This translation of Mukhtasar Minhaj Al-Qasidin is an abridged version of ibn Al-Jawzi's summary of Imam Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali's well known book, Ihya Ulum Ad-Din.
In Imam Al-Ghazalis Ihya Ulum Ad-Din (The Revitalization of Sciences of Religion) apparently has some defects that only scholars can realize, such as the narrations which have been traced back to the prophet while they are fabricated or inauthentic. Therefore, Imam Ibn Al-Jawziyy compiled this book free of those defects, while retaining the benefits on the original book. In this book the author relied only on authentic and famous narrations, and removed from or added to the original book what he seemed necessary.
This book is divided into four
Chapter Acts of Worship
Chapter Customs
Chapter Destructive Flaws
Chapter Means of Salvation
Each one of these four chapters consists of numerous titles and sub-titles.
Imam Mawaffaq ad-Din Abdullah Ibn Ahmad Ibn Qudama al-Maqdisi (Arabic ابن قدامة المقدسي) (Born 1147 - Died 7 July 1223) was a noted Hanbali ascetic, jurisconsult and traditionalist theologian.[4] He authored many treatises on jurisprudence and doctrine, including one of the most celebrated encyclopaedic books on Hanbali Islamic jurisprudence al-Mughni,[5] as well as Tahrim an-Nazar (Censure of Speculative Theology, criticism of Ibn Aqil's views.) He was a member of the school founded by Ahmad ibn Hanbal, he is considered as one of the greatest Hanbali scholar and also called Sheikh al-Islam.