The first book a student of knowledge should begin with in studying fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) is *Fiqh al-Sunnah* by Sayyid Sabiq.

The Shaykh: Go ahead.

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good. If our esteemed Shaykh would be so kind as to answer the following questions from our brothers. The first question: In your opinion, what are the best fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) books, such that if a student of knowledge studies them, he can acquire fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) from them?

The Shaykh : What I see is that among the best things a student of knowledge can begin with today, if he is in an environment as we call it, a Salafi, modern, or Sunni environment, an environment that calls for following the Book and the Sunnah, and he does not live in a madhhab (school of jurisprudence) environment where he does not recognize the Sunnah but rather is fanatical about the madhhab (school of jurisprudence). If the student of knowledge lives in a Sunni environment, I advise him to begin his study of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) with the well-known book authored in the questioner's country, *Fiqh al-Sunnah* by Sayyid Sabiq. This is because it is a unique book in terms of its methodology. I do not say it is unique in terms of its correctness, no, but in terms of its methodology, it is a unique book in this era. So the student of knowledge begins his study of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) from this book because it gathered, to the extent of its ability, fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) without adhering to a specific madhhab (school of jurisprudence). It appears to me from his book that he was a Shafi'i, but he did not adhere to his madhhab (school of jurisprudence) as all authors in the madhahib (schools of jurisprudence) do; they do not deviate a hair's breadth from what their madhhab (school of jurisprudence) said. As for him, he did not commit to this madhhab (school of jurisprudence) but rather tried, I say tried, to take from every madhhab (school of jurisprudence) what was closest to the Book and the Sunnah. May Allah have mercy on you.

The questioner : May Allah bless you. So, this book.

The Shaykh: If you permit.

The questioner: Go ahead.

The Shaykh : I say this is what a student of knowledge should begin with, and the reason is that it is the methodology that every student of knowledge must adopt and follow. However, it is not sufficient for this student to rely on it entirely and make it his reference day and night. Why? Because we hinted that although he established this methodology, he was not able to carry it out and realize it fully in many issues. Some of these many issues, he did not provide any evidence for at all, and they are merely opinion. And some others, as everyone who has studied his book knows, he narrated the opinions, the opinions of the scholars, the opinions of the madhahib (schools of jurisprudence), and then left the issue without preferring one over the other, so that the student of knowledge comes out of it confused, not knowing which of these narrated opinions is the stronger position (rajih) and which is the weaker position (marjuh), and he did not support any of them with evidence from the Book of Allah or from the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). This is what I noticed when I studied it more than twenty years ago, and this study led me at that time to write a commentary on it, which I named *Tammam al-Mannah* (Completing the Grace) as a commentary on *Fiqh al-Sunnah*. I tried, and I am a man like him, as it is said: , and as Imam Malik said, "No one has ever been given a gift by us but that it was returned and rejected, except the owner of this grave" (peace and blessings be upon him)... So I said that I authored a commentary on the book *Fiqh al-Sunnah* which I named *Tammam al-Mannah* (Completing the Grace). But at that time, my academic circumstances did not help me to continue with the complete commentary. I stopped the commentary at the end of the book of fasting (sawm), and it was not possible for me at that time to print this book, the book of fasting (sawm). We had printed it on the typewriter. But now that it has been printed in a good and elegant edition, with many corrections, including that I appended the book of fasting (sawm) to this volume which recently came to the market, I advise that the student of knowledge and the student of *Fiqh al-Sunnah* make use of this part, as it will be the closest to the truth if he combines *Fiqh al-Sunnah* and *Tammam al-Mannah* (Completing the Grace).