‫ﲜﲝﲞﲟ‬

I
nthenameofAl
lah,
theGr
aci
ous,
theMer
cif
ul.

PRI
NCI
PLESOFISLAMI
CJURISPRUDENCE–I BFT05101
LECTUREONE–BY.SHAFIIA.RAHMAN

I
NTRODUCTI
ON

The term “Pr

inciples of Islamic Juri
spr
udence” is simplya
tr
ansl
ati
onof“Usoolal
-Fiqh”i
nAr abic.Mor eov
er,theappel
lat
ion“Usoolal-
Fiqh”i
sa
compoundnouncompri
sedoftwodi stinct
ivewordsnamely;Usool
“ ”and“al
-Fi
qh.”

Li
ngui
sti
cal
ly
;

Thewor d“Usool
”istheplur Asl
alof“ ”whichmeansar oot,or
igi
n,radixorsource.I
n
otherwords,
“Asl
”ref
erst
osomethi
nguponwhi
chother
sar econst
ructed.Forexample:
All
ahsays;
‫ﱠ‬
‫ﭐ ﳀﳁ ﳂﳃﳄﳅﳆﳇﳈﳉﳊﳋﳌﳍ ﳎ ﳏ‬
‫ﱡ‬
Seey
ounothowAl
lahset
sfort
hapar abl
e!Agoodlywordasagoodl
ytr
ee,
whoser
oot
i
sfir
mlyfi
xed,andit
sbranches(r
each)t
othesky.
[I
braheem 14:
24]

Ontheot herhand;t
heword“ Fiqh,
”deri
vesf r
om theArabi
cr Faquha”meani
oot“ ng“he
underst
ood.”Hence,l
it
eral
l
y ,
“Fiqh”means“ Under
standi
ng,
”or“Pr
eciseUnder
standi
ng”
asproposedbysomeschol ars.Forexample:ProphetMusa sai d;
٢
٨:‫ﱠﻃ‬
‫ﻪ‬ ‫ﲶﲷ‬ ‫ﭐ ﲵ‬
‫ﱡ‬
‫ﭐ‬‫ﭨ‬
‫ﭐ‬‫ﭧ‬
"
Thatt
heyunder
standmyspeech.
'
'
[Twaaha20:28]

Techni
cal
ly
;

1.“Fi
qh”referstotheknowl edgeofpr acti
calr
ulesofSharee’
ahandt hei
rdetai
led
1
evi
dences.Accor di
ngt othisdefi
nit
ion,theword“Knowl
edge”ent ai
l
sbot h“El
m”
and“Dhanna”i e.– Pr
. eci
seunder st
andingandSpeculat
ion,respecti
vel
y.Thisis
because‘thededuct
ionofl egalr
uli
ngsmaybedef ini
ti
veORspecul ati
ve,asi
st he
caseinvariousmatt
ersoff i
qh.
2
2.“Usoolal
-Fiqh”i
st hescienceandmet hodologyofIslami
claw. I
notherwords,
Usoolal-
Fiqhisthesy st
emat i
canal
ysi
soft heevidencesofIsl
amiclaw soasto
deduceappropri
atelawspertai
ningt
ovari
ousmat t
ers.

1
I
bn‘Ut
haymeen,Al-
Usoolfi
Ilm al
Usool,
Pg.5
2
Kamal
i.M.H,Pr
inci
plesofIsl
amicJur
isprudence,
(1991)I
nter
nat
ional
Isl
ami
cUni
ver
sit
y,Mal
aysi
a.
 DI
FFERENCEBETWEENUSOOLAL-
FIQHANDMETHODOLOGYOFTHELAW

Althoughtheyseem obviouslyi dent

ical
,thereisasali
entdif
ferencebetweenUsoolal-
fi
qhandmet hodologyoft hel aw.Forinstance,MohammedHKamal iargued“Tosay
thatUsoolal-
fiqhisthescienceoft hesour cesandmethodologyofthelawisaccurate
i
nt hesenset hattheQur’anandSunnahconst it
utet
hesourcesaswel lasthesubject
mat tert
owhicht hemethodol ogyofUsoolal -
fi
qhisappl
i
ed.”[Kamali
.M.H,Pri
nci
plesof
I
slami
cJur
ispr
udence,
(1991)
]

