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The question of declaring someone outside the pale of Islam has engaged the attention of Muslim theologians from earliest times. Imam Ibn Taymiyyah stands out prominently as one who has elaborated the issue with its related dimensions; he has summed up the discussion of earlier scholars on this issue and has identified certain objective principles on the basis of which ex-communication of a believers could be tenable in the Shar 'ah. The writer introduces in this paper the highlights of the discussion made by Imam Ibn Taymiyyah in this regard and brings home the point that the matter is well-defined and immune to the whims of human biases, something that characterizes certain straying trends at present.

This article deals with the life and academic achievements of the great Hanafi jurist, mufassir and muhaddis Abu Bakr al-Jassās who witnessed the reigns of ten Abbasid Caliphs and also the golden age of academicians like al-Khiraqi (334), the great scholar of the Hanbali school, famous muhaddith Ibn Hibban (354), and Shafi'l Jurist al-Qāffal al-Shashl (356), Mālikl Jurist and muhaddith Qādl Abu Bakr al-Abharl (375) and Muhammad b. Ahmad al- Azharl, the famous linguist (370). The author has given an account of his life, his travels and details about his teachers who reach twenty eight in number. He has also cleared the misunderstanding about twelve more people generally regarded as his teachers which he did not find correct. He has also given an account of his students. He shows that al-Jassas had a close relation with authorities and used to insist upon them to take sound action against invaders in the Islamic realms. He had an inclination towards Mutazillite School in some of his theological opinions but, in general, he followed ahl al-Sunna wa al-Jama'a. In this paper, the author has mentioned twenty six of his works along with some of his very important books which have not been mentioned by any of his biographers such as Masail al-Khilaf. He has discussed his book Sharh Adab al-Qādi in detail with reference to its period of composition and compilation, its worth, significance, and his approach to the subject in this book in comparison with other works on procedural law. He then mentions the sources of this book and gives an account of the people who benefitted from it and shows that its attribution to al-jassas is correct and unquestionable. He also gives some details about the available manuscripts of the book.