Primer Level Fiqh of Worship - Ijazah Course

Join Imam John Starling for this 12-week online/on-demand Fiqh course.

This course is based on Bidāyat al-ʿĀbid wa Kifāyat al-Zāhid/Commencement of the Worshiper & Sufficiency of the Ascetic and is the first rung on the ladder to mastering the science of Islamic Jurisprudence.  This concise juristic manual, by the great scholar ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Baʿli, introduces the fledgling disciple to the illustrious school of the great Imām Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal.  

This text, largely based on several primary references of the official canon—as so deemed by the latter era of Hanbalite scholars—including the monumental book Muntaha al-Irādāt by Ibn al-Najjār, presents the most common issues pertaining to the rites and rituals of worship i.e. purification, prayer, funeral proceedings, alms-giving, fasting, pilgrimage, and briefly touches on legal rulings and ethics of military service.  

Upon completing a thorough study of this text, the student will have become familiar with the scholarly style and classic approach of leading jurists and is certain to have developed a yearning to learn more.

Students will be required to read short excerpts in the text, watch course videos, take weekly multiple-choice quizzes, and pass a final exam.

Students who score an overall grade of 80% or higher will be awarded an ijazah with the book's chain of narration to the author.

GCLEA is proud to offer this as a FREE course to students of knowledge worldwide.

About the teacher: Imam John Starling is an alumnus of NCSU's Poole College of Management and the Islamic University of Madinah. He holds a Master's Degree in Islamic Studies from the Islamic University of Minnesota, has been awarded a general/comprehensive ijazah by Shaykh, Dr. Mutlaq al-Jasir with permission to narrate several traditional texts, and is currently pursuing a Master's Degree in Nonprofit Management and Philanthropy.