The Four Imams

• The Four Imams, their Lives, Works and Schools of Thought : Muhammad Abu Zahra
• The Four Imams and their Schools : Gibril Fouad Haddad

Page Last Updated : 9th July 2009

  The Four Imams - Their Lives, Works and their Schools of Thought 

   Hardback - 530 pages   by Muhammad Abu Zahra                            Translated by Aisha Bewley

 
This book is a compilation of four books which deal with the lives and works of the four Imams who founded the four great canonical schools of thought of Islamic fiqh - Imam Hanifa, Imam Malik, Imam Shafi'i and Imam Hanbal (May Allah be pleased with them all). The book was originally written in Arabic by the great Egyptian scholar and theologian Muhammad Abu Zahra and is presented in English for the first time.

In this book, there is a comprehensive, in depth analysis of the four Sunni madhabs and their founders, giving details of their biography and the methods they used in reaching their legal conclusions. This is particularly important important in the world today when many thousands of Muslims find themselves in a situation where there is not enough knowledge and therefore, no traditional allegiance to a particular madhab. As a result of this ignorance, there is also a great deal of futile disagreements amongst the Muslims. This work therefore has been long overdue in the English language and will be a milestone in bridging the gap amongst the Muslims and uniting them. It makes a stimulating and enriching read for all who are interested in deepening their knowledge of Islam. 

The Tranlator : Aisha Abdurrahman at Tarjumana Bewley is one today’s most prolific translators of classical Arabic work into English. Aisha Bewley not only understands Arabic but she is also aware of the basic meanings and nature of teachings and history of Islam. Her knowledge is born of experience and direct transmission, not merely academic theory and learning by rote. For more than twenty-five years she has been concerned with making the contents of many classical works in Arabic more Accessible to English-speaking readers for the first time, including Ash-Shifa of Qadi “Iyad. 

She is co-translator of the Qur'an. Other works include Muwatta of Imam Malik, Men of Madina & Women of Madina of Ibn Sa'd and she has also written a number of books.

 
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The Four Imams and their Schools               by Gibril Fouad al-Haddad

Paperback - xxv + 551 = Total 576 pages                 Foreward by Sayyid Yousuf Hashim al-Rifa'i

 
THE GREAT EDIFICE of Islamic Law is held up by four towering figures of the early middle ages: Imams; Abu Hanifa, Malik, al-Shafi’i, and Ibn Hanbal May Allah be pleased with them. Because of their immense dedication and intellectual acuity, these men enjoy recognition to this day as Islam’s most influential scholars. By assessing and ranking hadith, by cultivating a deep knowledge of the Arabic language, and by virtue of their great native intelligence, they are credited with having shaped the development of the fundamental systems of Muslim jurisprudence, avoiding the twin pitfalls of subjective rationalism and blind literalism. By doing so they not only protected their religion from chaos and disorder, but showed the Muslims, both ordinary and expert, the safest and most reliable ways of avoiding error in the understanding and practice of the divine law.

This detailed study offers biographies of these four men and their leading pupils. It surveys the distinctive features of their jurisprudence, and assesses their achievement.

An especially helpful feature is a long and detailed glossary of Islamic technical terms. Meticulously rooted in the core texts of Islamic scholarship, this book will be an important resource for Shari’a students everywhere.

Dr. Gibril Fouad Haddad was born in Beirut in 1380/1960. He embraced Islam while a graduate student in French literature at Columbia University in New York. He lives in Damascus. Since 1997 he has published many translations of classical texts by the living masters of the past and present.

 
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