The Formation of Islamic Hermeneutics (original) (raw)
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Ilahiyat Studies, 2011
The hermeneutical aspects of Islamic legal theory (uṣūl al-fiqh), defined by the author of the present book as “the part of legal the-ory that focuses on the analysis and interpretation of the language of a scriptural canon” (p. xiii), has in recent decades been subject of a few significant detail studies, but not of any comprehensive systema-tic treatment. The present book provides a first comprehensive and systematic analysis of the development of Sunnī legal hermeneutics from its origins through the first half of the 5th/11th century, descri-bed by the author as “the formative or preclassical period of Islamic legal hermeneutics.” The classical period, Vishanoff explains, began “in the second half of the 5th/11th century, which witnessed a sudden proliferation of major works that would become enduring points of reference for the discipline by scholars such as Abū l-Walīd al-Bājī, Abū Isḥāq al-Shīrāzī, Abū l-ʿUsr al-Bazdawī, Imām al-Ḥaramayn al-Juwaynī, al-Sarakhsī, al-Ghazālī, Ibn ʿAqīl, and Ibn Barhān” (p. xv).
Bridging the Gap: Two Early Texts of Islamic Legal Theory
This article presents two short but complete treatises on legal theory (uṣūl al-fiqh). The first was written by Ibn Surayj (d. 306/918) as an addendum to his compendium on Shāfiʿī law, al-Wadāʾiʿ, and the second by Abū Bakr al-Khaffāf (fl. early fourth/tenth century), who included it as an introduction to his legal text al-Aqsām wa-l-khiṣāl. An analysis of these texts reveals the existence of a self-conscious legal-theoretical discourse around the turn of the fourth/tenth century that connects al-Shāfiʿī's (d. 204/820) Risāla with the so-called mature uṣūl tradition known from the late fourth/tenth century onward. The analysis also sheds considerable light on developments in legal theory in this period, such as the emergence of the term ʿilla (cause), the parallel rise of legal dialectics (jadal), the consequences of adopting the idea of waḍʿ (linguistic coinage), and generally the inclusion of theological concerns in legal theory.
We come to see that throughout the development of Islamic law, a number of sources and methods were established from which jurists may derive the law. This is very different from the limited view that only the Quran and sunnah (habitual practice) are recognised as the crux of law. The sources and methods go beyond those of the Quran, sunnah, ijma, and qiyas. These 4 sources can be referred to as the roots of law, given their grounding in revealed texts and their status within the law as the foundation of any law making. Aside from these, other methods, such as istihsan (juristic preference), maslahah (public interest), ‘urf (custom), and ijtihad, exist. Together, Islamic law comes to recognise a plethora of sources and methods, which clearly demonstrates its ability to remain flexible and relevant to the modern age. It has long been the view of orientalists such as Schacht that Islamic law is inflexible, but we come to see that the various methods that are available suggest otherwise.
