Al-Mustasfa min Ilm Usul

Author's name: Abu Hamid Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Ghazali

Investigator's name: Muhammad Sulaiman Al-Ashqar

In it, the author summarized his book “Tahdhib al-Usul”, in which he tended towards exhaustiveness. He included in it the entirety of the fundamental discussions, through which the legal rulings are derived from their general evidence. He divided it into an introduction and four sections: the introduction for the introduction and preparation, and the sections which include the science of fundamentals:

The first pole in rulings.

The second is in the evidence, which is the Qur’an, the Sunnah, and consensus.

The third is in the path of investment, which is the aspects of evidence, which are four: evidence by the system, evidence by the concept, evidence by necessity and requirement, and evidence by the rational meaning.

The fourth is the investor, who is the diligent scholar who rules based on his own opinion, and the opposite of him is the imitator who is obliged to follow him.

Al-Ghazali adopted the method of dialogue, debate and discussion, while greatly venerating the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) and acknowledging their merits. He followed the method of discussing the opinions of the scholars who preceded him, whether in agreement or disagreement, and giving weight to what he deemed correct based on a set of evidence and proofs, whether rational or transmitted, in addition to his refutation of the opinions of his opponents.