The author: Abū ʿUmar Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr (368 - 463 H.), eminent Cordovan scholar, Malikite... Read More

The author: Abū ʿUmar Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr (368 - 463 H.), eminent Cordovan scholar, Malikite jurist, considered the greatest traditionist of his time and nicknamed “the ẖāfiẕ of the Maghreb”. He traveled throughout Andalusia without ever leaving it and officiated as qadi of Lisbon and Santarém. Multidisciplinary, he composed works on Koranic recitations, hadith, jurisprudence, history, dogma and good manners.

The book: Jāmiʿ bayān al-ʿilm wa faḏlih can be seen as a comprehensive educational program aimed at training students and scholars. Indeed, Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr first of all widely expounded the merit of science and the good manners specific to people of science. Then he addressed questions relating to the foundations of jurisprudence (us̱ūl al-fiqh), the most important of which are: the sources of science; the science taken from the Companions; the effort of interpretation and analogy; imitation and following; the fatwā; and finally the place of the Koran and the Sunnah.

In order to facilitate access to this major work for as many people as possible, the Algerian sheikh Abū ʿAbd ar-Raẖmān Maẖmūd produced a summary. We present the translation to you in this book.