A repository of all the Guiding Helper files I could manage to retrieve so that those who wish to make use of them can do so.

The Guiding Helper is a beginner's fiqh text that helps to develop a good foundation for all those who are seeking to learn Maliki fiqh and don't have access to a qualified Maliki scholar. Thus, they can use this text to get by until Allah blesses them with the ability to learn from a teacher, insha'Allah.

Although the GH has been said to contain weak and problematic opinions, for the most part it suffices for daily life, such as prayer, fasting, hygiene, etc. However, one should not use it for anything major such as marriage, Hajj, funerals, or splitting up inheritance, without also consulting an actual, living scholar about the issue. Regarding the particularly problematic chapter on divorce (Song 39), please read the "Public Service Announcement" on the message board.

Please also note that Hamza Yusuf has personally expressed to me his disapproval of the Guiding Helper as a reliable resource and recommended that I take this group down (see "Sheikh Hamza Yusuf on Guiding Helper" on the message board). However, I think it's better that people find the GH here, along with all the warnings and disclaimers I provide, than for them to stumble across it on their own somewhere else and be ignorant of the risks entailed. Sheikh Hamza also told me he's coming out soon with a translation of Murshid al-Mu'in, a classical Maliki fiqh text, which should, insha'Allah, suffice all the English-speaking Maliki's out there and thereby make the controversial Guiding Helper obsolete.

Warning: Anti-Western propaganda and inflammatory comments will not be tolerated and shall result in instant expulsion, and that includes anyone advocating support for radical Islamist political groups. This Yahoo! group is purely for the academic learning of jurisprudence and condemns political extremism, as political extremism is a violation of the spirit of true Islam.