Howev er,he addst hat“ The met hodol

ogyofUsoolal -
fiqh actual
lyr ef
erst ot he
met hods of r easoning such as anal ogy ( qiyas)
,j uri
st i
c prefer
ence ( i
sti
hsan) ,
presumpt i
onofcont i
nuit
y( i
st i
shab)andt her ulesofi nterpret
ationanddeduct i
on.
Thesear edesignedt oserveasanai dtot hecor rectunderstandingofthesour cesand
i
jti
had.” Furthermore,heobser vedthattheexpr essedpur poseofUsoolal -Fi
qhi s“ t
o
deducet her ulesoff iqhf r
om t heindicationspr ovidedi nt hesour ces.
”Therefore,
defi
nitel
yspeaki ng,thedifferencebetweenUsoolal -
Fiqhandmet hodologyoft hel aw
canber eali
zedbasedonanumberofcr it
eria,suchas;

1)Accordi
ngt otheirl
it
eralmeani
ng:Usoolal
-Fi
qhdenot
es“ t
herootsoffi
qh”whil
e
methodologyofthelawmeans“ asy
stem ofmethods(
procedur
es)usedt
odeduce
thel
awf r
om it
sr oot
s/sour
ces.
”

2)Accordi
ngt ot rscope:Usoolal
hei -
Fiqhcov er
sboththesci
enceoft hesour
cesand
methodologyofthelaw,whil
emet hodologyofthelawisrestr
ictedtot
hemethods
ofdeducti
onsuchas; Qi
yas,
Isti
hsan,Ist
ishab,Masl
ahMursalaetc.

I
MPORTANCEOFUSOOLAL-
FIQH

ShaykhI
bn‘
Uthaymeensai
d,“Surel
y,Usool
al-
Fiqhi
sknowledgeofhonor
abl
ecapaci
ty
wit
hextr
emesigni
fi
canceandplent
yofbenefi
ts;amongi
tsbenefi
ts:
 I
tenablest heacqui sit
ionofabi l
i
tyforthededuct i
onofShar ’iruli
ngs(
Ahkaam
3
Shar’
i
yyah)f r
om t hei
rev i
dencesbasingonsoundf oundations.
 I
tregulatestheappl icati
onofI j
ti
haad(personaleffort
)inderivingShar
’ir
uli
ngs
fr
om theirevidences.
 I
thelpst hejuristtoobtainadequateknowl edgeoft hesourcesofSharee’ahas
well
ast hemet hodsofjurist
icdeducti
onandi nf
erence.

 I
thelpsthej uri
stt
ochooseasui tabl
emethodofdeduct
ionsuchasqiyas,
i
sti
hsan,ist
ishab,i
sti
slah i
nhi sef
forttoobt
aint
heappropr
iat
elegalr
uli
ng
(
hukm shar'
i
)ofapar t
icul
arprobl
em.

3
I
bn‘
Uthay
meen,
Al-
Usool
fiI
lm al
Usool
,Pg.6
  I
tenabl
est
hejur
isttoascert
ainandcompar
ethest
rengt
handweaknessof
v
ari
ousmet
hodsofij
ti
haad.

BACKGROUNDOFUSOOLAL-
FIQH

Thef i
rstpersontoinit
iate“Usoolal
-fi
qh”asani ndependentf
iel
dofst udywasI mam
Shaafi
’eyywhoseor i
ginalnamewas“ MuhammadI bnIdr
is”–borninthey ear150AH
(767AD)i nGaza,Pal
estine.Hewasadescendantoft heBanial
-Muttwall
ib,asist
erclan
oftheBaniHashim; t
hecl anofProphetMuhammad .Hememor i
zedtheQur ’anatthe
ageofsev enduri
nghi sstayinMakkahandmi gratedtoMadinatolearnf r
om thegreat
Hadithscholarofthetime–I mam Mal iki
bnAanas.Bef oremeeti
ngwi thImam Mal ik,
Imam Shaaf imemor i
zedt hefamousofHadi thknownas“ Al
-Muwat t
wa’ aIbnMal i
k”
compiledbyi mam Mal i
khimself.Heremainedi nMadi naforaperiodofatl eastnine
yearsunti
lImam Malikpassedawayi ntheyear179AH( 790AD).

