When engaging in the study of the Mamluk period (1250–1517), one will certainly find that neither the theoretical foundations nor the de facto implementation of the law system have been researched extensively. In this book, parts of the "Qawa''id al-fiqh" ("Fundamentals of Jurisprudence") by Muhammad b. Bahadur az-Zarkaši (died 1392) will be made accessible. The reader is also provided with information on the jurisprudential and the social backround of the text. Under specific headings, az-Zarkaši subsumed case studies and abstract rules which were suitable to further explain the content of the selected term. He then again arranged the key words in alphabetical order. A direct connection between the "Qaw??id" and legal practices could not be confirmed. According to the author himself, the alphabetical order of the work should help to facilitate working with the book during studies but had not been chosen with regard to fast availability of legal rules or precedents in an actual trial.
