Principles of Islamic Law and the methods of interpretation of the texts (Uṣūl al-Fiqh)
The book in your hand, Principles of Islamic Law and Methods of the Interpretation of the Texts (Uṣūl al-Fiqh), is aimed to help students, lawyers and people intererested in the study of Islamic law to understand the field comprehensively. This work is, indeed, a comprehensive study in its field, au...
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| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
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Islamic Book Trust (IBT)
2017
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| Online Access: | http://irep.iium.edu.my/55363/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/55363/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/55363/1/Interpretation%20of%20the%20Texts%20Usul%20Fiqh%20by%20Kayadibi.pdf |
| Summary: | The book in your hand, Principles of Islamic Law and Methods of the Interpretation of the Texts (Uṣūl al-Fiqh), is aimed to help students, lawyers and people intererested in the study of Islamic law to understand the field comprehensively. This work is, indeed, a comprehensive study in its field, authored in a clear and simple manner that meets the requirements of a needed textbook on principles of Islamic jurisprudence (uṣūl al-fiqh), and consisting of six chapters, including an introductory chapter.
Chapter one, the introductory chapter, highlights the development of the principles of Islamic law and the three distinct approaches of the formulation of uṣūl al-fiqh. It also gives the definitions of uṣūl al-fiqh, explains the ḥukm shar‘ī with its essential terms related to uṣūl al-fiqh, the Sharī‘ah and its components dealing with al-aḥkām al-i‘tiqādiyyah (rulings related to beliefs), al-aḥkām al-khuluqiyyah (rulings related to moral and ethics) and al-aḥkām al-‘amaliyyah (rulings related to the sayings and doings of the individuals and their relationships with others). The chapter also deals with the characteristics of the Sharī‘ah; differences between mujtahid and faqīh, ijtihād and taqlīd, muqallid and faqīh, qawā‘id al-fiqhiyyah and uṣūl al-fiqh; and the meaning of adillah.
Chapter two is devoted to the sources of Islamic law, classifying them into two types, as unanimously accepted sources (the primary sources), such as the Qur’ān, the Sunnah, ijmā‘, (consensus) and qiyās (analogy); the controversial sources (the secondary sources), such as istiḥsān (juristic preference), maṣlaḥah mursalah (public interest) or al-istiṣlāḥ, istiṣḥāb (presumption of continuity), qawl al-ṣaḥābī (the sayings of a Companion of the Prophet (pbuh)), ‘urf (custom), sadd al-dharā’i‘ (blocking the means), shar‘ man qablanā (revealed laws preceding the sharī‘ah of Islam) and istiqrā’ (induction).
Chapter three deals with the ḥukm shar‘ī (aḥkām) in detail; the problem of good and evil; the maḥkūm ‘alayh (the subject) for whose conduct the ḥukm is stipulated (i.e. the mukallaf); the different types of ahliyyah (capacity), such as ahliyyah al-wujūb (the capacity for acquisition of rights and obligation) and ahliyyah al-adā’ (the capacity for execution or performance of duties); ‘awāriḍ al-ahliyyah (circumstances affecting legal capacity); the maḥkūm fīh (the act) along with its conditions; and the types of rights, such as the rights of Allah (ḥuqūq Allah) and the rights of man (ḥuqūq al-‘abd). The fourth element of the ḥukm shar‘ī is also dealt with in this chapter, as are its types, such as al-ḥukm al-taklīfī (defining law) and al-ḥukm al-waḍ‘ī (declaratory law).
Chapter four investigates the methods of deducing the rules (aḥkām) from the sources, considering their four divisions in detail. The first division is based on the formation of words (alfāẓ) and consists of ‘āmm (general), khāṣṣ (specific), mu’awwal (interpreted) and mushtarak (equivocal, the common word). The khāṣṣ is subdivided into muṭlaq (absolute), muqayyad (limited), amr (command) and nahy (prohibition). The second division is based on the usage of the words and consists of ḥaqīqah (literal), majāz (metaphorical), ṣarīḥ (clear) and kināyah (allusive). The third division is based on the degree of the word’s clarity (wuḍūḥ) or obscurity. From this viewpoint, words are divided into the two main categories: clear (wāḍiḥ) and unclear (ghayr wāḍiḥ). The clear words consist of ẓāhir (manifest), naṣṣ (explicit), mufassar (unequivocal) and muḥkam (perspicuous). The unclear words consist of khafī (obscure), mushkil (difficult), mujmal (ambivalent) and mutashābih (intricate). The fourth division is based on the rules of indications (textual indication, dalālāt) and consists of ‘ibārah al-naṣṣ (explicit meaning), ishārah al-naṣṣ (alluded meaning), dalālah al-naṣṣ (the inferred meaning), iqtiḍā’ al-naṣṣ (the required meaning) and mafhūm al-mukhālafah (divergent meaning). The concept of conflict (تعارض) between these methods are taken into consideration from the viewpoint of Ḥanafī and Shāfi‘ī approaches.
Chapter five focuses on the concept of ijtihād, its validity, its types, its conditions, areas where ijtihād is applicable, its value (ḥukm), its relationship with ra’y and istiḥsān and ijtihād by ra’y at the time of the Prophet (pbuh) and the Companions. It also covers the concept of taqlīd (imitation), its definition, its ruling (ḥukm), talfīq, takhayyur, tarjīḥ, legal loopholes (ḥīlah shar‘īyyah) and maqāṣid al-Sharī‘ah (the higher objectives of Islamic law).
Chapter six discusses the concept of abrogation (naskh), its definition, its types, its conditions, the historical approaches to it, the differences between naskh and takhṣīṣ, the subject matter of naskh and the time of naskh. The chapter also deals with ta‘āruḍ al-adillah (conflict of evidences), the place of the conflict of evidences, the method to be followed in resolving conflicts, resolving conflicts among the nuṣūṣ (texts), resolving conflicts through recourse to the Companions and ijmā‘ and resolving conflicts of qiyās (analogy).
This work, therefore, contributes to the heritage of the principles of Islamic law and the methods of interpretation of the texts (uṣūl al-fiqh), inshallah. |
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