About the author
Dr Shaikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, born in 1926 in Egypt, is at the forefront of contemporary Muslim thinkers and scholars.His vast contributions include more than 80 books and hundreds of articles on different Islamic issues, ranging from the fundamental principles and laws of Islam to the needs and challenges of modern Muslim societies. His knowledge, intellect, moderation and unrelenting efforts to bring Islam to a larger audience have gained him the respect of millions of Muslims and non-Muslims worldwide. He has been also famous for his poplular Al-Jazeera Television program Ash-Shariah wal-Hayat (Sharia and Life), with an estimated 40 million viewers worldwide. Many of his books have been translated into other languages. Shaikh Al-Qaradawi’s contributions to the study of Islamic law are best illustrated in his book Fiqh Az-Zakat (The Law of Alms), a major reference in the Islamic world.
Professor Al-Qaradawi was the founder and Dean of the College of Shari’a and Islamic Studies and founder and current Director of Sunnah Research Center at Qatar University. He worked also as the President of the World Muslim Scholars Association, the European Council for Islamic Guidance and Research, the Supervisory Commissions of Islamic Banks of Qatar and Bahrain, Vice-President of the International Commission for Alms in Kuwait, and Member of the Islamic Academy of Fiqh of the World Muslim League and several other Islamic research institutions and charity organizations. He is also a trustee of Oxford University Center for Islamic Studies and has been recently named technical consultant for an epic movie in English on the Prophet Muhammad.
In addition to the King Faisal International Prize for Islamic Studies, Shaikh Al-Qaradawi received a number of other international awards and honors for his distinguished contributions, including the Prize of the Islamic University in Malaysia, Dubai International Holy Quran Award, the Sultan Hasan Bolkiah Prize in Brunei and Al-Owais Prize (UAE). In 2008, Foreign Policy magazine placed him in third position on its list of the “20 top intellectuals worldwide.” The Islamic Studies Faculty in Qatar incepted “the Sheikh Yusuf Al Qaradawi Scholarships” in 2009. It also named its newly established research centre “The Qaradawi Center for Islamic Moderation and Renewal”.
In 2011, he was awarded the Jordanian Medal of Independence (First Class).
Professor AI-Qardhawi has been awarded the Prize for his continuous academic efforts to relate Islamic Law (Fiqh) to modern Muslim society. His work “Fiqh Az-Zakat” is characteristically comprehensive in content, academic method, and analytical approach.
His contributions in different aspects of Islamic sciences are still going on, and he didn’t stop his intellectual journey despite of the age and health problems he is facing for past a few years.
About the book:
This is one of the most important lines of rationalism and moderation in interpretation of Islamic Jurisprudence. It highlights the issue of most important arguments have evolved the prevailing Islamic overview on "fine arts". Through this book, Dr. Yusuf al-Qaradawi explains the stand of Islam towards the entertainment, fine arts and literature. He is challenging the domain that classifies each and every thing belongs to arts and entertainment as “Haram”.

He rivets that Islam has not only praised beauty and noted it in various verses of the Holy Qur’an but asked the Muslims to discover it in this universe that is created very beautifully by Allah. In fact, Islam is instilling the love of beauty in the depths of human; so that he attracted to all the beautiful images and beautiful views, and feel like he knows long ago. This attraction to beauty is what gives one the willingness to recognize beauty in its highest form and meaning, which is the beauty of God.
The book is translated in Urdu by Mr. Mohammad Shahid Khan in a professional manner, by doing this important work at a high standard, he actually added to Urdu library a long needed reference on this topic.