For Muftis and Imitators of Scholars

For Muftis and Imitators of Scholars: The Essentials of the Book i'lam Al-Muwaqqi'in, by Imam Ibn Al-Qayyim

What one perceives through reading this book, which deals with the science of the principles of law (usûl al-fiqh), is that its author aims to give the reader a synthetic vision of religion, to provide him healthy modes of argument, to open his mind and to distance him from the servile imitation of a scholar or from the unconditional attachment to any legal school. All this therefore gives great importance to this book.

Here are the main themes of this summary of Ibn Al-Qayyim's book:
scholars of Islam.
The conditions that must be met by the one who transmits the messages of Allah and His Messenger.
The principles on which the fatwas of Imam Ahmad ibnu Hanbal are based.
The scruple of the pious predecessors vis-a-vis the fatwa.
The prohibition to speak about Allah without science.
The words of the imams on the tools and conditions one must have to pronounce fatwas.
Personal opinion (ra'y ): its definition and its different kinds.
Explanation of the letter of Omar in the field of judicature The analogical reasoning qiyas.
All prescriptions of religion conform to correct analogical reasoning. The imitation of the scholar ( taqlid ).
Change of fatwa according to changing times, places, situations, intentions and habits.
The different kinds of words relating to purposes and intentions.
Preventing Harmful Incidences sadhu ad-darani Prohibition of Tricks.
The merit of the fatwa which is based on the accounts of the pious predecessors.
Fatwas of the Imam of Muftis, Muhammad صلى الله عليه و سلم