Natural Law: A Theological, Juridical and Epistemological Approach in Light of al-Ghazali's al-Mustasfa min'ilm al-usul (The Essence of the Science of the Methods of Jurisprudence) (original) (raw)

"Islamic Natural Law Theories," in Natural Law: A Jewish, Christian, and Islamic Trialogue

This is my substantive chapter on Islamic natural law theories, which appears in a co-authored book on natural law published by Oxford UP. My coauthors are Matthew Levering and David Novak. The book brings together work on Jewish, Christian, and Islamic natural law, and features commentaries by the authors on each other's substantive essay. This essay both addresses and extends my previous scholarship on Islamic natural law theories, in part by delving into Islamic natural philosophy, and exploring the differences between a jurisprudence of natural law and a natural philosophy of causation. It is written for both specialists and a broad audience, and the structure of the book is intended to generate conversation across traditions of difference.

A Brief Introduction to Islamic Natural Law

Natural Law and Positivism have been at loggerheads for long when it comes to law-making. Thus, law, religion, and morality, have over the years, formed a baffling trinity and kept the scholars constantly engaged in debates. The positivists argue that one should stick to the black letter of the law and that one should not have their own morality in deciding a given situation. This is much like Immanuel Kant's concept of morality. Kant argues that one should not do a good deed because of an ulterior motive of gaining reward from a superior being, i.e., God. On the contrary, one should perform that good act simply because it is good in itself, and that is the right thing to do. However, separation of law and morality isn't as easy a task as positivists might claim it is. Natural Law, on the other hand, stands in clear contradiction to Positivism, in that it is based on moral and ethical values. This work argues how Natural Law is indispensable in the process of law-making and that it guides Positivism, albeit to some extent. We have been exposed to the concept of Natural Law from a Western perspective, which is primarily proposed and culled out from the teachings of Christianity. This essay intends to set out, in brief, the concept of Natural Law that Islam has to offer. Islamic Natural Law is different in its operation and concept as against the normal understanding of Natural Law. Towards the end of the paper, I would argue that Austin's understanding of Positivism is drawn its essential elements from Islamic Natural Law.

Natural Law in Islam

On the absence in Islamic legal thought of the idea of a "natural law", the reason being that the very concept of "nature" has another meaning than in Roman/Christian law.

A Critical Review Essay of Anver M. Emon’s Islamic Natural Law Theories

2015

The concept of "natural law" is not one that is commonly associated with Islamic law. In his monograph, Islamic Natural Theories, Anver M. Emon attempts to shed light on this issue and uncover a natural law tradition in the legal theories of a number of premodern Muslim jurists. In doing so, Emon draws a distinction between the Hard Naturalists and the Soft Naturalists, two schools of natural law that differ on theological points but ultimately find common ground in their conclusions. For Emon, the conception of natural law concerns the extent to which reason is granted the ontological authority to determine norms, as opposed to a textualist approach to producing law. This essay investigates the primary sources relied on by Emon in his study and questions his reading of the texts, his arguments, and his conclusions. I conclude that Emon's study, ambitious in its goals and important as a first step, presents a strained reading of the texts and struggles to convince the reader of the genuineness of a natural law tradition in Islamic legal theory as he presents it.

Nature of Natural Law in Islam

The Importance of the Law in Islam urges us to talk about the nature of natural law for two main reasons: (1) we want to find out what the Law is in Islam; (2) we want to establish its relation with natural law that is common to all people. With this, we could make a critique of the practice of the Law in Islam and magnify what is beautiful in it for the good of the larger society.

Al-Ghazali’s Ethics and Natural Law Theory

2021

Natural Law Theory' can refer to either a theory of law or a theory of morality. The two are at least logically independent. For instance, one might adopt a natural law theory of law, asserting a special relationship between legal authority and moral principles, while also opposing natural law as a moral theory by holding that moral principles are rooted ultimately in cultural convention. Conversely, one might hold a natural law theory of morality, while denying any special relationship between that and positive law or legal authority. While it is questionable whether the distinction has any practical relevance here, this chapter will focus on the compatibility between the thought of Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (1058-1111), and the dimension of natural law pertaining to morality and moral epistemology. Specifically, we will examine to what extent we can accurately describe his moral theory as a natural law theory. In his extensive study on Islamic natural law theories, Anver Emon (2010) has identified a 'soft natural law' operative in Ghazali's theory of