Knowra Usul al-fiqh Usul al-fiqh Usul al-fiqh is the discipline that studies the principles and methods for deriving Islamic legal rulings from their sources. It explains how jurists interpret evidence and reason about cases.
Qur'an : The central religious text of Islam, regarded by Muslims as divine revelation to Muhammad. It is the primary textual source whose language and authority legal theory examines.
Fiqh : The human understanding of Islamic law and the practical rulings derived by Muslim jurists. Fiqh is the body of rulings that usul al-fiqh explains how to derive.
Al-Shafi'i : An eighth- and ninth-century Muslim jurist who founded the Shafi'i school and authored an influential work on legal theory. His Risala is an early systematic treatment of legal sources and methods.
Istislah : A method of legal reasoning that recognizes public interest as a basis for rulings when texts do not specify a rule. Its appeal to welfare contrasts with stricter limits on independent juristic reasoning.
Sunnah : The reported teachings, actions, and approvals of Muhammad, which guide Muslim belief and practice. Legal theory establishes how prophetic reports function as evidence alongside the Qur'an.
Sharia : The divinely grounded path of Islam, encompassing religious and ethical guidance as well as law. It is the broader normative framework that juristic interpretation seeks to understand.
Al-Risala : A treatise by al-Shafi'i that sets out arguments about legal evidence, prophetic reports, consensus, and analogy. It offers a canonical early account of the questions that became usul al-fiqh.
Istishab : A presumption that an existing state or rule continues unless evidence establishes a change. It supplies a default where proof is absent, rather than deriving a rule by analogy.
Ijma : The agreement of qualified Muslim jurists on a legal ruling, treated as authoritative in many legal theories. It is a major source whose scope and conditions jurists must define.
Hadith : A report describing Muhammad's words, actions, or approvals, transmitted through a chain of narrators. Hadith criticism helps determine which reports can serve as legal evidence.
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