Islamic Economics: Annotated Sources in English and Urud Vol. 4
Sources of Islamic Law Muneer
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Sources of Islamic Law Around the turn of the 8 th century, a difference in legal approach arose amongst Islamic thinkers as to how legal matters in Islam would be assessed. The traditionalists (hadith) relied solely on the Quran and the Sunnah (traditions) of the Prophet. Such a prevailing thought emanated from Medina. The non-traditional approach relied on the free use of reasoning and opinion in the absence of reliable hadiths, and this emanated from Iraq. The reason for the difference in technique is that in Medina, there was an abundance of reliable hadiths that scholars could depend them. In Iraq, the sources that were available were not as reliable as in Medina. Therefore, a hadith narrated by Imam Malik (from Medina) was more reliable than by Abu Hanifa (from Iraq) who had to use analogy in the absence of reliable hadith. Muhammad al-Shafi (died. 819) was concerned about a common methodology for all schools of Islamic law. His efforts resulted in the systemization of al-fiqh, the following four sources of Islamic law: 1. the Quran 2. tradition of the Prophet; 3. Qiyas or analogies; 4. ijma or unanimous agreement. The Qur'an Here is a plain statement to mankind, a guidance and instruction to those who fear Allah (3:138). The Quran addressed those issues and tried to replace old tribal customs with better reforms. For example, the Quran rejected customs such as idolatry, gambling, liquor, usury, etc. It also improved the status of women by proclaiming women's equality to men and providing women with rights in the areas of marriage, divorce and inheritance, which was never given to the women in Arabia before. The sharia or foundations of Islamic law, are derived from specific verses of the Quran. Much of the Quranic matter consists mainly of general moral directives as to what the aims and aspirations of Muslims should be. There have been so many different interpretations of the Quran that is difficult to sometimes know its true
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Transcript of Sources of Islamic Law Muneer
Sources of Islamic LawAround the turn of the 8th century, a difference in legal approach arose amongst Islamic thinkers as to how legal matters in Islam would be assessed. The traditionalists (hadith) relied solely on the Quran and the Sunnah (traditions) of the Prophet. Such a prevailing thought emanated from Medina. The non-traditional approach relied on the free use of reasoning and opinion in the absence of reliable hadiths, and this emanated from Iraq. The reason for the difference in technique is that in Medina, there was an abundance of reliable hadiths that scholars could depend them. In Iraq, the sources that were available were not as reliable as in Medina. Therefore, a hadith narrated by Imam Malik (from Medina) was more reliable than by Abu Hanifa (from Iraq) who had to use analogy in the absence of reliable hadith. Muhammad al-Shafi (died. 819) was concerned about a common methodology for all schools of Islamic law. His efforts resulted in the systemization of al-fiqh, the following four sources of Islamic law:1. the Quran2. tradition of the Prophet;3. Qiyas or analogies;4. ijma or unanimous agreement.
The Qur'anHere is a plain statement to mankind, a guidance and instruction to those who fear Allah (3:138). The Quran addressed those issues and tried to replace old tribal customs with better reforms. For example, the Quran rejected customs such as idolatry, gambling, liquor, usury, etc. It also improved the status of women by proclaiming women's equality to men and providing women with rights in the areas of marriage, divorce and inheritance, which was never given to the women in Arabia before.
The sharia or foundations of Islamic law, are derived from specific verses of the Quran. Much of the Quranic matter consists mainly of general moral directives as to what the aims and aspirations of Muslims should be. There have been so many different interpretations of the Quran that is difficult to sometimes know its true understanding and meaning directly. This however is an ongoing challenge for scholars to this day. Only the Holy Prophet had the right understanding of the Quran and its interpretations. Sunnah of the ProphetYou have indeed in the Apostle of Allah a beautiful pattern of conduct for anyone whose hope is in Allah and the Final Day (33:21). As the last messenger of Allah, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) brought the Quranic teachings to life through his interpretation and implementation as leader of the Muslim community. The Sunnah of the Prophet generally means the sayings of the Prophet; his deeds; and his approval of certain acts which he had knowledge of. The record of the Prophet's words and deeds were recorded in narrative hadiths by his immediate companions and scribes. These Reports were transmitted before finally being compiled decades after the death of the Prophet. In the first centuries of Islam, it should be stressed that the Prophet was no other than a human interpreter of the divine revelation; he was the best interpreter of the Quran and as such was the ultimate starting-point of the Islamic Sunnah.Qiyas or analogyThe third source of law, Qiyas, is reasoning by analogy. The reason of the Islamic rule must be clear. For example, because the Quran clearly explains the reason that consumption of alcohol is prohibited because it has an intoxicating effect on the person, an analogy can be drawn to drugs which induce the same affect. But because the Quran does not specifically state the reason why pork is haram, Muslims cannot justify banning another meat product with a similar cholesterol level. The use of analogies varied among scholars; for example, Spain's Ibn Hazm (10th century) rejected the use of Qiyas, whereas Imam Abu Hanifa of the Hanafi school (8th century) applied them.Ijma or unanimous agreementIjma constitutes a unanimous agreement of a group of scholars on a specific issue in the Shafi's methodology. If questions about a Quranic interpretation cannot be assessed by hadiths or the Quran, scholars apply their own reasoning to come to an interpretation. Looking back in time at the evolved consensus of the scholars, it could be concluded that an ijma of scholars had been reached on this issue. Because ijma is not simply the consensus based on past scholars, the concept of ijma poses the problem of having to look to the past to solve the problems of the future, and previous scholars didn't can never address the same issues that are challenging Muslims today in a different mode of living.
