at-Tahawi.com is pleased to announce the online release of Mawlana Habib Ahmad al-Kiranawi’s al-Din al-Qayyim, a treatise on taqlid and ijtihad and a detailed refutation of Imam Ibn al-Qayyim’s views on taqlid. The treatise is included in the introduction to Imam Zafar Ahmad al-‘Uthmani’s monumental and renowned work, I’la’ al-Sunan, a collection of over six thousand hadith proofs in support of the Hanafi legal arguments.
The translator of the work, our dear brother Zameelur Rahman, may Allah increase him in barakah, was gracious enough to share the pdf of the book with us and offer it for free download. Please do include him in your du’as, especially during these special days. We have included a portion of his preface to the work below:
Translator’s Preface
In Allah’s Name, the Infinitely Merciful, the Beneficent. All praise to Allah, Lord of the Worlds. May blessings and peace shower on His final Messenger, Muhammad, his family and his companions.
This book is a translation of the treatise al-Din al-Qayyim by the late Indian scholar, Mawlana Habib Ahmad al-Kiranawi, published with a number of his other writings under the title Fawa’id fi ‘Ulum al- Fiqh. Al-Din al-Qayyim was written as a detailed refutation of Shaykh Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah’s (691 H/1292 CE – 751 H/1349 CE) arguments against taqlid from his I’lam al-Muwaqqi’in which offers the most thorough denunciation of taqlid and its proofs to date. The refutation was written in Arabic by Mawlana Habib Ahmad under the supervision of Hakim al-Ummah Mawlana Ashraf ‘Ali al-Thanawi (d. 1362 H/ 1943 AD) as part of the general introduction to the 20-volume compendium of hadith- proofs for the Hanafi madhhab, I’la al-Sunan.*
Mawlana Habib Ahmad in a rigorous and precise manner shows not only that taqlid, which is the non- mujtahid’s deference to a mujtahid Imam in rulings of the Shari’ah without asking for detailed proofs, is established from the Qur‟an, Sunnah and the practice of the Salaf, but that it is so fundamental and necessary for Islamic scholarship and practice to function at any level that its detractors have no option but to resort to taqlid, while repackaging it as “adherence to proof.” It is a must-read for anyone wishing to understand the structure of Islamic scholarship and the weakness of the arguments presented by those who wish to deny the legitimacy and necessity of taqlid.
at-Tahawi 
Salam
Thank you for the nice blog.
Ibn ‘l-Qayyim was opposing a specific type of Taqlid – Taqlid by those who fulfil the prerequisites of Ijtihad.
The same type of Taqlid was refuted by Ibn `Abd ‘l-Barr in his جامع بيان العلم, and Abu Bakr al-Jassas in his الفصول في الأصول, way before Ibn ‘l-Qayyim.
Ibn ‘l-Qayyim dedicated the end of his I`lam ‘l-Muwaqqi`in to the rules of Istifta’, which ultimately is the same Taqlid that is undertaken by laymen.
I submit it calls into question the motive behind why Ibn ‘l-Qayyim was singled out by al-Kiranwi. The real question I guess is this: Does what he said in refutation of Ibn ‘l-Qayyim also apply to the likes of Ibn `Abd ‘l-Barr and Abu Bakr al-Jassas?
Wassalam
Ismail
Who is Habib Ahmad Al-kiranawi? What are his credentials and what scholars has he studied under?
[…] The English edition was translated from Arabic by Shaykh Zameelur Rahman from England, and with his permission it has been uploaded here for the benefit of all readers who wish to understand the issue of Taqlid, and why it is necessary for most Muslims to practice Islam in their lives with the conviction that it is based on not only the sources of the Sharia, but explained and detailed accurately by premier authorities known as Mujtahid Imams. It was originally uploaded here […]
[…] The English edition was translated from Arabic by Shaykh Zameelur Rahman from England, and with his permission it has been uploaded here for the benefit of all readers who wish to understand the issue of Taqlid, and why it is necessary for most Muslims to practice Islam in their lives with the conviction that it is based on not only the sources of the Sharia, but explained and detailed accurately by premier authorities known as Mujtahid Imams. It was originally uploaded here […]