Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence by MH Kamali

Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence by M. H. Kamali Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence ~ Kamali 1 Table of Contents • Foreword • Preface • Chapter One: Introduction to Usul al-Fiqh • Chapter Two: The First Source of Shari'ah: The Qur'an • Chapter Three: The Sunnah • Chapter Four: Rules of Interpretation I: Deducing the Law from Its Sources • Chapter Five: Rules of Interpretation II: Al-Dalalat (Textual Implications) • Chapter Six: Commands and Prohibitions • Chapter Seven: Naskh (Abrogation) • Chapter Eight: Ijma' or Consensus of Opinion • Chapter Nine: Qiyas (Analogical Deduction) • Chapter Ten: Revealed Laws Preceding the Shari'ah of Islam • Chapter Eleven: The Fatwa of a Companion • Chapter Twelve: Istihsan, or Equity in Islamic Law • Chapter Thirteen: Maslahah Mursalah (Considerations of Public Interest) • Chapter Fourteen: 'Urf (Custom) • Chapter Fifteen: Istishab (Presumption of Continuity) • Chapter Sixteen: Sadd al-Dhara'i (Blocking the Means) • Chapter Seventeen: Hukm Shar'i (Law or Value of Shari'ah) • Chapter Eighteen: Conflict of Evidences • Chapter Nineteen: Ijtihad, or Personal Reasoning Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence ~ Kamali 2 Preface I. Apart from the fact that the existing works on Islamic Jurisprudence in the English language do not offer an exclusive treatment of usul al-fiqh, there is also a need to pay greater attention to the source materials, namely the Qur'an and sunnah, in the study of this science. In the English works, the doctrines of usul al-fiqh are often discussed in relative isolation from the authorities in which they are founded. Furthermore, these works tend to exhibit a certain difference of style and perspective when they are compared to the Arabic works on the subject. The usul al-fiqh as a whole and all of the various other branches of the Shari’ah bear testimony to the recognition, as the most authoritative influence and source, of divine revelation (wahy) over and above that of rationality and man-made legislation. This aspect of Islamic law is generally acknowledged, and yet the relevance of wahy to the detailed formulations of Islamic law is not highlighted in the English works in the same way as one would expect to find in the works of Arabic origin. I have therefore made an attempt to convey not only the contents of usul al-fiqh as I found them in Arabic sources but also the tone and spirit of the source materials which I have consulted. I have given frequent illustrations from the Qur’an, the Sunnah and the well-recognised works of authority to substantiate the theoretical exposition of ideas and doctrines. The works of the madhahib, in other words, are treated in conjunction with the authority in which they are founded. II. The idea to write this book occurred to me in early 1980 when I was teaching this subject to postgraduate students at the Institute of Islamic Studies at McGill University in Montreal. But it was only after 1985 when I started a teaching post at the International Islamic University, Selangor, Malaysia, that I was able to write the work I had intended. I was prompted to this decision primarily by the shortage of English textbooks on Islamic jurisprudence for students who seek to acquire an intermediate to advanced level of proficiency in this subject. Works that are currently available in English on Islamic law and jurisprudence are on the whole generic in that they tend to treat a whole range of topics both on usul al-fiqh and the various branches of fiqh (i.e. furu 'al-fiqh), often within the scope of a single volume. The information that such works contain on usul al-fiqh is on the whole insufficient for purposes of pursuing a full course of study on this subject. The only exception to note here, perhaps, is the area of personal law, that is, the law of marriage, divorce, inheritance, etc., which has been treated exclusively, and there are a number of English texts currently available on the subject. Works of Arabic origin on usul al-fiqh are, on the whole, exclusive in the treatment of this discipline. There is a selection of textbooks in Arabic, both classical and modern, at present available on this subject, ranging from the fairly concise to the more elaborate and advanced. Works such as 'Abd al- Wahhab Khallaf's 'Ilm Usul al-Fiqh, Abu Zahrah's Usul al-Fiqh, Muhammad al-Khudari's Usul al-Fiqh, and Badran's Usul al-Fiqh al-lslami are but some of the well-known modern works in the field. Classical works on usul al-fiqh, of which there are many, are, broadly speaking, all fairly elaborate, sometimes running into several volumes. I have relied, in addition to the foregoing, on al-Ghazali's Al- Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence ~ Kamali 3 Mustasfa min 'llm al-usul, al-Amidi's Al-Ihkam fi Usul al-Ahkam, al-Shatibi's Al-Muwafaqat fi Usul al- Ahkam and al-Shawkani's Irshad al-Fuhul fi Tahqiq al-Haqq min 'llm