Het henwentbackt oMakkahandmar riedHami dahBi ntNaaf i

,agr anddaught eroft he
thi
rdcal i
ph–‘ UthmaanI bn‘Affaan( R.
A) .Withher ,heobt ainedt hreechi l
dr eni.e.t wo
sonsAbuUt hmaanandAbulHasanandadaught ercal l
edFat ima.I ti
srepor tedt hatone
daywhent hegov ernorofYemenv i
sit
edMakkah, hemetwi t
hI mam Shaaf iandof fered
him anadmi ni str
ativeposti nYemen.Lat eron,hewasaccusedofcer t
ainof f
ensesof
polit
icalinterferencewhi chr esult
edt ohisincarcer ation.Howev er,whenCal iphHar oon
Al-
Rasheed exami ned hi scase,hepr onounced hi si nnocenceand or dered f orhi s
uncondi t
ionalr el
ease.Af terwards,hemetwi thShay khMuhammadI bnHasanAsh-
Shay baniwhowasar enownedf i
qhschol arandaf ormerst udentoft hegr eatI mam –
AbuHani faal iasNu’ manI bnThaabi t.Hismeet ingwi t
hAsh- Shay baniwasy etanot her
productivesour ceofknowl edget hatopenedhi sdoor stoawi derscopeofFi qhashe
i
ncor poratedt het hought soft hetwogr eatImamsi .
e.I mam AbuHani faandI mam
Mal i
k.Hel atert raveledt oI raqwher eheor ganizedsev er
alst udycircleswhi chwer e
attendedbymanyot herschol ar
sincludingAl-Zafar ani,Ath-Thawr iandImam AhmadI bn
Hanbal .

Duringhi sstayinIraq,hecomposedabookknownas“ Al-Ummu”( Themot her )which

heusedt oteachhisdi sci
plesunti
lthepl agueofi gnoranceandt r
ialaff
li
ctedtheMusl i
m
communi tyduring thesecond I slami ccent ury .Thisensued f rom thewi de- spread
applicat
ionof“ Ra’y”(Personalopinion)andphi losophicallogicinIslamiclegislati
onby
some peopl e who claimed acumen and j uristic acquaintance.Sev eralschool s of
thought( madhahi b)hadsur gedwi t
hint heI slami cempi re,forexampl e;theMal iki
schoolofhadi thinMadi naalsoknownasAhl–al -Hadithandt heI r
aqischoolknownas
Ahl-Ra’yhadr eachedt othepeakofcont r
ov ersyi nav ari
etyofway sasr egardst o
Isl
ami clegaldoctr
ine.
Hence,soast oest abli
sht hepr inciplesbywhi chv ariousl egaldocument scoul dbe
synthesizedi ntoacoher entsy st em,I mam Shaaf idev elopedat reatseknownasAr
i -
Risala,whichl aiddownt hebasi sf oreachsy nthesi
s.Hel atertr
av el
edtoEgy ptwher e
heset tl
edf oraqui t
eawhi l
eani nteractedwi t
hsev eralschol arsi
ncludingIbnSa’adfrom
whom her efreshedhi sknowl edgeandgr aduallyr
etractedsomeofhi sprevi
oust hought
onv ari
ousmat ters.Lateron, hedi edint hey ear204AH( 820AD)bef orehefini
shedhi s
l
astepi stleknownas“ Ar-RisalaAt h-Thaani ya”– Thesecondt r
eat i
se.Howev er,his
disci
ples compi l
ed hi s wr i
tings whi ch t hey spread acr oss the I sl
amic wor l
d as
“MadhhabAsh- Shaaf i
’
eyy”i.e.thedoct rineofImam Shaaf i.

SHAREE’ SHI
AH–( R’ATANDMI
NHAAJ)
Accordi
ngt o‘ Al
-Waseet -
li
-Twantwawiy,
’thet m Shi
er r’
athast hesamemeani ngas
Shar
‘ ee’ah’whi chl i
ter
all
ymeans“ anon-exhaustivepathofwat erwherepeoplegot o
quencht heirthir
standf ulf
illot
herneeds.”Technical
ly
,bothShir’
atandSharee’ahr
efer
totherev ealedlawsf oundi ntheQur’anandSunnahf rom whichsever
alrul
ings(f
iqh)
arederived.I notherwor ds,Shir’
atandShar ee’
aharet heori
ginalrul
es(Ahkaam al-
Asli
yyah)f ormingt her oot
suponwhi chot hersecondaryruli
ngsknownast heFuru’
(br
anches)ar eest abli
shed.
٤
٨:‫ﺓ‬
‫ﺪ‬‫ﺋ‬‫ﺎ‬
‫ﻤ‬‫ﻟ‬
‫ﺍ‬‫ﱠ‬
‫ﭐﲊﲋﲌﲍﲎ‬
‫ﱡ‬
‫ﭐ‬‫ﭨ‬
‫ﭐ‬‫ﭧ‬
“
Toeachamongy
ou,
wehav
epr escri
bedShi
r’
atan(al
aw)andaMi
nhaaj
(i.
e.appr
oach,
pr
ogram ormethodol
ogy)
.”
[
Al-
Maa’i
dah5:48]

