المقاصد - The Purposes of the Muslim Religion: Theology, Law and Spirituality

Attributed to Imam Yahyâ Sharaf an-Nawawî, Translated and commented by Dr. Abû Zakariyyâ al-Husaynî (Rector of the Bilingual Shâfi' Institute (French - Arabic))

The epistle al-Maqāṣid is one of the rare works of fiqh shāfiᶜī dealing with both ᶜaqīda (dogma), fiqh (law) and tasawwuf (spirituality). It encompasses seven purposes, the first presents the foundations of dogma as well as the foundations of legal statutes, the following five present the essentials of the fiqh of worship. As for the seventh, it lays out the foundations of the Way of the journey towards God, Exalted be He. The author closed his epistle with a practical guide allowing the believer to integrate these teachings into his daily life. The attribution of the epistle to Imam An-Nawawī is not formally established. It was known in the Levant where it was once taught to children and novices. However, the extreme conciseness of this text makes it difficult to access for the contemporary reader.

This is the reason why Dr. al-Hussaynî commented on this epistle under the title “Zubdat al-Fawā'id fī sharḥ al-Maqāṣid” and translated it into French. Introduced by an unpublished study on this work, the text is presented in a style suitable for the uninitiated reader. In his commentary, he details the opinions adopted in the Shāfiᶜite school while adding legal cases useful to students. This work also includes a first commentary in French on the uṣūl al-Ṭarīq [Foundations of the Way]. The whole is presented in a bilingual Arabic/French format intended to serve as a reference manual for students.