Concise Description of Islamic Law and Legal Opinions

Islam is an all inclusive way of life which covers the intellectual and the real, the theoretical and the practical. The major part of the Islamic code of practice and behaviour is formalised in the discipline of Islamic law which established itself as a discipline before other Islamic disciplines. The early Muslim jurisconsultants are to be credited as the pioneers of the development of the Islamic legal system. Shaikh Mohammad ibn Hasan ibn Ali Abu Ja'far al-Tusi (385-460AH/995-1067AD), who was given the honorary title of Shaikh al-Taifat al-Imamiyyah (The Head of the Shia Islamic School) was at the forefront of these pioneers. This book has been recognised as one of the major early sources, references and textbooks in the field of Islamic Law in general and of Shi'a Islamic law in particular. The book has been translated, edited and introduced by Professor A Ezzati.

The author, Mohammad ibn Hasan ibn 'Ali ibn al-Hasan, known as Abu Ja'far,
has been given the honorific title 'Shaykh al-Tai'fat al- Imamiyyah' (the Head of
the Twelver Shi'ite School of Law and Thought) by the Shi'ite community and
school and is also referred to as Shaykh al-Tusi (the grand scholar/master from
Tus)1. He was born in Ramadan 385AH/995AD in the city of Tus in Khorasan, the
northeastern province of modern Iran. He died on Sunday night of the 22nd of the
month ...