Itwasr eport
edbyAl -‘
Awfifrom Ibn‘Abbaas( who)sai d,“Shi
r’atandMi nhaaj”meansa
“Sabeel( h)and Sunnah (
pat clearway ),respectively.Mor eover,l
inguist
icall
y,Shir
’at
refersto‘ whatisbegunwi thtowar dssomet hing.’Forexampl e;i
tcanbesai d,“Shara’a
fiikadhaa”meani ng“hebegunwi t
hsuch. ”Ther efore,Shir’
atmeans“ t
heor igi
nallaws
(intheQur ’
anandSunnah)whi chaj ur
istbeginswi thonhi swayt oobt ainthefiqhor
finaljudgmentonanygi venmat t
er.”Thisreferstot helawsf ormingthef oundati
onf or
accept ance(Ibaahah),pr
ohibit
ion(Tahreem) ,obli
gation( Wujub),r
eprehension(Karahah)
andr ecommendat ion(Nadab)ofanypar ti
cularthing.

Ont heot herhand,Minhaajmeans‘aclearandeasyway .’I

bnKat hi
irsaid,“However,
the
4
i
nterpretationthatShir
’atmeansapat handMi nhaajmeansSunnahi smor eexpli
cit
.”
I
nf act,Sunnah, l
it
eral
ly,meansaclearpat horway .Theref
or e,itisfort
hr i
ghttoref
erto
MinhaajasSunnah.I nanotherint
erpretati
on,IbnKat hii
rsai d,“ i
twassai dthatthe
addresseeoft hisstat
ementi s“Thi
sUmmah”andt hest atement‘ toeachwehave
prescribed’r ef
erst ot he Qur’
an.
”Howev er
,t he previ
ous i nt
erpretati
on is more
appropr i
ate.

4
Taf
seerI
bnKat
hii
r,Al
-Maa’
i
dah5:
48
Ult
imately,wecanconcl udethatAll
ahprescr
ibedalaw(Shi
r’at
)andSunnah( cl
earpat h
orapproach)f orever
yUmmah( communi t
y)soastoguidei
tspeoplealongthestraight
path.Otherwise,theexpressmeaningoftheversei
sthatAl
lahprescri
bedspeci
ficlaws
andappr oachestoev er
yUmmah( nat
ion)towhom HesentHisrevel
ati
ons.

Forexampl e:Duri
ngtherealm ofProphetMusaandPr ophet(Jesus)[Maypeacebe
upont hem bot h]
,warboot y(Al-
Ghaneemah)wasunl awful(Haram)accordingtothe
l
awsr ev ealedwithi
ntheTor ahandI nj
i
l,respect
ivel
y.Howev er,asfortheUmmahof
ProphetMuhammad andhi sfol
l
ower s,i
twasmadel awful(Hal
al)
.Therefor
e,i
tis
fort
hri
ghtt hatAll
ahprescr
ibedspeci
ficl
awsf oreveryUmmah.

Nevert
heless,thisdiff
erenceisr estri
ctedt omat t
ersr el
atedt othebranches(Furu’
)
suchas;mor alval
ues,cult
ures,t
ransactionsetc.Otherwise,ther
eisnodiffer
enceinthe
l
awsandappr oachconcerningmat tersoft heUsool(FoundationoftheSharee’
ah)such
asf ai
th(Eemaan) ,theor dertoobser vewor shi
p( Ibaadah)etc.Inotherwor ds,al
l
nati
onswer eorderedt oobservet hemat tersoftheUsoolsuchasTawheed( oneness
anduniquenessofAllah).Hence,Al l
ahsays;
‫ﱠ‬
‫ﭐﱁﱂﱃﱄ ﱅ ﱆ ﱇﱈ ﱉ ﱊﱋﱌﱍﱎﱏﱐ‬
‫ﱡ‬
‫ﭐ‬
Andwedi
dnotsendanyMessengerbef
orey oubutwerev
ealedt
ohi
m(say
ing)
:"Ther
e
i
snoGodbutI ,sowor shi
pme.'
'
[
Al-
Anbiyaa’21:
25]