al-Usul. These are all devoted, almost exclusively, to the juridical subject matter of usul al-fiqh, and rarely, if ever, address the historical development of this discipline beyond such introductory and incidental references as the context may require. Arabic writers tend to treat the historical development of jurisprudence separately from the usul al-fiqh itself. There are several Arabic works of modern origin currently available on the history of jurisprudence and its various phases of development, namely the Prophetic period, the era of the Companions, the early schools of law in the Hijaz and Iraq, the emergence of the madhahib, the era of imitation (taqlid), and the call for a return to ijtihad. This discipline is generally known as 'tarikh al- tashri' which, as the title suggests, is primarily concerned with the history of juristic thought and institutions. [Note for example al-Khudari's, Tarikh al-Tashri' al-lslami; al-Sabuni et al., Al- Madkhal al-Fiqhi wa Tarikh al-Tashri al-Islami; al-Qattan's Al-Tashri' wa al-Fiqh fi al-Islam: Tarikhan wa Manhajan, and al-Nabhan's Al-Madkhal li al-Tashri' al-islami. Nish'atuh, Adwaruh al-Tarikhiyyah, Mustaqbalub. For full publication data see my Bibliography.] The Arabic texts on usul al-fiqh itself are on the whole devoted to a treatment of the sources, and methodology of the law, and tend to leave out its history of development. The reverse of this is true with regard to works that are currently available on the general subject of Islamic jurisprudence in the English language. Works of Western authorship on this subject are, broadly speaking, primarily concerned with the history of jurisprudence, whereas the juridical subject matter of usul al-fiqh does not receive the same level of attention as is given to its historical development. Bearing in mind the nature of the existing English literature on the subject, and the fact that there is adequate information available on the history of Islamic jurisprudence in English, the present work does not attempt to address the historical developments and instead focuses on usul al-fiqh itself. Another point to be noted regarding works on Islamic jurisprudence in English by both Muslim and non-Muslim authors is that they are somewhat selective in their treatment of the relevant topics, and certain subjects tend to be ignored or treated only briefly. Consequently, information on some topics, such as the rules of interpretation, classification of words, commands and prohibitions, and textual implications (al-dalalat) is particularly brief and often non-existent in these works. Even some of the more familiar topics such as qiyas, istihsan, istislah, istishab and saad al-dhara'i are treated superficially in most of the English books that are currently in use. The reasons for such omissions are not always clear. The authors might have considered some of these topics to be somewhat technical and involved for English readers whose interest in usul al-fiqh has for a long time remained confined to general and introductory information on the subject. Some of these topics, such as the rules of interpretation, al-dalalat and the technicalities of qiyas which draw somewhat heavily on the use of Arabic terminology, might have been viewed in this light. The English-speaking student of Islamic studies has been perceived as someone who would have little use for technical detail on usul al-fiqh. This might at best offer a plausible explanation, but it is one which carries little weight, especially in view of the greater interest that has been more recently taken in Islamic legal studies in the West, as well as some of the English speaking institutions of higher learning that have emerged in Islamic Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence ~ Kamali 4 countries themselves. [Note for example the International Islamic University of Malaysia, and that of Islamabad, Pakistan, where usul al-fiqh is offered as a core subject both in the LL.B and the masters degree programmes.] Moreover, the fact that Islamic countries have in recent decades shown a fresh interest in developing greater harmony between the Shari’ah and statutory laws has also meant that practicing lawyers and judges in these countries are increasingly encouraged to enhance their expertise in the Shari’ah disciplines. Modern Arabic writings on usul al-fiqh tend to differ from the older works on the subject in that the former take cognizance of recent developments both in the Muslim communities and beyond. Thus, the reader of many a modern work often comes across comments and comparisons which seek to explain the application and relevance of the Shari’ah doctrines to modern legislation, and to the principles of Western jurisprudence. Much to their credit, some ulema and writers of modern works have attempted to relate the classical formulations and doctrines of usul al-fiqh to the contemporary socio-legal conditions of their communities.

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