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Course Methodology: 

The Medina Way is now offering a scholastic Maliki fiqh series which is a methodology based on the traditional West African system used by many leading scholars for centuries in regions like Mauritania, Mali, and Senegal all the way down to Sudan. This methodology takes students through a series of texts in orderly fashion starting from more basic texts to more detailed texts.

Course Presentation:

Each course is delivered using visual slides along with pre-recorded audio and live sessions. Students also receive a downloadable pdf. booklet of all slides as well as audio. In this manner, all issues of fiqh covered in the text are presented in a clear format making conceptualization for the student much easier. The aim is to present the traditional texts in a way that common people as well as seekers can learn in order to implement the acquired knowledge comprehensively for the sake of practical application.

Teaching Methodology

In each book Ustadh Abdus Shakur Brooks helps students to grasp and comprehend what the author presents in his work. So rather than simply understanding the ruling of  a fiqh issue, students are taught how the issues of fiqh are being presented and from which angle they are being observed and more importantly how to apply the rule. This method helps one to observe the text through the eye of the author granting the student a deeper understanding of the aim , objective and then the outcome which is practical application.

Student Benefit 

Some of the benefits of this system are that the student inherits a traditional learning system that has been depended upon for centuries by countless leading scholars in West Africa which is known for it’s dominate understanding of Malik fiqh. Furthermore, instead of learning just the rules of fiqh, the student also learns how to think from a fiqh perspective according to the methodology of traditional scholarship. Moreover, when a student learns through a traditional system the information they gain in well organized and comprehended, contrary to the student who studies random texts  not having any idea how the texts corroborate which often leads many students to confusion unaware as to why one scholar mentions an issue in one fashion and another scholar in another fashion. When studying through a traditional system such as this one all of these matters are taught and explained by the teacher who has an overall system in mind for the student.

The first four books covered in this curriculum are:

Mukhtasar Al-Akhdari

This text is written by Abdur Rahman Al-Akhdari a famous Maliki scholar of the 1oth century A.H. This text covers purification of the heart, ritual purification and prayer. Some of the special traits of this book are that it provides the beginner with fundamental knowledge of fiqh and some very useful principles of fiqh that make it easy for the student to conceptualize legal rulings and make them easy to memorize. Furthermore, it covers the area of making the prostration of forgetfulness (sujood al-sahw) in detail and how to correct the prayer if there is a mistake which is essential for both advanced and common learners.

Al-Mushid Al-Mu’een ( Registration opens September 2010! ) 

This text is written by Abu Malik Abdul Wahid bin Ahmad bin Ali Ibn A’shir who died in the year 1040 A.H in Fez, Morocco. This text covers Islamic belief, usool al-fiqh, the five pillars of Islam and tasawwuf. Some special traits of this book are that it was written in poetry which makes it easy to memorize. Furthermore, in such a short book many issues of the deen are covered. Seeing that this text covers Islamic belief, usool al-fiqh, the five pillars of Islam and tasawwuf; it covers the three core aspects of religion: Faith (Iman) Practice (Islam), and inward and outward excellence (Ihsan). Thus studying this text provides the student with a well-rounded amount of information in regards to his religion.

Al-Muqaddimah Al-Izziyah

This text is written by Abu Hasan Al-Maliki Al-Shadhili who died 939 A.H in Cairo, famous for his commentary on Al-Risalah of Ibn Abi Zaid called Kifayah Al-Talib Al-Rabbani. This book covers all major chapters of worship as well as marriage, commerce, inheritance, manners and tasawwuf. Some of the special traits of this book are that although it is a basic text it covers many of the practical aspects related to a person’s life on a regular basis making the book a practical manual for a person seeking to learn practical issues. It is said that the author wrote this book for the sake of the common community living around the Azhar Mosque in Cairo during his time.

Al-Risalah

This book is written by the famous mujtahid Imam Abi Zaid Al-Qayrawani who died 386. A.H. This book has been relied upon for centuries as one of the main texts studied from East to West. For this reason there are countless numbers of commentaries written on this text. This book covers Islamic belief, all chapters of worship and all chapters of commerce; it also covers moral excellence (husnul kuluq). Some special traits of this book are that it was written to “tell you what to do and how to do it”. It is more like a book of instruction rather than a book of law. This book is the first step toward understanding the more advanced book because it gives the student an introduction to issues of fiqh that are to be found in the major works. This book is the bridge from beginner to intermediate and a brief look into the advanced works.

Click here for more information about scholastic course format.