THENECESSI
TYOFFOLLOWI
NGTHESHAREE’
AH
Li
nguisti
cal
l
y,Shar ee’
ahmeansaclearpathofwaterwhi
chpeoplefoll
owinsearchf or
watertoful
fi
llthei
rneeds.Asajuri
sti
cter
m,Sharee’
ahref
ersto;TheShir
’atorori
ginal
l
awsf oundintheQur ’
anandSunnah,aswellast
heenti
resyst
em ofIsl
amiclegi
slat
ion
(I
slam asawhol e)
.

Reasonswhyi
tisnecessar
ytof
oll
owt
heShar
ee’
ah

 Iti
sanor derfr
om Al l
ah,whoisthecreat
orandsust
ainerofwhat
everi
sint
he
heavensandear
ths.Fori
nst
ance,
All
ahsays;
١
٨:‫ﺔ‬
‫ﻴ‬‫ﺛ‬‫ﺎ‬
‫ﻟﺠ‬‫ﱠ‬
‫ﺍ‬‫ﭐﲇﲈﲉﲊﲋﲌﲍﲎﲏﲐﲑﲒﲓﲔ‬
‫ﱡ‬
“
ThenwemadeyouuponaSharee’
ah(Clearpath)ofauthor
it
y,sof
oll
owi t
!And
donotf
oll
owt
hedesi
resoft
hosewhoknownoti .e.t
heJews,Chr
ist
iansand
di
sbel
iever
s.”

[
Al-
Jaat
hiy
ah45:
18]

 Foll
owi ngtheShar
ee’
ahmeansfol
lowingt
hewayoflif
ewhichGodprescr
ibedf
or
Hispr evi
ousprophet
sandmessenger ssuchas;Nuh,I
braheem,MusaandIsa
(Jesus)–Maypeacebeuponthem al
l.
 ‫ﱠ‬
‫ﭐﱨﱩﱪﱫﱬﱭﱮﱯﱰﱱﱲﱳﱴﱵﱶﱷﱸﱹ‬
‫ﱡ‬
‫ﭐ‬‫ﭨ‬
‫ﭐ‬‫ﭧ‬
"He(Al
lah)hasordai
nedf
oryouthesamer eli
gionwhi
chHeor dai
nedforNuh,
andt
hat
whichwehav er
eveal
edtoyou,
andthatwhichweor dainedf
orIbr
ahi
m, Musaand`
Isa"
[
Ash-Shoorah42:13]

SOURCESOFSHAREE’
AH
Note:Thestatement“SourcesofShar
ee’ah”meanstheplacesorthi
ngsfrom whi
ch
I
slamiclaws(Shar
ee’ah)canbeobtai
ned.Forst
art
ers,t
her
ear ef
ourmajorsour
cesof
Sharee’
ahnamely;

 TheQur ’an  Ijmaa’

 Sunnah.  Qi yas.
Thesour cesofShar ee’
ahar ef urthercat
egorizedintoPri
maryandsecondar ysources
basedont hei
ressent i
ali
tyandaut hor
it
ati
veness.Asar esul
t,t
heQur ’
anandSunnahar e
classedaspri
mar ysour ces,whileIjmaa(consensus)andQiyas(analogy)aresecondary
sourcesbecauset heirauthorit
ydependsonbot ht heQur’
anandSunnah.I nadditi
on,
thereareseveralreasonswhyt heQur ’
anandSunnahar eregardedast hepri
mar y
sourcesofSharee’
ah.Fori nstance;

 Theybothcontai
nrevelat
ionsfrom Al
lahwhoi sthesupremelegi
slat
or(Shaari
’
i).
 Theycontai
ntheShir’
atandMi nhaajwhicharethefoundati
onofthelaw.
 Theycontai
nfi
naljudgment sf
orev er
ymat t
erofcontrover
syamongt hebeli
evers.

WABI
LLAAHITAWFEEQ