Ascent to Felicity (Maraqi 'l-Sa'adat): A Manual on Islamic Creed and Hanafi Jurisprudence

Written by the eminent 11th century Hanafi scholar, Abu ’l-Ikhlas al-Shurunbulali, Ascent to Felicity is a concise yet comprehensive primer in creed and jurisprudence. It spans all five pillars of Islam, as well as the topics of slaughtering, ritual sacrifice, and hunting. To supplement the text, the translator has added key explanatory notes taken from several reliable works on theology and jurisprudence. He has also added appendices that comprise numerous supplications related to the five pillars, presented in Arabic script along with English transliteration, as well as the etiquette of visiting the Messenger of Allāh (Allah bless him peace) in Madina.

“An admirable rendering into lucid, fluid English of Imam Hasan al-Shurunbulali’s primer of Hanafi law, Ascent to Felicity. This concise but thorough work focuses on the five acts of worship.

The book has the added feature of a fairly detailed presentation of the basics of the Muslim Creed. In translating this introductory section of Imam Shurunbulali’s treatise, Khan’s skill as a translator is on full display, as he has made sometimes involved theological concepts easily accessible to the average English reader. Khan has provided an additional service to both Shurunbulali’s work and to contemporary Muslims by augmenting the translation with insightful and extremely useful explanatory notes. The value of this work, skillfully produced by White Thread Press, goes far beyond its benefit to adherents of the Hanafi legal school. Rather, it will prove of benefit to Muslims in general as well as researchers interested in latter-day presentations of the creed and practice of Sunni Muslims.”

— Imam Zaid Shakir Co-Founder and Resident Scholar, Zaytuna College

“This book is an important contribution to the growing, but still small, corpus of traditional Islamic texts available in English translation.”

— Dr Ingrid Mattson President of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA)

“Essential for any student of the Hanafī School. . . makes key concepts of the Hanafi school easily accessible to teachers, students, and readers.”

— Dr. Ashraf Muneeb Dean of Academy, Sunnipath.com

“An excellent primer in Islamic beliefs and worship. . . more useful as a first complete text for those seeking understanding of the fiqh of worship than the more commonly-studied Nur al-Idah.” —Shaykh Faraz Rabbani Educational Director, Seekersguidance.com

“Aside from the flowing translation, the most impressive thing about this work for me is the comprehensive collection of nuanced notes. These serve to capture the wide range of issues one grapples with, but might never find the right answer to, in the process of his or her purification, prayer, fasting and other acts of worship. An extremely engaging and educational read.” — Mufti Abdur-Rahman ibn Yusuf Scholar, ZamZamAcademy.com