In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Ever Merciful…

The topic of Usool al-Fiqh (Islamic Legal Maxims) is extremely important for all those who wish to understand how evidences are applied to various situations. Ignorance of these principles and foundations can cause a total failure in understanding the verdicts of the scholars on modern issues of importance and their details and complexities. Without the tools by which to understand how the scholars derive and apply their rulings, even a sincere, truth-seeking individual from Ahlus-Sunnah might fail to understand their use of broadly applicable principles and foundations, and then falsely assume that they have spoken without evidence.

In his poetry on Usool al-Fiqh, the great scholar, Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have Mercy on him), stated:

اغْتَنِمِ القَوَاعِدَ الأُصُولَا ## فَمَنْ تَفُتْهُ يُـحْرَمِ الوُصُولَا
Take advantage of the qawaa’id (principles) and usool (foundations),
Whoever misses them is deprived of attainment [of knowledge].

In his printed lessons explaining the poem, Sharh Manthoomat Usool al-Fiqh wa Qawaa’idihi (p.44), he explained:

This is a principle the scholars have: “Whoever is deprived of the foundations shall be deprived of arrival at his goal,” and they spoke the truth! Thus, we must be vigilant about understanding these principles, learning all that is included in them, researching them together, and asking those who know more than us about them, so we could actualize the point of studying them, with sincere intentions and good follow-through. Whoever misses out on these principles could only study Islamic knowledge issue by issue, one at a time, as he has no foundation to build anything on [for himself]. Thus, his knowledge is flawed, his thought process is slow and irregular, and he forgets issues easily…

Thus, I have made Istikhaarah Prayer, seeking success from Allah, to begin teaching Usool al-Fiqh, in English to the Western Muslims, in shaa’ Allah, beginning with the unique treasure which so many people do not know about, the 103 lines of poetry composed by Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have Mercy on him). This text is especially appropriate for non-Arabic speaking learners, as it avoids heavy focus on linguistic issues, and engages the learners with many practical walkthroughs and applications. This should be an excellent introduction to the field, and we ask Allah to provide us with great benefit!

ABOVE: Pages from Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen’s handwritten manuscript of his poetry, Manthoomat Usool al-Fiqh wa Qawaa’idihi, as found in the new workbook, “Islamic Legal Maxims”.

Join me at Masjid Ibad-ur-Rahman in Marietta, Georgia (locally or live online), at the end of Safar 1444 (September 23-25, 2022) in shaa’ Allah, for a fresh start on a new series of special classes on Usool al-Fiqh. [flyer]

Written by: Moosaa Richardson (1444.02.16)