Introduction

Dr. Ṣāliḥ ibn Ghānim al-Sadlān is a Saudi scholar who served as a professor in the Department of Islamic Studies at King Saud University in Riyadh, where he specialized in Islamic jurisprudence and its foundations. His academic career placed him at the intersection of rigorous classical fiqh training and the practical need to communicate Islamic law to contemporary students, many of whom lacked exposure to the traditional curriculum of the madāris. Fiqh Made Easy emerged from that context as a text designed to provide a principled and accessible entry point into Islamic jurisprudence without the density of the classical manuals or the incompleteness of purely devotional summaries. Its composition reflects the pedagogical priorities of modern Islamic universities, where survey courses in fiqh serve students from widely varied scholarly backgrounds.

The book covers the principal domains of Islamic law that most directly affect the daily life of a Muslim: purification, prayer, fasting, zakāh, ḥajj, commercial transactions, marriage and divorce, and related matters. For each subject, al-Sadlān presents the relevant scholarly definitions, identifies the evidence from the Quran and authenticated Sunnah, and surveys the principal positions of the Ḥanafī, Mālikī, Shāfiʿī, and Ḥanbalī schools. The approach is comparative and evidential rather than prescriptive; the reader is shown how scholars reasoned to their conclusions and where and why they differed, giving them the tools to understand the opinions of any of the four recognized schools. The prose is deliberately straightforward, preferring clarity of expression over the technical shorthand of classical legal texts.

The book has found a steady readership among English-speaking students enrolled in Islamic studies programs and among educated Muslims who wish to understand the jurisprudential basis of their practice beyond the level of popular fatāwā collections. Its value lies precisely in its comparative method: rather than advocating for a single school, it maps the landscape of authoritative Sunnī legal opinion and presents the evidential reasoning behind each position. This equips readers to engage more intelligently with scholarly differences and to understand why multiple valid positions can coexist within the Ahl us-Sunnah wal-Jamāʿah tradition. Teachers have found it a reliable foundation text for introductory fiqh courses where students represent diverse madhab affiliations.

Those reading this book for the first time should approach each chapter as a structured overview, not a comprehensive ruling. The comparative format means the book describes positions without always resolving which is most appropriate for the individual reader's specific circumstances. For personal practice, readers should follow the guidance of a qualified scholar familiar with their situation and, if they follow a particular school, their madhab's established rulings. Where the book will serve all readers consistently is in building the conceptual vocabulary of fiqh, understanding how evidence is used in legal reasoning, and developing a respect for the breadth and internal coherence of Islamic jurisprudential scholarship.