Akbsar al-Mukbtasarat by MUSA FURBER

While studying in Damascus, I was blessed with the opportunity to study Hanbali figh for three years with Abi Ibrahim ibn Badran, one of the school’s authorized muftis.

Towards the end of my reading, he recommended I teach and transmit what I had studied.

Following his recommendation, I began presenting Hanbali figh online and translating Zad al-Mustaqni‘.

| completed the translation of Zad, and then added annotations up through the chapter on trade.

But my work was never mature enough to A publish.

decade has passed and I feel it is time to carry out my sheikh’s recommendation.

Instead of reviving a project dormant for a de- cade, I thought it better to translate a smaller text.

So, at the end of December 2015, I started on Akhsar al-Mukhtasardat, one of the more popular later introductions to the school.

The author of the text is Muhammad bin Badr al-Din bin ‘Abd al-Haqq bin Balban al-Hanbali, born in 1006

AH/1597

CE in the Salihiyyah region of Damascus.

He was known for his knowledge of hadith and figh, including mastery of the four schools, his acts of worship, and his abstinence.

His books include Kaft al-Mubtadi which he abridged as Akhsar al-Mukhtasarat, Mukhtasar al-Ifadat fi Rub‘ al-Ibadat ma‘ al-Adab wa Ziyddat, and a short book on the creed of the Salaf abridged from Ibn Hamdan al-Hanbali’s Nibayat al-Mubtad?in, He was reported to frequently repeat ‘Ali bin Ahmed al-Zaydi’s statement:

“Treat voluntary acts as obligations, sins as disbelief, lusts as poison, mixing with people as fire, and food as medicine.” He passed away in 1083

AH/1672CE.

Not wanting to risk another decade passing without publication, I decided to publish the first quarter covering the major acts of worship:

purification, prayer, alms, fasting, pilgrimage, and jihad.

While reviewing these chapters I added explanatory notes from al-Ba‘li’s commentary Kashf al-Mukhaddarat to clarify the basic text, provide examples, and clarify categorical rulings.

I relied on Dar al-Basha’ir al-Islimiyyah’s editions of these two books, both edited by Muhammad Nasir al-‘Ajmiy.

Material from Kashf is placed between I kept my own additions to a minimum, placing them between [...].

It is my hope that this translation — along with its future install- ments — serves English-speaking audiences as an introduction to the basic topics within the Hanbali school.

Students will benefit most if they read it with a qualified instructor, perhaps after reading Joe Bradford’s Al-Oaddumi’s Elementary Primer in Hanbali Figh.

Those who helped with this project are too numerous to men- tion.

I am ever in debt to Sheikh Abii Ibrahim and it has been a great honor to study and sit with him, Many thanks are owed to the Abdul Wahhab and Abdel-Jellal for convincing me to trans- late a Hanbali text, and to the individuals who reviewed drafts of the translation and offered corrections, encouragement, and advice — especially Anaz Zubair, Annisa Rochadiat, Joe Bradford, and Dropkick Copy’s Nabeel Azeez.

Many thanks to Nuh and Sumayah for the cover.

Last but not least, 1

owe much to my wife for her constant support and sacrifice over the years.

May Allah grant all who have been mentioned in this preface - and us — His mercy, and may He make us among those who benefit from this text.

Where I have succeeded, it is only through the grace of Allah; where I have faltered it is from my own shortcomings.