Book Releases & Recommendations

[Mujib]

Birgivi's Manual Interpreted:

Birgivi’s Manual Interpreted
Complete Fiqh of Menstruation & Related Issues

BIRGIVI’S MANUAL INTERPRETED is the explanative translation of a major Islamic legal work on menstruation, lochia, and related issues. Answering hundreds of questions needed by the Muslim woman practicing her din, this book provides accurate information and practical arrangement of charts and texts making it an important reference for every Muslim family.

The primary text, Dhukhr al-Muta’ahhilin [Treasure for Those with Families] by Imam Muhammad al-Birgivi (d. 981/1573), is the most authoritative work on menstruation in the Hanafi school, which the majority of Muslims follow. The work has been commentated upon by a number of traditional scholars, the best known of whom is Imam Ibn ‘Abidin, the central scholar of the late Hanafi school.

The text and its commentaries have been studied by Hedaya Hartford and Ashraf Muneeb under various sheikhs from Syria and Turkey, among them Sheikh Muhammad Amin Siraj of Turkey, a traditional Hanafi scholar who has an unbroken chain to Imam al-Birgivi himself. Sheikh Siraj gave Hartford and Muneeb his authorization to teach this volume in a written ijaza that attests, in his words, to their “full comprehension and meticulous understanding” of the work.

PRAISE FOR BIRGIVI’S MANUAL INTERPRETED “A handbook of what a Muslim woman needs to know about her monthly period and related questions. The detailed content of this major work should make it useful for anyone teaching women’s fiqh.” —Nuh Keller

“The most comprehensive treatise found on the subject in the Hanafi School. A must read for every genuine student. The method of explanation is unique, and the charts are unparalleled.” —Tahir Anwar, South Bay Islamic Association

[شمله ور خراساني]

I love the repeated "majority" in your posts. It's cute.

[Mujib]

Allah reward you, sister.

I have the book; it is very beneficial. This is an important topic for men and women, but especially women. It is important that the rules related to this be learned, as it also concerns one's prayer, fasting, and family life.

[Mujib]

Is the book available online for reading?

I don't think it is.

[Feroza_Banu]

thank you

[Mujib]

Ascent to Felicity (Maraqi 'l-Sa'adat)
by Abu I-Ikhlas al-Shurunbulali

A Manual on Islamic Creed and Hanafi Jurisprudence

Translation, Notes and Appendices by Faraz A. Khan [Bio]

Written by the eminent 11th century Hanafi scholar, Abu ’l-Ikhlas al-Shurunbulali, Ascent to Felicity is a concise yet comprehensive primer in creed and jurisprudence. It spans all five pillars of Islam, as well as the topics of slaughtering, ritual sacrifice, and hunting. To supplement the text, the translator has added key explanatory notes taken from several reliable works on theology and jurisprudence. He has also added appendices that comprise numerous supplications related to the five pillars, presented in Arabic script along with English transliteration, as well as the etiquette of visiting the Messenger of Allāh (Allah bless him peace) in Madina.

“An admirable rendering into lucid, fluid English of Imam Hasan al-Shurunbulali’s primer of Hanafi law, Ascent to Felicity. This concise but thorough work focuses on the five acts of worship. The book has the added feature of a fairly detailed presentation of the basics of the Muslim Creed. In translating this introductory section of Imam Shurunbulali’s treatise, Khan’s skill as a translator is on full display, as he has made sometimes involved theological concepts easily accessible to the average English reader. Khan has provided an additional service to both Shurunbulali’s work and to contemporary Muslims by augmenting the translation with insightful and extremely useful explanatory notes. The value of this work, skillfully produced by White Thread Press, goes far beyond its benefit to adherents of the Hanafi legal school. Rather, it will prove of benefit to Muslims in general as well as researchers interested in latter-day presentations of the creed and
practice of Sunni Muslims.”
— Imam Zaid Shakir Co-Founder and Resident Scholar, Zaytuna College

“This book is an important contribution to the growing, but still small, corpus of traditional Islamic texts available in English translation.”
— Dr Ingrid Mattson President of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA)

“Essential for any student of the Hanafī School. . . makes key concepts of the Hanafi school easily accessible to teachers, students, and readers.”
— Dr. Ashraf Muneeb Dean of Academy, Sunnipath.com

“An excellent primer in Islamic beliefs and worship. . . more useful as a first complete text for those seeking understanding of the fiqh of worship than the more commonly-studied Nur al-Idah.” —Shaykh Faraz Rabbani Educational Director, Seekersguidance.com


“Aside from the flowing translation, the most impressive thing about this work for me is the comprehensive collection of nuanced notes. These serve to capture the wide range of issues one grapples with, but might never find the right answer to, in the process of his or her purification, prayer, fasting and other acts of worship. An extremely engaging and educational read.” — Mufti Abdur-Rahman ibn Yusuf Scholar, ZamZamAcademy.com

[Toramana]

I as a secular man the mild and soft demeanour of Mujib impressive. He is welcome. Sangar is not welcome.

