Introduction to Islamic Law Lesson 2 Introduction to Islamic Law • The science of Islamic jurisprudence has an uninterrupted history going back over a thousand years. • Masters have trained students and those students in their turn have trained other students, and this has continued down the ages until today. Furthermore, this relationship between master and pupil has never been broken. • One of the preparations for learning about any field of knowledge is to pay attention to the famous personalities of that field, the views and ideas of whom were important, and to their scholarly contributions. Introduction to Islamic Law • We will begin the history of the Shia jurists from the period of the 12th Imam’s minor occultation" (260 AH) and this we will do for two reasons: • 1. The period prior to the "minor occultation" was the period of the presence of the holy imams. Although there were legal experts in the Islamic world, people generally made an effort to ask the imams and only resorted to these scholars if they did not have access to the imams. • 2. In the formal, classified jurisprudence, we are limited to the period of the minor occultation, None of the actual books in jurisprudence from that period has reached us. Introduction to Islamic Law • Amongst the Shias, there were great jurists during the days of the holy Imams, whose eminence is attested to by scholars of the Sunni tradition. ﻟاﮭﻔرﺳت ”writes in his “Fihrist , ن مﯾﻧﻟداﺑا For example, Ibn Nadim • mentioned that Husayn ibn Sa'id Ahwazi and his brother, were both notable Shia jurists: وأﻊﺳ لھأ ﺎﻣز ﺎﻣﮭﻧ ﺎﻣﻠﻋ ﺑ ﺎ ﻟ ﮫﻘﻔ رﺎﺛﻵاو او ﻧﻣﻟ ﻗبﺎﻧﻟا ﺎﻵوﮫﻔﻟﺎﺑ ﻣﻋ ﻣﻧﺎزلأوﻊ "They were the best of those of their time in knowledge of jurisprudence and hadith…” Introduction to Islamic Law • And, about Ali ibn Ibrahim Qummi, who was the teacher of Shaykh al- Kulayni, he writes: نﻣ ا ﻟ ﻌ ﻠ ﻣ ﺎ ء ا ﻟ ﻔ ﻘ ﮭ ﺎ ء ءﺎﻣﻠﻌﻟان “He was among the scholars and jurists...” • And about Muhammad b. Hasan b. Ahmad b. Walid, he writes: نﻣﮫﻟ ا ﺗبﻛﻟ ﺎبﺗﻛ ا ﻊﻣﺎﺟﻟ نﻣ ا ﮫﻘﻔﻟان ﻣﺟ بﻛﺗﻛ ﻣﻟ “He as a comprehensive book on Islamic law…” Introduction to Islamic Law • Thus, there were Shia jurists and legal experts during the time of the imams but the need for jurists was more pronounced during the minor and major occultation. • New issues and questions arose that were not explicitly mentioned in the religious texts and therefore there was great reliance on the scholars and legal experts by the community. Introduction to Islamic Law • We will quickly examine the names and contributions of the 1\most prominent legal experts in the Shia tradition over the course of the last 11 centuries: • 1. Ali ibn Babawayh al-Qummi:, who is the father of Shaykh al-Saduq, who died in 329 AH (the year the minor occultation ended). He is اﻟﺻدوﻗَﯾن buried in Qum. Him and his son are often referred to as Introduction to Islamic Law • 2. Muhammad Ibn Masoud al-Ayyashi al-Samarqandi: al-'Ayyashi was first Sunni, but after studying Shia works, he became Shia. He was a contemporary of Kulayni and wrote an important tafseer of the Quran known as “Tafseer al-Ayyashi”. • Ibn Nadim says that Ayyashi’s books were very popular in Khurasan. • After his education in scientific centers of Kufa, Baghdad and Qom, al- Ayyashi returned to Samarqand and began teaching and preaching Shia religious teachings. Many reciters of the Quran,writers and scholars went to his house every day. • He held two sessions: One scientific session for all people publicly and another gathering for his special students privately Introduction to Islamic Law • 3. Ibn Abi Aqil al-Ammani: He died shortly after the minor occultation. He was the teacher of Ja’far ibn Qawlaway, the teacher of Shaykh al-Mufid. • Shia scholars have confirmed his reliability as a narrator of hadith. Some take him to be the first Shia scholar of fiqh to have refined the discipline at the beginning of the minor occultation. Introduction to Islamic Law • 4. Ibn al-Junayd al-Iskafi: Ibn al-Junayd was born in Iskaf near Baghdad. He was one of the teachers of Shaykh Mufid. • Ibn al-Junayd and Ibn Abi Aqil al-'Ummani are both called "al- Qadimayn" (that is, two ancient scholars of jurisprudence). • He authored about 50 books. • One characteristic of Ibn al-Junayd's jurisprudence is his inclination towards more cautious fatwas. He has a tendency to take all commands to imply (obligation) and all prohibitions to imply (prohibition) in issues of worship and transactions. Introduction to Islamic Law hadiths narrated by one) رﺑﺧ ا ﻟ و دﺣا And he relied on khabar al-wahid • or very few people), which puts him against the majority of early Shia scholars of jurisprudence and on board with Sunni scholars