Shafi'i · Fiqh
Al-Umm
الأم
Imam al-Shafi'i · d. 204 AH
The foundational corpus of Shafi'i jurisprudence, dictated by the Imam himself and covering worship, transactions and judicial procedure with full evidence.
Open reader →Scholar Books Library
Classical works organised by school, author and topic.
Shafi'i · Usul al-Fiqh
Al-Risala
الرسالة
Imam al-Shafi'i · d. 204 AH
The first systematic treatise on legal theory, defining how the Quran, Sunnah, consensus and analogy interact.
Open reader →Shafi'i · Fiqh
Minhaj al-Talibin
منهاج الطالبين
Imam al-Nawawi · d. 676 AH
The reference manual of the later Shafi'i school, prized for its precision and used as the base text for centuries of commentary.
Open reader →Maliki · Hadith
Al-Muwatta'
الموطأ
Imam Malik ibn Anas · d. 179 AH
The earliest surviving compendium of hadith and Madinan practice arranged by legal chapter.
Open reader →Maliki · Fiqh
Al-Mudawwana al-Kubra
المدونة الكبرى
Imam Sahnun · d. 240 AH
Malik's positions transmitted through Ibn al-Qasim; the backbone of Maliki legal training in North Africa.
Open reader →Maliki · Fiqh
Mukhtasar Khalil
مختصر خليل
Khalil ibn Ishaq al-Jundi · d. 776 AH
A famously concise summary of relied-upon Maliki positions, memorised across West Africa to this day.
Open reader →Hanafi · Fiqh
Al-Mabsut
المبسوط
Imam al-Sarakhsi · d. 483 AH
A thirty-volume exposition of Hanafi law with comparative evidence, dictated largely from memory while imprisoned.
Open reader →Hanafi · Fiqh
Al-Hidaya
الهداية
Burhan al-Din al-Marghinani · d. 593 AH
The central teaching text of the Hanafi school, balancing brevity with proofs from Quran, Sunnah and reasoning.
Open reader →Hanafi · Fiqh
Bada'i al-Sana'i
بدائع الصنائع
Ala' al-Din al-Kasani · d. 587 AH
Renowned for its rigorous thematic ordering and derivation of legal principles from cases.
Open reader →Hanbali · Fiqh
Al-Mughni
المغني
Ibn Qudama al-Maqdisi · d. 620 AH
A comparative masterpiece: Hanbali positions presented alongside the other schools with their evidences weighed.
Open reader →Hanbali · Hadith
Al-Musnad
المسند
Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal · d. 241 AH
One of the largest hadith collections, arranged by Companion rather than by legal topic.
Open reader →Hanbali · Fiqh
Al-Rawd al-Murbi'
الروض المربع
Mansur al-Buhuti · d. 1051 AH
The standard late Hanbali commentary on Zad al-Mustaqni', used widely in contemporary study circles.
Open reader →Hanafi · Fiqh
Mukhtasar al-Quduri
مختصر القدوري
Imam Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Quduri · d. 428 AH
The classical Hanafi primer studied for a thousand years: concise rulings on worship, transactions and family law, memorised before any larger work.
Open reader →Hanbali · Fiqh
Al-Muqni'
المقنع
Imam Muwaffaq al-Din Ibn Qudama · d. 620 AH
Ibn Qudama's mid-length Hanbali manual — the bridge between the beginner's 'Umdat al-Fiqh and the vast Al-Mughni, with the school's chosen positions stated plainly.
Open reader →Shafi'i · Hadith
Al-Arba'un an-Nawawiyya (The Forty Hadith)
الأربعون النووية
Imam Yahya ibn Sharaf al-Nawawi · d. 676 AH
Forty-two narrations that Imam al-Nawawi judged to be pillars of the religion — the most widely taught free study text in the Muslim world.
Open reader →Hanafi · Creed
Al-'Aqida al-Tahawiyya
العقيدة الطحاوية
Imam Abu Ja'far al-Tahawi · d. 321 AH
A concise statement of Sunni belief accepted across the four schools, written as the creed of Abu Hanifa and his two companions.
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