Usul-ul-Fiqh
Objectives:
The 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.
The book, which is a very famous Matn in Usul al-Fiqh of Qadhi al-Baydawi, is actually a summary of 7 of the major references in the Ussul (al-Muhsul of ar-Razi, Al-Husul of Al-Armawi, Mustasfa of al-Ghazali, al-Mu'tamad of Abul-Hassan al-Basri...).
Students will also learn the authentic understanding of the term Bidah and its principles.
Outcomes:
- Gain understanding of the term Bidah and its principles.
- Apply traditional usul al-fiqh to the modern era
- Confidently recall the position of the Shafi school of thought on different usuli principles
- Understand the origins of the differences in the schools of Islamic law
Textbooks Slated:
- Usul ul-Baydawi (Shafi Principles of Fiqh) by Imam al-Baydawi
- Usul ul-Bidda'h by Shaykh Ninowy