Rasail wa Fatawa Abd al-Aziz Al al-Shaykh

Rasail wa Fatawa Abd al-Aziz Al al-Shaykh (Treatises and Legal Rulings of Abd al-Aziz Al al-Shaykh) is a compilation of scholarly treatises, public admonitions, legal essays, and editorial writings by the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, Abd al-Aziz bin Abd Allah bin Muhammad Al al-Shaykh Rasail wa Fatawa Abd al-A…+1.

Structure and Major Themes

The collection compiles several independent tracts addressing educational guidance, classical jurisprudence (fiqh), and contemporary social and security concerns:

• Educational Guidance: The collection contains an epistle addressed to male and female teachers titled Akhī al-Muʿallim... Ukhtī al-Muʿallimah ("My Brother Teacher... My Sister Teacher"), composed on the occasion of the beginning of the academic school year Rasail wa Fatawa Abd al-A…+1. The author cautions against uncritical reliance on imported educational theories that contradict Islamic law, and proposes instructional methods derived from the Quran and the Sunnah, including the pedagogical use of parables, storytelling, and structured dialogue modeled on the Hadith of Gabriel Rasail wa Fatawa Abd al-A…+1.
• Jurisprudence of Purity: It features a detailed legal study titled Aqsām al-Miyāh ("Categories of Water"), written as an editorial piece for Majallat al-Buhuth al-Islamiyyah Rasail wa Fatawa Abd al-A…+1. The treatise examines the classical scholarly classification of water (purifying, merely pure, and impure), the reasons for scholarly disagreement (ikhtilāf), and the rulings governing sun-heated water (al-mushammas), fire-heated water, Zamzam water, and used water (al-māʾ al-mustaʿmal), analyzing proofs across the Hanbali, Shafi'i, Maliki, and Hanafi schools Rasail wa Fatawa Abd al-A…+3.
• Security and Contemporary Concepts: The work includes discourses on public safety and political concepts, including al-Mawqif al-Sharʿī min Aʿdāʾ al-Amn ("The Legal Stance Regarding the Enemies of Security") and Haqīqat Muṣṭalaḥ al-Irhāb ("The Reality of the Term 'Terrorism'") Rasail wa Fatawa Abd al-A…+1. In the latter, the author critiques the uncritical deployment of vague terminology in international media and politics, arguing that Islamic principles mandate precise legal definitions, justice, and individual accountability, ensuring that legitimate resistance against foreign occupation is not conflated with unlawful violence and corruption Rasail wa Fatawa Abd al-A….