| Al-Wajiz fi Fiqh al-Imam al-Shafi'i | |
| Author: | Al-Ghazālī |
| Country: | Persia |
| Language: | Arabic |
| Subject: | Shafi'i school and Islamic jurisprudence |
| Pub Date: | 12th century |
Al-Wajiz fi Fiqh al-Imam al-Shafi'i or The Condensed in Imam Shafi’i’s Jurisprudence is a concise summary of Shafi’i Fiqh and (the science of juridical disagreement) written by Imam al-Ghazali the leading juristconsult of his time.[1] [2] It mentions the contrary opinions of Al-Shafi'i including Abu Hanifa, Malik Ibn Anas and Al-Muzani. This book is considered one of the five major works in Shafi'i school of jurisprudence.[3] [4]
The book “al-Wajeez” is a selection of series of Al-Ghazāli books on Shafi’i jurisprudence, entitled al-Baseet, al-Waseet and al-Wajeez. The premise of all these books is based on Nihayat al-Matlab fi Dirayat al-Madhhab authored by Imam al-Haramayn al-Juwayni, master of al-Ghazāli. This was elucidated by Ibn Hajar al-Haytami when he said:[5]
"Al-Ghazāli has abridged the book “Nihāyat” (i.e. Al-Juwayni’s book) in a lengthy and rich summary and named it “al-Baseet”; then he abridged further and named it “al-Waseet” which in its turn was subject to additional abridgment and named it “al-Wajeez.” Then came Imam Abu al-Qasim al-Rafi'i, who concluded a brief explanation of “Al-Wajeez”, then a detailed one, which turned out to be an unmatched compilation in the Shāfi’i School of Thought.”
This book was then summarized and expanded upon Imam by Abu al-Qasim al-Rafi'i (d. 623/1226) entitled , known also as al-Sharh al-Kabir (The Great Commentary) which in turn was summarized by al-Nawawi in his book entitled . This work alone has had at least 100 commentaries by many jurists.