Ahmad
D : Abu Dawood
T : at-Tirmidhi
N : an-Nasa'ee
Ma : Ibn Majah
G : the group, reported by all the above
H : al-Hakim
Kh : Ibn Khuzaimah
Hib : Ibn Hibban
Ba : al-Baihaqi
Tab.K : at-Tabarani in al-Kabeer
Tab.A : at-Tabarani in al-Awsat
Tab.S : at-Tabarani in al-Sagheer
I : Irwa' al-Ghaleel by al-Albani
Auth : Authentic
S : Sound
W : Weak
H : Hanafi; h: the less popular opinion in the
madhhab.
M : Maliki; m: the less popular opinion in the
madhhab.
S : Shafe'ee; s: the less popular opinion in the
madhhab.
A : Hanbali (Ahmad ibn Hanbal); a: the less
popular opinion in the madhhab.
H2, M2, S2, A2 :
another opinion in the madhahb.
T: Ibn Taymeah's choices.
Z :
Zahiris
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Notes and Acknowledgments
By the Commentator
Notes:
• The word “fiqh” literally means “understanding”, which
would then mean in the context of the religion the good
understanding of the entire religion. In the terminology, it is
used to refer to the Islamic law. The Islamic law addresses
the Divine injunctions pertaining to worship, personal
conduct and interpersonal dealings. The jurists study these
rulings and the evidence used to derive them. The science of
fiqh is thus defined as: the recognition of the religious rulings
derived from the detailed proofs.
• The proofs are absolute and relative. The absolute ones are
the Book of Allah, the Sunnah of His Messenger and the
consensus of the ummah. The relative ones include al-qiyas
(analogy), which could, when clear, come closer to the
absolute proofs, then there are many other sources of proofs
with some controversy regarding their strength, applications
and scope. These issues are discussed in detail in the books
of “Usool al-Fiqh” (Principles of Fiqh).
• All actions (not objects) have rulings in Islam, and they
belong to one of the following five categories:
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1. Mandatory (wajib)
2. Preferable (mustahab)
3. Permissible (mubah)
4. Disliked (makrooh)
5. Forbidden (haram)
It is the work of the faqeeh (jurist) to deduce from the proofs
a ruling for every action. That requires an immense amount
of knowledge of the Quran, Sunnah, scholarly opinions,
language and many other disciplines.
• There are five major and comprehensive legal principals that
serve as the thread connecting the pearls of fiqh and they
apply in all of the chapters of fiqh, and these are:
1. Deeds are but by their intentions
2. Certainty is not negated by doubt
3. Hardship mandates the making of concessions
4. No harm and no reciprocation of harm
5. Customs are given consideration
You will find these principles frequently used throughout the
book.
• Fiqh is either studied according to one madhhab (fiqh
madhhabi) or according to the various schools of fiqh
recognized by the ummah as well as the opinions of
independent scholars, and that is called “fiqh muqaran”
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(comparative fiqh). There are benefits in every method, but
most of the scholars recommend for the beginner on the path
of the serious seeking of knowledge to start with one
madhhab. In this work, we will follow their advice by
choosing a classical matn of fiqh madhhabi, which is here
hanbali. We will add a flavor of comparative fiqh in the
footnotes to attain some of the benefits of this method as
discussed here below.
• The fiqh is usually divided into two large categories: Fiqh of
Worship (fiqh al-‘ebadat) and Fiqh of Interpersonal Dealings
and Personal Conduct (fiqh al-mu’amalat wa al-adaab ash-
shar’eyah). Fiqh al-‘ebadaat includes the chapters of
Purification, Prayers, Funerals, Zakat, Fasting and
Pilgrimage. In this first part, we will have Purification,
Prayers and Funerals.
• The book of al-‘Umdah is an abbreviated book of Fiqh
according to the hanbali school of Fiqh (madhhab). The
abbreviated books used to be called “matn” (text). Then,
commentaries (shurooh, pl. of sharh) and footnotes and side
notes would be added (hawashi, pl. of hasheyah). The
mutoon (pl. of matn) were meant to be decisive and easy to
memorize by the students of knowledge. They served as a
code.
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