Matn al-Waraqāt

Named "The Pages" to reflect its intentional brevity, this primer covers the sources of Islamic law, categories of legal rulings, and methodology of ijtihad in a tightly compressed format. Despite its short length it communicates the skeleton of usul al-fiqh so efficiently that it has attracted over fifty major commentaries and remains the universal entry text in Shafii usul curricula.

Abd al-Malik al-Juwayni, known as Imam al-Haramayn "the Imam of the Two Sanctuaries" (1028-1085 CE) was a Persian Shafii jurist and theologian born in Khurasan. He taught in Mecca and Medina for several years during a period of political upheaval, giving rise to his honorific title, before returning east to head the prestigious Nizamiyyah academy in Nishapur. He was the teacher of Imam al-Ghazali, and is considered one of the most brilliant legal theorists in Islamic history.

• The four sources of Islamic law: Quran, Sunnah, Ijma (scholarly consensus), Qiyas (analogical reasoning)
• Types of Quranic and Prophetic speech: command (amr), prohibition (nahy), statement (khabar), question (istifham)
• Categories of legal rulings: wajib, mandub, mubah, makruh, haram
• General (aamm) vs. specific (khass) texts and how they interact
• Absolute (mutlaq) vs. qualified (muqayyad) texts
• Clear (nass) vs. ambiguous (mujmal) texts and the obligation to seek clarification
• Abrogation (naskh): its reality, types, and conditions
• Qiyas: its four pillars, types, and conditions for valid analogy
• Types of ijtihad and the qualifications required of the mujtahid