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Ibn Rushd was born in Cordoba, Spain where the Great |
Title: The Distinguished Jurist’s Primer Vol.1
Author: Ibn Rushd, Imran Nyazee (Translator)
Publisher: Garnet Publishing
Pages: 609
Available at: www.isbs.com and Amazon.com and BN.com at discounted paperback prices.
In the first 800 years of the Islamic civilization Muslim scholars produced tremendous amounts of original works. This “Classical Period” of Islam saw the emergence of great scholars like al-Razi, Ibn Sina, Al Khwarizmi, ibn Khaldun and ibn Rushd. Many of these personalities were encyclopedias in themselves and often specialized in more than one discipline. Their works were known in the European academic circles whose utilization of them finally led to the Renaissance.
In the current times however, the contribution of Islam towards the global civilizational development remains forgotten. Muslims are known only through their destructive acts and their creativity is largely ignored. In the light of the prevailing situation, the Qatar-based Center for Muslim Contribution to Civilization was established to acquaint non-Muslims with Islamic contributions to the human civilization. The center’s Great Books of Islamic Civilization project aims to translate into English, a wide variety of books from the Classical Era. Subjects include law, theology, jurisprudence, history and politics, literature, medicine, astronomy, optics and geography.
The Distinguished Jurist’s Primer, a translation of Ibn Rushd’s Bidayat al-Mujtahid wa Nihayat al-Muqtasid, is one such important work that has been translated by the center.
Ibn Rushd (d.1198 AC), popularly known as Averroes in the West, was born in Qurtuba (Cordoba), Spain in 1126 AC. Among other things, he was popularly known as Maliki jurist, a philosopher and a physician. He is best known for his Bidayat al-Mujtahid that continues to be read widely by Islamic scholars all over the world for its utility as an indispensable work on comparative fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence). The book is an authoritative manual of Islamic law and provides exhaustive information on Islamic legal issues. It is considered to be a book on khilaf, a discipline that records and analyzes the differences among Muslim jurists.
Ibn Rushd rises above the boundaries of different schools of fiqh and presents critical analysis of the opinions of famous jurists and their methodologies. The first volume of the book contains chapters on ritual purification, prayers, almsgiving, fasting, pilgrimage, oaths, vows, sacrifices, animal slaughter, and foods and beverages. The chapter on food and beverages is especially important since it contains information on dietary issues confronted by Muslims living in the West.
The purpose of this book in Ibn Rushd ‘s own words is as follows:
As our purpose is to record the issues that are expressly covered by the law or are very close to those expressly covered, we thought it desirable to record in this book seven well-known issues, which are like principles, or models, for the guidance of the would-be mujtahid (independent jurist) in whatever he may encounter of the issues of this book. We have designed the book in such a way that with the help of its methodology he may attain the status of ijtihad (independent derivation of juristic opinion) if he has acquired what is sufficient for him of grammar, language and the methodology of usul al-fiqh (principles of juristic derivation) - and out of these it is sufficient to know what is proportionate to the requirements of this book or even less.
As is evident from the above paragraph, Ibn Rushd, through this manual, wanted to prepare jurists for the task of the mujtahid. This is by no means an easy task. Students can spend their lifetimes in Islamic study and yet will never be able to attain the status of being a mujtahid. A complete understanding of all the issues discussed in the book by a novice is difficult to say the least.
This, however, does not reduce the importance of this book. It’s value as a reference work is still relevant. Chapters from this translation under review are currently required reading at the Virginia-based Graduate School of Islamic and Social Sciences and are known to have helped in the students’ understanding of complex fiqh issues.
Under the guidance of a qualified teacher, a student can benefit from this translation. Those students whose first language is English can also use it as a supplementary text along with the original. The translator of the book, Imran Ahsan Khan Nyazee, should be applauded for his work in rendering this invaluable piece of Islamic jurisprudence into English.
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