The mayor in jurisprudence according to the school of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal

Forward, Ibn Qudamah Al-Muqaddasih Research: Ahmad bin Wajih Al-Quto'i Part of the Introduction In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate All praise is due to Allah, we praise Him, seek His help, ask for His forgiveness, and turn to Him in repentance. We seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our souls and from our wrong deeds. Whom Allah guides, there is no misleader for him, and whom He misguides, there is no guide for him. I bear witness that there is no deity but Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger. May Allah send blessings upon him, his family, his companions, and grant them much peace. To proceed: Indeed, Allah the Most High did not command His Prophet to ask for increase except in knowledge, saying: "And say, 'My Lord, increase me in knowledge.'" [Taha: 114] And the Prophet, peace be upon him, said: "Whoever Allah intends good for, He grants him understanding in the religion." (1) And it is not hidden from individual students of knowledge — let alone from their specialists — the noble status of the science of jurisprudence, and its great value. This science has continuously progressed and developed from era to era, beginning from the era of the Prophethood and legislation, and what came from Allah and His Messenger of definitive Islamic rulings, which the noble companions received from the Messenger, peace be upon him. After his death, peace and blessings be upon him, the companions spread out, opening the lands of the East and West, carrying with them the legacy of Prophethood, which they learned and understood from their Prophet, conveying Allah’s verses and rulings, and striving in their response to emerging issues and jurisprudential incidents. They took from them, and the followers (Tabi‘un) grew up with good manners, gaining jurisprudence through them. The schools of knowledge in Kufa, Medina, and other Islamic cities were established, with the followers (Tabi‘un) and each one of them taking from a method of transmission from the companions, influenced by their ways of reasoning. This science continued to be transmitted from scholars to scholars, generation after generation, until the era of the four Imams, whom Allah granted acceptance and esteem among His servants. Allah facilitated for them the dissemination of their sayings and their clarification, so that their madhhabs became recognized, authoritative, and followed. The followers of each Imam would refine his sayings, verify them, and compile extensive and concise works on them. The followers of each madhhab innovated methods to make their Imam’s jurisprudence more accessible to their companions and students, through explanations, simplifications, collection of fatwas, and the compilation of jurisprudential summaries that enable students to gather and memorize their Imam’s jurisprudence. The Hanbalis were not absent from this jurisprudential movement; they were keen on collecting the fatwas and sayings of their Imam in what was known as “Rawaayat” (narrations). These were compiled in famous issues, some collected by his two sons, Abdullah and Saleh, others by Abu Dawood Al-Sijistani, Harb Al-Kirmaniy, and others. In the realm of summaries, their Imams authored many jurisprudential summaries, such as Al-Khiraqi’s Mukhtasar and Al-Muqni‘. Among their most beneficial and esteemed summaries is the "Umdat Al-Fiqh," authored by Al-Muwaffaq Al-Din Abu Muhammad Abdullah Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Qudamah, Al-Jum‘aali, then Al-Dimashqi Al-Salihi Al-Hanbali — May Allah be pleased with him — (died 620 AH). It is well known to students of knowledge — and even more so to specialists — the status of this book and its distinguished features, the most important of which are: 1. It is a summary, so it condensed many details found in other summaries, so you will find in each chapter only the most important issues and their fundamentals. Then he wrote "Al-Kafi," mentioning more than two narrations, sometimes three, sometimes four, and sometimes including all that was narrated from the Imam, with the evidence, so that the student learns how to derive rulings from the evidence and the reasoning behind the narration. He also wrote for those who have completed their studies a book called "Al-Mughni," in which he mentioned the opinions of scholars — those who agree with the madhhab and those who oppose it — with evidence, to prepare the student for ijtihad. Because if the student relies on a text and visualizes his issues correctly — through reviewing explanations, footnotes, discussions with teachers, and studying with peers — he will be able to derive evidence for these issues, consider the opinions of scholars that agree or oppose, weigh their evidence, and then arrive at a preferred opinion. After that, if he completes a text in this manner, we tell him: "Learn jurisprudence from the Book and the Sunnah." Before that, directing him to learn directly from the Book and Sunnah is a waste, because the established, well-trodden method among scholars, agreed upon by the Muslim community and followed by Islamic scholars for centuries, is the successful means to acquire jurisprudence and other sciences. This book we have before us is a solid, moderate, suitable text for beginners, beneficial, authored to be the first step on the ladder to the heights of knowledge. We know that the second step for its author is "Al-Muqni‘," then "Al-Kafi," then "Al-Mughni." The purpose of this previous speech is to teach that the book "Umdat Al-Fiqh" is not the only work of Ibn Qudamah in Hanbali jurisprudence, and that he did not frequently compose aimlessly. Rather, he wrote this book to serve beginners among students of knowledge. Therefore, it is appropriate that he did not mention disagreements, avoided narrating all the narrations in the madhhab, and summarized the details without lengthy discussion of evidence and proofs, nor did he engage in debates or discussions of opposing views and their evidences.