Book Review: Mukhtasar Zaad al-Ma’aad

Mukhtasar Zaad al-Ma’aad fee Hadee Khair-il-‘Ibaad
Author al-Imam Muhammad bin ‘Abdul-Wahhaab
Print by al-Maktabah al-‘Asriyyah
Pages 240

In our last post, we covered the text that Shaykh Fawzaan teaches on Saturday. We will now move on to the next class.

On Sunday, Shaykh Saalih al-Fawzaan teaches from Mukhtasar Zaad al-Ma’aad. This is an abridged version done by Shaykh-ul-Islam, Muhammad bin ‘Abdul-Wahhaab, may Allah have mercy upon him. He condensed Shaykh-ul-Islam, Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah’s, may Allah have mercy upon him, Zaad-ul-Ma’aad which usually is printed in 4 volumes. My wife had a print of it by Daar-ul-Athaar in Sanaa, Yemen in 2 volumes which she bought from the Salafi bookstore in ‘Ayn Shams, Cairo. The type was kind of small though.

The Shaykh’s Sunday class is a mixture of Seerah and Fiqh. We cover the biography of the Prophet, peace be upon him, while learning the Fiqh aspect of how he applied Islam in his life. The brother who reads on the Shaykh recites the text sort of like in a rhyming poetic form and then the Shaykh will stop him where he wants him to stop and explains the text. The Shaykh always covers the Fiqh aspect of the text and then explains words or difficult vocabulary. He always brings verses of the Quran, statements of the Prophet, peace be upon him, and the statements of the scholars when he speaks. When we covered the Fiqh aspects of the ‘Aqeeqah, I learned from the Shaykh that it is not necessary to shave the girl’s head but it is for a boy.

In regards to the book, then many publishers have printed it, so finding the print should not be difficult. When I went to the used bookstore to get my copy there were over five different printings. My wife has a different copy than mine, and all of the students in class have different printings as well.

The Mukhtasar has been translated into English under the name ‘Abridged Biography of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)’. You can read more about it here. Zaad-ul-Ma’aad itself has been translated into English by Shaykh Jalal Abul-Rub, but I do not know where to find it online. Maybe someone can find out and comment here, Allah willing.

Here in Riyadh, some of the Da’wah centers shorten the Mukhtasar and draw points of benefit from the Seerah and print small booklets to distribute free. I will write about it in an upcoming post soon, Allah willing.