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Philosophy and Fundamentals of Sharī’ah for Islamic Finance
SHA0011

UNIT 6: PRINCIPLES OF ISLAMIC JURISPRUDENCE (UṢŪL AL-FIQH)

Uṣūl al-Fiqh is the root of Islamic law. It is a method by which the Sharī’ah rulings
are adduced from their sources. The word “Uṣūl al-Fiqh” comprises of two words,
uṣūl and fiqh. The word " Uṣūl al-Fiqh" is the plural of ‘aṣl’ which literally means
root, basis or foundation. On the other hand, fiqh is defined as the knowledge of
the practical rulings of Sharī’ah which are deduced from their respective particular
evidences. Therefore, Uṣūl al-Fiqh denotes the knowledge of the foundation and
methodology by which the rules of fiqh are deduced from their sources.

This definition signifies the importance of Uṣūl al-Fiqh as a definite
prerequisite to derive rulings. Al-Shawkāni has put high emphasis on the
knowledge of Uṣūl al-Fiqh in ijtihād. He quoted al-Fakhr al-Rāzi in al-Maḥṣul
where he stated that Uṣūl al-Fiqh is the most important field of knowledge
to be possessed.

Al-Shātibi summarised the prerequisite of ijtihād into two categories. First,
he must have a complete understanding of objectives of Sharī’ah (Maqāṣid
al-Sharī’ah) and secondly, he must have the ability to extract rulings based
on his understanding. By the second, he refers to the list of sciences that
are listed by other jurists of uṣūl as being pre-conditions of ijtihād. This
elaboration by al-Shāṭibi appears to fully resonate with the requirement of
mastery of Uṣūl al-Fiqh. This demonstrates the importance of Uṣūl al-Fiqh in
the rule making process of Islamic law. The knowledge of the sources would
not only be enough, unless the person knows how to employ these sources
in order to deduce the detail rules of Sharī’ah in certain particular issues.

Sources Process
(
rulings)

( )

Purpose
( Rulings) Person
Lawgiver ( ) (Mujtahid)
The Subject ( ) Mujtahid
The Act ( ) Rules of
The Rulling ( ) al-Fiqh Area of
Muqallid

Diagram 9 : Components of Uṣūl al-Fiqh