and Imamiyya Akhbaris In many of his arguments in jurisprudence, he appealed to khabar al-wahid, to which Shaykh Mufid objected. • He relied on qiyas (analogy) in agreement with Abu Hanifa and other Sunni scholars, and it seems that he wrote some books in this regard. • He was killed in 381 AH. Introduction to Islamic Law • 5. Muḥammad b. Muḥammad b. al-Nuʿmān al-ʿUkbarī al- Baghdādī popularly known as Shaykh al-Mufid: He was great theologian, scholar of hadith and jurist. • Born in 336 AH and died in 413 AH. • When he passed away, almost all of the residents of Baghdad attended his funeral. ﺔﻌﻧﻘﻣﻟا ”’His famous book in fiqh is called “Al-Muqni • • The son-in law of Shaykh Mufid, Abu Y'ala J'afari, tells us that Shaykh Mufid slept little at night, and spent the rest in worship, study and teaching or reciting the Qur’an. Introduction to Islamic Law • Before al-Shaykh al-Mufid, taking hadith at face-value was very common and using intellect and rational approach to draw out religious rulings was not very popular. • Al-Shaykh al-Mufid stood against the dominant stagnation and by compiling the principles of fiqh, founded a new fiqh in practice. This approach in ijtihad was a middle way between hadith approach of Shaykh al-Saduq and the comparative approach of Ibn Junayd in fiqh. Introduction to Islamic Law • 6. Ali b. al-Husan, known as Sayyid al-Murtadha or Sharif al- Murtadha: He was a leading theologian and jurist who earned the honorific title of “The Flag of Guidance”. • Born in 355 AH and died in 436 AH • Famous story of him and his brother. • Allamah Hilli calls him “The teacher of the Shias of the Imams” • He was a master of ethics, theology and jurisprudence. His views on jurisprudence are still studied by the jurisprudents of today. Introduction to Islamic Law ﻧﻹأ رﺎﺻﺗ His most famous book on Islamic law is • • It is a book on jurisprudence including the rulings definitely or supposedly specific to Twelver Shia. • This book contains 319 jurisprudential issues and is important historically and scientifically, since it is the oldest Shia reference in jurisprudence which includes comparative issues and has mentioned different opinions. Introduction to Islamic Law • 7. Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan b. ʿAlī b. al-Ḥasan, known as Shaykh al- Tusi: • Shaykh Abu Ja’far Tusi, one of the shining stars of the Islamic world, wrote many books on jurisprudence and the principles of jurisprudence, Traditions, commentaries, theology and the transmitters. • Originally from Khorasan (in east Iran), he was born in 385 A.H. and after twenty-two years emigrated to Baghdad which in those days was the great center of Islamic studies and culture. He stayed in Iraq the rest of his life and after the demise of his teacher, Sayyid Murtadha, he became the highest religious authority. Introduction to Islamic Law • Shaykh Tusi remained for twelve more years in Baghdad but then, due to a series of disturbances in which his house and library were ravaged, he left for Najaf where he formed the famous scholastic centre which still exists today. There, in the year 460 A.H., he passed away. • One of the books which were compiled about jurisprudence by and was used as a textbook ﺔﯾﺎﮭﻧﻟا ,Shaykh Tusi was called An-Nahayeh for religious students. Introduction to Islamic Law brought jurisprudence into a new stage and طوﺳﺑﻣﻟا ,Another, Mabsut • was the most famous Shi'ite book of jurisprudence of its time. It is a comprehensive book on law containing juristic reasoning. another of his books, he wrote about both the views فﻼﺧﻟا ,In Khelaf • of the jurisprudents of the Sunni schools and also those of the Shi'ite jurisprudents. Comparative jurisprudence. • He also wrote other books about jurisprudence, and, until about a century ago, whenever the name Shaykh was mentioned the man meant was Shaykh Tusi, and by Shaykhayn was meant Shaykh Tusi and Shaykh Mufid. Introduction to Islamic Law • According to what has been related in some books, it seems the daughters of Shaykh Tusi were also distinguished jurists. • Shaykh Tusi’s son, Shaykh Abu Ali, was a great scholar who became known as ”The Second Mufid”. He wrtote a commentary on his ﺔﯾﺎﮭﻧﻟا ,father’s book An-Nahayeh • Shaykh Tusi’s grandson, Shaykh Abul Hassan, became the highest religious authority in the Shia world. Introduction to Islamic Law • 8. Ibn al-Barraj: • He was a student of Sayyid Murtadha and Shaykh al-Tusi • Ibn Barraj was al-Tusi's constant companion until al-Shaykh al-Tusi appointed him as his representative in Syria. He became one of the great scholars of the region and consequently was appointed as the judge of Tripoli by Jalal al-Mulk (Sunni ruler) in 438 AH.