Conflict of law and the methodology of Tarjīẖ : a study in Islamic legal theory
1993
In the treatment of this question, it is useful to identify two major elements in order to draw a proper view of the development of usul al-figh. These two elements are the emergence and the developmental aspects of this science. Only through this historical approach is it possible to gain an understanding of a long-established legal system, that is the Shari `ah, the revealed law of Islam, and to appreciate the issues with which the present work will be concerned later. A. The Emergence of `rim Usul al-figh `Ilm usul al fqh or simply `ilm al-usul or usul al figh or just usul 1, like other sciences and fields of scientific study developed gradually. Although modern scholars have made extensive and valuable contributions to the history of Islamic law in most of its aspects, there remains room for further inquiry and investigation about the early history of usul al figh and its development (particularly of the chronological developments of concepts and doctrines within usul al-figh). 1 The main terms preferred by Muslim bio-bibliographers and historians are the first three terms. Ai-usus, unlike the others, reveals the difficulty of deciding whether it is meant to refer to usul at-figh or to kalam (theology principles) since the same word i. e. al-usul, was also used to describe usul aldin (the principles of religion). The present work however, has used all these terms to indicate usul al-figh. For the principles of religion, the phrase u-: Eul al-din will be adopted. 3 As far as the emergence is concerned, al-Shafi'i (d. 204 A. H.) has been credited with having been the first scholar to write systematically on the subject of usul al figh. Muslim and Western scholars are alike in assigning to al-Shafi'i the role of father of Muslim jurisprudence. 2 However, Abu al-Wafa' al-Afghani in his introduction to Usul al-Sarakhsi has credited Abu Hanifah (d. 150 A. H.), the founder of Hanafi school of law, as the first who spoke about this discipline in his book entitled Kitab al-Ra'y. 3 On the other hand, however, al-Khaib al-Baghdadi believed that Abu Yusuf (d. 182 A. H.) was the first to complete a book on usul atfigh. 4 The same primacy was credited to Imam al-Bagir (d. 114 A. H.) by the Shi'is. 5 Having established that the starting point of Muslim jurisprudence lies in the practice of the late Umayyad period, some Westerns scholars led by Professor Schacht have suggested that usul al figh as a discrete discipline did not exist during the life time of the Prophet or for the greater part of the first century of Hijrah. 6 To this effect, it is said that the Qur'an contains comparatively little legal matter and that which it
The End of Traditional Islamic Jurisprudence in Hermeneutics of Moḥammad Mojtahed Shabestarī
Journal of Shi‘a Islamic Studies, 2017
This article is devoted to the contemporary Shi‘a Iranian religious scholar and thinker Moḥammad Mojtahed Shabestarī (b. 1936) whose daring ideas on the end of Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) in recent years caused a commotion not only among the adherents of the so-called traditional approach to legal methodology (uṣūl-e fiqh) but among Islamic thinkers in general. Educated in a Shi‘a religious ḥouzeh, Shabestarī belongs to an older generation of Iranian clerics who for years now has not been wearing a traditional clerical garment. Although retired from an academic career, the scholar remains active – gives lectures and participates in public meetings at the well-known Tehranian intellectual centre Ḥoseynīye Ershād where he conducts classes on modern hermeneutics and new approaches to Qura’nic exegesis. In recent years, Shabestarī became increasingly critical of the present state of Islamic jurisprudence in Iran and announced the end of fiqh and its methods. Challenging the idea that through the Qur’an, God has provided people with a timeless model of a permanent and universal legal and political system to organise the life of Muslims in every age, Shabestarī called for a change of paradigm in reading sacred scripture based on the adaptation of philosophical hermeneutics and phenomenology. He has also advocated for an endorsement of the philosophy of human rights which he believes is an ‘antidote’ to the current problems within Islam.
Introduction to Islamic Jurisprudence
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 Hanafi School of Islamic Jurisprudence Literature: A Historical Account
Journal of Islamic History and Manuscript, 2023
This article focuses on one of the founding figures of the Sunni school of Islamic jurisprudence who contributed to the development of Islamic law, Abū Hanifah. Studying Abū Hanifah's literature can better understand his thoughts and views on Islamic legal issues. It can also provide greater insight into the history of Islamic thought and how Abū Hanifah's thoughts impact Muslim society today. This study uses the heuristic method with critical literature analysis because the data is obtained from various books, journals, and other documentation relevant to the historical approach. The results of this study state that the Hanafi school of Islamic jurisprudence is one of the famous schools of Islamic jurisprudence in the scientific discipline of Islamic law founded by Abū Hanifah. His background and education strongly influence Abū Hanifah's thinking pattern in determining the law. It is also inseparable from the socio-cultural dimension and the politics that underlie the Hanafi school of Islamic jurisprudence, which is seen as a factor affecting Islamic law's rational character. Literature on studying Islamic law in the Hanafi school of Islamic jurisprudence is widely found and spread worldwide. The school of Islamic jurisprudence is even adopted by one-third of the world's Muslim population. However, remember that some of Abū Hanifah's written works may no longer be available or incomplete. Over time, some manuscripts may be damaged or lost.