Manhaj al-Salikin wa Tawdih al-Fiqh fi al-Din
- Author died
- 1376 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Waṭan
Manhaj al-Salikin wa Tawdih al-Fiqh fi al-Din (The Path of the Wayfarers and Clarification of Jurisprudence in Religion) is an introductory manual of Islamic jurisprudence by the Hanbali scholar Abd al-Rahman al-Sadi (d. 1376 AH / 1956 CE), designed to present essential legal rulings alongside their foundational textual evidences.
Background and Purpose
In 1359 AH, after the first class graduated from al-Madrasa al-Aziziyya elementary school in Unaizah without local intermediate or scientific institutions available for further study, al-Sa'di arranged instructional circles at the city's newly built public library and grand mosque. He assigned his senior students, including Muhammad ibn Abd al-Aziz al-Mutawwa' and Ali al-Hamad al-Salihi, to teach these youths. Al-Sa'di observed that traditional Hanbali primers presented obstacles for young beginners: works were often restricted strictly to the standard position (al-mashhur) of the school—even when alternative narrations had stronger evidence—or were written in complex, difficult language.
To provide a direct and accessible entry point, al-Sa'di authored Manhaj al-Salikin. In a letter dated 13 Muharram 1360 AH sent to his student Abdullah ibn Abd al-Aziz ibn Aqil—who was serving as a judge in Abu 'Arish—al-Sa'di explained that he had condensed the work so that it was briefer than classical Hanbali abridgments such as Mukhtasar al-Muqni', al-Umda, and Akhsar al-Mukhtasarat, confining it to essential needs while maintaining clarity and providing textual evidence. He entrusted the manual to al-Mutawwa' to teach repeatedly to beginners, refining and revising its wording based on pedagogical feedback.
Method and Content
In his preface, al-Sa'di defines fiqh as the knowledge of subsidiary legal rulings derived from their proofs in the Quran, the Sunnah, consensus (ijma'), and sound analogy (qiyas). His methodological approach incorporates several distinguishing features:
- Pairing Rulings with Evidence: Combining legal issues directly with their textual proofs, often quoting prophetic traditions verbatim as the phrasing of the legal ruling itself so that the statement serves simultaneously as the ruling and its proof.
- Conciseness of Proofs: Restricting citations to well-known textual evidences to prevent unnecessary length.
- Evidence-Based Preponderance: In contested matters (masa'il khilafiyya), he selects the single position he deemed strongest based on the evidence, without confining himself strictly to the standard relied-upon position of the Hanbali school, while remaining within established scholarly opinions.
- Practical Focus: Focusing on frequently recurring practical issues in acts of worship (ibadat) and everyday transactions (mu'amalat).
The manual follows standard thematic divisions of Islamic jurisprudence, beginning with the book of purification (Kitab al-Tahara) and prayer (Kitab al-Salah), proceeding through the pillars of worship and commercial transactions (Kitab al-Buyu'), and concluding with acknowledgment (al-Iqrar).
Reception and Editions
Manhaj al-Salikin has been widely utilized as an introductory instructional text for beginner students and educational courses. Scholars such as Ibn Aqil and Abdullah ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Bassam recommended memorizing it and using it as a primary stepping stone to larger classical works.
The text has been published in multiple editions and commented upon in scholarly seminars. An edition was prepared by Muhammad ibn Abd al-Aziz al-Khudayri, who collated an earlier print by Abdullah al-Jarallah against two manuscripts: an authorial autograph of 22 folios and a student copy spanning 109 pages. In this edition, Khudayri arranged the text into 679 numbered legal issues, sourced its hadiths, and cross-referenced al-Sa'di's legal preferences against his other writings, including al-Mukhtarat al-Jaliyya fi al-Masa'il al-Fiqhiyya and Nur al-Basa'ir wa al-Albab.
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