[Levanaye Zalmaye]

Is the book available online for reading?

It wouldn't be of much use to you, to be honest. The less you know, the better!

By the way, I'm no expert either but if I were a woman, I'd want to educate myself about my body with what doctors have to say, not what a holy man in 1573 said.

[eyeliner]

has anyone read purification of the heart by hamza yusuf, its a really good book.

[Iqra]

^ Yes it is a good book

[Mujib]

has anyone read purification of the heart by hamza yusuf, its a really good book.

Yes, it is. It's a basic text for personal knowledge and inspiration . It's not meant to replace studying the science in depth with a shaykh. The science (`ilm) of the purification of the heart (Tasawwuf/Sufism) is studied with a shaykh, who is one's guide on the path.

[Mujib]

Fiqh Al-Imam: Key Proofs in Hanafi Fiqh
by Shaykh Abdurrahman ibn Yusuf

In recent decades many attacks have been launched against the concept of taqlid [following a school of Islamic law]. Opposition has ranged from being mild with degrees of acceptance to malicious attacks. Certain extreme elements have gone so far as to brand those who follow a madhhab [school] as mushrik [polytheist]. Much of the opposition has been a result of misunderstanding the realities of this concept.

The first part of this book seeks to clarify certain aspects of taqlid that have been misunderstood and gravely distorted. It sheds light on the necessity of taqlid, its history, and its role in today’s world. The second part includes several chapters devoted to issues regarding salat [ritual prayer] according to the Hanafi school of law. Through illustrative examples and detailed discussions, the chapters on prayer sufficiently demonstrate the sophisticated legal philosophy employed by the Hanafi school (indeed all the madhhabs) in their derivation of legal rulings from the source texts of Islam.

All rulings have been supported with evidentiary proofs from the Qur’an and Hadith. The author delivers an even-handed presentation of arguments throughout the book. He intends neither to offend nor to perpetuate polemic disputes, but rather to state the facts in a lucid and rational style, with a view to appeal to the reader's sense of reason.


View contents page and read excerpts

[Mujib]

Where can I find the entire book?

The last one? The link under the picture of the book is to the Al-Rashad bookstore website, where it is sold for $11.00.

Al-Rashad is a wonderful source for Islamic books and gifts, and the prices are very affordable. All the books listed here should be available there.

[Mujib]

Do they ship internationally? to Pakistan?

Yes. Masha'Allah - you're in Pakistan? I wonder if these books can be found in Pakistan. Of course in Pakistan you have access to great books in Pashto, Farsi, and Urdu.

[Mujib]

The Scholars of the Sufis
Shaykh `Abd al-Hadi Kharsa

The Scholars of the Sufis
They are the Genuine Followers of the Salaf

Written by the erudite scholar, Sufi educator, ascetic, and author of many books, Sayyidi al-Shaykh `Abd al-Hadi b. al-Hajj Muhammad b. Salih al-Kharsa al-Dimashqi al-Salihi al-Shadhili al-Hanafi

The translation and publication of the present book, `Ulama’ al-Sufiyya Hum al-Salafiyya al-Haqiqiyyun is a welcome event for seekers of spiritual guidance and self-purification in our time. This praiseworthy effort offers to the English-speaking public a contemporary explanation of the immutable principles of Sufism, which are one and the same with the three principles of Religion: submission [islam], faith [iman], and excellence [ihsan]. The book contains Shaykh `Abd al-Hadi’s carefully presented anthology of the wisdom of the Sufi masters of old and their summations of doctrine [`aqida] and of the various spiritual diseases and spiritual stations and states of the wayfarer. They were gleaned from the bio-sapiental classics of the genre such as Tabaqat al-Sufiyya, the Luma`, the Risala, the Ihya’, and can be found in later works such as Tabaqat al-Awliya and al-Kawakib al-Durriyya fi Tarajim al-Sufiyya.

The vehemence of the title—shown in the emphatic-exclusive personal pronoun and translatable as ‘The Scholars of the Sufis: [Only] They are the Genuine Followers of the Salaf!’—is a reminder of the tireless efforts of the last two hundred years of Ahl al-Sunna wal-Jama`a scholarship demonstrating the Islamic orthodoxy of tasawwuf and denouncing the heresy of Wahhabism and pseudo-Salafism.

It is its unique gems that make `Ulama’ al-Sufiyya stand out such as, for example, the title’s emphasis on knowledge: it is never about the Sufis at large but about their Gnostics; as for would-be-Sufi [mutasawwif] claimants who are nescient of the Shari`a or not even concerned by it: they are also heretics and completely undesirable no matter how big they grow their beard, turban, jubba, or voice! This is a theme stressed by many of our salaf al-salih [pious predecessors].

- Shaykh Gibril Fouad Haddad