The Text of Ibn ‘Āshir

Man loves poetry and poetry loves the minds of men for it’s rythmic lines flow well into the mind like Zaytūn Oil flows from a cup. And when Knowledge is composed in poetical lines, they make learning easy and it’s memorization sweet.

Of those beautiful lines of Ilm ever composed is the Text of the Mujāhid Imām and Polymath Faqīh who excelled in the Sciences of Islām and specialised in Mālikī Fiq’h Abū Muhammad ‘Abdul Wāhid Ibn Ahmad Ibn ‘Āshir Al-Fāsī Al-Mālikī, rahimahullāh.

He was born in Fez, Morroco 990 years after the Hijrah to a family that had sound rooting in Ilm. He excelled in Ilm and studied from the teachers of North Africa. He thereafter travelled east and studied from the Ulamā there. He was known for his piety, discipline and rootedness in Ilm to such an extent that people travelled to learn from him. He was also fierce and brave on the battle field.

Al-Murshid Al-Mu’īn or Matn Ibn ‘Āshir which is a poetry text on Mālikī Fiq’h is just one of his fourteen books that are preserved to this day of his.

This book is composed to serve as a commentary on Īmān, Islām and Ihsān which are the components of the Dīn that were mentioned by the Rasūl -salallāhu alayhi wasallam. Thus the book contains matters of Creed (‘Aqīdah), Fiq’h (in accordance with Mālikī Fiq’h) and Tasawwuf (Purification of the Heart).

From his era to date, the Murshidu Al-Mu’īn is known everywhere around the world as an authoritative Mālikī Text and is memorized by both elderly and small and taught in Madāris and Masājid.

It’s beautiful to learn, study it under a Shaykh if you want clarity in it’s meanings.

Bārakallāhu Fīkum
Jazakumullāhu Khayran