Introduction

Al-Fiqh al-Islami wa-Adillatuh is among the most widely used contemporary references in Islamic jurisprudence, authored by Sheikh Dr. Wahbah Mustafa al-Zuhayli (d. 1436 AH/2015 CE), the distinguished Syrian scholar who served for decades as professor and head of the Department of Islamic Jurisprudence and its Schools at the University of Damascus. Born in Dair Atiyah near Damascus in 1932 CE, al-Zuhayli received a traditional Islamic education alongside formal academic training, earning a doctorate in Islamic law from al-Azhar University in Cairo. He went on to become one of the most prolific and authoritative scholars of his generation, producing over sixty major works spanning tafsir, usul al-fiqh, fiqh, international law, and Islamic economics. Al-Fiqh al-Islami wa-Adillatuh, first published in eight volumes in 1984 and later expanded to eleven volumes in subsequent editions, represents the culmination of his comparative jurisprudential scholarship.

The distinctive contribution of this work lies in its systematic comparative methodology. Rather than presenting the rulings of a single madhab, al-Zuhayli surveys the positions of all four major Sunni schools — Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i, and Hanbali — on every issue, citing each school's textual evidences from Quran and Sunnah, their juristic reasoning (ta'lil), and the scholarly basis for their conclusions. He also frequently includes the positions of the Zahiri school and, where relevant, notes areas of scholarly consensus (ijma'). This comparative approach, rooted in classical usul al-fiqh methodology, allows students and scholars to understand not merely what each school rules but why, and to appreciate the intellectual coherence and evidential grounding of the full spectrum of Sunni jurisprudence.

The work covers the full scope of classical fiqh in roughly the traditional sequence observed in classical legal manuals: purification (taharah), prayer (salah), fasting (sawm), zakah, hajj, financial transactions (mu'amalat) including sale, partnership, lease, and endowment, family law including marriage, divorce, and inheritance, penal law (hudud and ta'zir), judicial procedure, and international law (al-fiqh al-dawli). Each section opens with definitions, proceeds through the evidential basis of relevant rulings, surveys inter-madhab differences with care for their evidential underpinnings, and concludes with the scholarly assessment preferred by the author where appropriate. The Arabic prose is clear and methodical, accessible to advanced students while remaining technically precise.

Readers will benefit most from Al-Fiqh al-Islami wa-Adillatuh by using it as a structured reference alongside a working knowledge of Arabic and the basic terminology of usul al-fiqh. It is designed for students in Islamic law faculties and for practicing scholars who need a reliable comparative survey, rather than as an introductory text for beginners. Those studying a specific topic should read the relevant chapter in full to understand the madhab positions in context before drawing on individual rulings in isolation. The work should be understood as a reference to living scholarly traditions, not a replacement for studying within a particular madhab under qualified guidance. Its encyclopedic scope and rigorous evidential approach have made it a standard reference in Islamic universities, fatwa councils, and scholarly libraries across the Muslim world.