Mukhtasar al-Akhdari

i recommend it

Indeed, our brothers at Fayda Books, in cooperation with Sidi Baye and Muhammadan Press, have done a truly tremendous job in bringing this widely-taught Matn (primer) of Maliki Fiqh into the English language. May Allah, the Most High, reward them. This has been of great assistance to me and my classmates alike who have been studying this text under our teacher, may Allāh preserve him. This book contains 55 pages of text in total; 34 of those pages being the English translation, the rest being the original Arabic text. This book is typically studied over a long period, despite its short length, as the first text that a student of the beloved, noble, Maliki Madhab studies in order to gain a basic understanding of the two most important acts of worship: purification and prayer. Its author's name is Imam ‘Abd ar-Rahman ibn Muhammad as-Saghir al-Akhdari al-Maliki, who was born 984 years after the Hijrah of our master, Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, to the holy city of Madinah. The Imam was a true master of the Islamic sciences, learning from his father as well as the most prominent scholars of his time. He compiled texts in every Islamic science: Fiqh, ‘Usul, Tasawwuf, ‘Aqidah, Arabic grammar, poetry, etc. After the completion of this text, a student typically moves on to study al-Murshid al-Mu’in by Imam ‘Abd al-Wahid ibn ‘Ashir al-Maliki, which has been translated into English as well. After the completion of the Murshid, a student will typically move on to al-Muqadimat al-‘Izziyah lil-Jama’at al-Azhariyyah by Imam Abu al-Hasan ‘Ali ash-Shadhili al-Maliki, another text which has been translated in English. A student may then move on to the Risalah of Imam ‘Abd-Allah ibn Abi Zayd al-Qayrawani al-Maliki, which is translated into English by ‘A’ishah Bewley but unfortunately is not available in print. This book was written by the author to be an extremely concise, memorizable, simple, text which packs a huge bang for its size. One may study this text within a couple of weeks for a basic understanding or study it for months with depth. Great buy! Make sure to pick this up; don't be fooled by its small size into thinking that it isn't worth having a copy of!

Summarized book of fiqh. Everything is to the point. Some of the restrictions maybe controversial depending on which madhab you follow.

As a revert to Islam I have always wanted to study the Maliki school of law. It is nice to see more books being publised on Maliki Fiqh in the English language. That being said this book in particular is only 30 pages long and only contains the basics. Everything it contains is actually already written online on Maliki websites anyway. The print is actually bad quality and the words are scratched off. VERY over priced for such a small simple book. Do not buy if you already know the basics of Maliki fiqh. If you are looking for deeper answers this is not the book you should buy.

Very helpful and easy to read and understand.