Al-Mughni followed by Al-Sharh Al-Kabir (15 volumes)

Author's name: Ibn Qudamah al-Maqdisi

Al-Mughni is considered one of the most important legal references for the Hanbali school of thought, if not the most important. It is not merely a book on the Hanbali school, but a comprehensive encyclopedia of comparative jurisprudence. The book is an explanation of the abridged version by Abu al-Qasim Umar ibn al-Husayn al-Kharqi, as the author himself states at the beginning. In it, he compiled legal evidence from the Quran and Sunnah, striving to align with the opinions of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal in his preferred rulings, while also presenting the views of other schools with unparalleled scholarly objectivity. Al-Mughni begins with the chapter on purification and concludes with the chapter on the emancipation of slave mothers. The book is of immense scholarly value, and Ibn Qudamah divided it into books, chapters, sections, and issues in an engaging and captivating manner. Ibn Badran said: “Ibn Muflih said in Al-Maqsad al-Arshad: Al-Muwaffaq devoted himself to writing Al-Mughni, one of the books of Islam, and achieved his goal of completing it. It is an eloquent book on the Hanbali school, in which he exerted great effort and excelled, enriching the school of thought. A group of people studied it with him.” Ibn Ghunaymah praised its author, saying, "I do not know anyone in our time who has attained the level of ijtihad except al-Muwaffaq." 'Izz al-Din ibn 'Abd al-Salam said, "I have not seen in Islamic books anything like Ibn Hazm's al-Muhalla and al-Mujalla, and Sheikh Muwaffaq al-Din's al-Mughni, in their quality and the thoroughness of their contents." It was reported that he said, "I did not feel comfortable issuing fatwas until I had a copy of al-Mughni."