Legal Jurisprudence
Objectives:
The Fiqh & Usul-ul-Fiqh classes are designed to allow students to embark on a legacy of scholarship and a study of high esteem. It deals with the primary sources of Islamic Law, the Quran & Sunnah, their characteristics and methods of deriving legal rulings from them. You will learn about key principles and vocabulary in the field so as to give you a more nuanced scope of Shariah and how rulings are categorized: ‘Am (general), Khas (particular), Mutlaq (Absolute) and Muqayyad (qualified), Haqiqi (literal), and Majazi (metaphorical). Students will also discuss secondary sources of law, i.e. Ijma’ (scholarly consensus) & Qiyas (analogical deduction), and many other matters pertaining to Ijtihad (application of reason and critical thinking to law) as well as issues relating to ‘Urf (custom) and its effect on the law. You will also learn the actual fiqh rulings in ‘Ibadat & Mu’amalat for the Shafi’i & Hanafi Madhhabs, as well as some of the proofs and interpretive principles used to derive the rules.
Outcomes:
- Obtain adequate knowledge of the sources of Shari’ah that regulate a Mukallaf (legally responsible person)
- Obtain knowledge of the rules of interpretation
- Be able to ascertain the methods of juristic deduction and inference thereby comparing weakness in ijtihad and give preference to that which is in close harmony with the primary text
Discipline-Specific Skills:
- Gain understanding of primary sources and methods of extracting guidance from them
- Gain access to process of deriving rulings through a study of juristic principles
- Obtain a historic overview of legal interpretation and processes of ijtihad
Textbooks Slated:
- Waraqat Imam al-Haramayn by Imam al-Juwayni
- Al-Mustasfa min ‘Ilm al-Usul by Imam al-Ghazzali
- Matn al-Ghayah by Qadi Abu Shuja (Shafi’i Fiqh)
- Matn al-Quduri by Imam al-Quduri (Hanafi Fiqh)
- Minhaj al-Talibin wal ‘Umdat al-Muftin by Imam al-Nawawi
- Bidayat al-Mujtahid by Ibn Rushd