The Divine has communicated the sacred law to us through revelation, the Quran and Sunnah. Words, as carriers of meaning, require understanding and, at times, interpretation. In the Islamic scholarly tradition, the principles and art of reliably understanding what God wants of humans is known as usul al-fiqh, or the foundations of jurisprudence.
The science of usul al-fiqh is itself a foundational discipline, one which provides the intellectual and linguistic foundations for the whole process of deriving fiqh primarily from revelatory sources. Without this foundational knowledge, words can appear contradictory; individuals could make unfounded claims about what the Quran or Sunnah is saying; the particular rulings of fiqh become unrooted and seemingly arbitrary without their broader framework; and the very basis of the Islamic tradition and its approach to life can be put into question by proponents of modernism and other ideologies or blameworthy innovations. This is why the study of Islamic law and moral theology (fiqh), by itself, is never enough: the true student of the Islamic scholarly tradition cannot do without the foundational sciences, the primary of which is usul al-fiqh.
In this course, we will study one of the classics of this discipline—namely, the Manar of Imam Abu al-Barakat al-Nasafi. The course will introduce students to the entire range of major questions in usul al-fiqh, with particular attention paid to the principles and tools of linguistic interpretation and hermeneutics.
- المعلم: Shaykh Talal Al-Azem
The Manar of Imam al-Nasafi is one of the most widely studied textbooks in the discipline of usul al-fiqh since it was authored. It has formed the basis of many curricula in Islamic law around the world and throughout history. It successfully introduces the student to all of the fundamental questions of the science, with extensive attention paid to the linguistic interpretation that serves as the basis of all other jurisprudential methods. Students who master this text will find an entire library of commentaries, super-commentaries, and glosses open to them and will be empowered to delve into specific issues in greater depth while remaining clear as to how these issues are connected to broader questions in linguistics, theology (kalam), and law.
This course is suitable for students who have already completed a Level 2 primer in Hanafi usul al-fiqh, such as al-Aqhisari’s Samt al-Wusul, Mukhtasar al-Manar, or Usul al-Shashi and have studied an entire book of fiqh prior to beginning this course. It is deemed an intermediate-level treatment of usul al-fiqh.
- Understanding the sources of Islamic jurisprudence and how the ulema derived rulings therefrom
- Comprehending how language is a vehicle for meaning, the different perspectives from which interpretation is possible, and in what ways an interpretation is deemed invalid or inconsistent with sound hermeneutics
- Perceived how the disagreement between ulema upon some of these foundations underlies or leads to differences between their positions in some of the detailed rulings of fiqh
- Understanding how ijtihad works and how to distinguish valid forms of ijtihad from invalid claims thereto
- Recognize what makes the Hanafi tradition of usul al-fiqh at times distinct from that of the speculative scholastic theologians (al-mutakallimun) and where they are in agreement
The text will give you a good overview and simplified understanding of the principles and the wisdom of legal rulings, mapped out in detail, and hopefully, you will develop a deeper understanding of the vocabulary of the jurists in lucid and simplified Arabic. This is a unique text mapped out in detail and a good breakdown of all the major principles with detailed descriptions and organization.
- المعلم: Mawlana Ilyas Patel
Al-Mujaz Fi Usul al-Fiqh is a detailed and simplified text on the Principles of Jurisprudence that covers many juristic principles, yet simplified and explained in detail. It is taught across many seminaries in place of Nur al-Anwar. As Mufti Taqi Usmani writes in the introduction of the text, it will serve as a good way to memorize the important points of such an important topic. There is no commentary on it as yet.
This course is for those with Arabic proficiency and have covered an intermediate-level text of Usul al-fiqh, like Manar, along with its shorter or more extensive commentaries. This text will act as a revision and mind map for the students to retain and review the key important points easily.
- Understand the wisdom of legal rulings, mapped out in detail
- Develop a deeper understanding of the vocabulary of the jurists in lucid and simplified arabic.
- Appreciate how the Hanafis understood the commands of the Quran, Sunna, Consensus, and Analogy.
