Sources of Shariah (Usul al-Fiqh)
Usul al-Fiqh (the principles of jurisprudence) is the discipline that identifies the sources of Islamic law and the methods of deriving rulings from them. The classical schema, agreed by al-Shafi'i in his Risala (c. 820 CE), recognises four primary sources — Quran, Sunnah, Ijma and Qiyas — supplemented by several secondary principles whose authority varies among schools.
The divine law of Islam, encompassing belief, worship, ethics and conduct, drawn from revealed sources (Quran and Sunnah) and the human science of interpretation (fiqh). The Arabic root sh-r-‘ denotes 'a path leading to water' — a guide to life.
The Quran
The Quran is the literal word of God, revealed to Prophet Muhammad ﷺ between 610 and 632 CE in Arabic. It comprises 114 surahs (chapters) and approximately 6,236 verses (ayat). The legal content is concentrated in roughly 500 verses ("ayat al-ahkam"), addressing:
- Worship (
ibadat) — prayer, fasting, zakat, pilgrimage. - Family (
munakahat) — marriage, divorce, inheritance (e.g. 4:11 on shares of children). - Commercial transactions (
mu‘amalat) — sales, debts, partnership. - Criminal matters (
uqubat) — hudood, qisas, diyat. - Constitutional and procedural — consultation, evidence, justice.
The Quran's legal verses fall into qat‘i (definitive) and zanni (probabilistic) categories. Definitive verses (e.g. 2:228 on iddah, 4:11 on inheritance) admit no interpretation; probabilistic verses are subject to ijtihad.
The Sunnah
The Sunnah is the recorded sayings (qawl), actions (fi‘l) and tacit approvals (taqrir) of the Prophet ﷺ. It is preserved in Hadith collections, of which the most authoritative (Sihah Sittah — the Six Authentic Collections) are:
| Collection | Compiler | Year (CE) |
|---|---|---|
| Sahih al-Bukhari | Imam al-Bukhari (d. 870) | c. 846 |
| Sahih Muslim | Imam Muslim (d. 875) | c. 855 |
| Sunan Abu Dawud | Abu Dawud (d. 889) | c. 875 |
| Jami al-Tirmidhi | al-Tirmidhi (d. 892) | c. 884 |
| Sunan al-Nasa'i | al-Nasa'i (d. 915) | c. 900 |
| Sunan Ibn Majah | Ibn Majah (d. 887) | c. 870 |
Sunnah elucidates the Quran, restricts its general provisions, specifies its absolute statements, and supplies rulings on matters not in the text — Quran 53:3–4 legitimises the Sunnah ("Nor does he speak from desire — it is naught but a revelation that is revealed").
- Hadith classification by authenticity: sahih (sound), hasan (good), da‘if (weak), mawdu (fabricated).
- By chain: mutawatir (mass-transmitted, definitive), mashhur (well-known), ahad (solitary).
- By matn (text): qudsi (Prophet quoting God), marfu, mauquf, maqtu.
- The first major collection — al-Muwatta of Imam Malik (c. 765) — predates the Six Books.
Ijma (Consensus)
Ijma is the unanimous agreement of qualified Muslim jurists of a particular era on a legal ruling after the death of the Prophet ﷺ. Its authority rests on:
- Quran 4:115: "Whosoever opposes the Messenger after guidance has become clear to him, and follows other than the path of the believers — We shall let him pursue what he has chosen and shall expose him to Hell..."
- The hadith: "My ummah will not agree upon an error" (Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah).
Types: sarih (express consensus) and sukuti (tacit). Schools differ on whether ijma requires consensus of the entire ummah or just the mujtahideen of the age. Modern reformers note the practical difficulty of universal ijma and emphasise collective ijtihad through institutions like the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) in Pakistan.
Qiyas (Analogical Reasoning)
Qiyas is the extension of a ruling from an original case (asl) to a new case (far‘) on the basis of a common effective cause (illah). The classic example: prohibition of khamr (wine) in Quran 5:90 is extended to all intoxicants via qiyas — the illah being intoxication.
Conditions of valid qiyas:
- The original case has a textual basis.
- The ruling can be rationalised.
- The illah is identifiable, consistent and appropriate.
- The new case is not specifically covered by text.
Imam Abu Hanifa developed extensive qiyas; the Zahiri school (Ibn Hazm) rejected it; the Hanbali and Shafi‘i schools accept it cautiously.
Secondary sources
The schools accept different secondary tools:
| Tool | Description | Schools relying |
|---|---|---|
| Istihsan | Juristic preference; departure from analogy for a stronger reason | Hanafi |
| Istislah / Maslaha mursala | Public welfare consideration | Maliki, Shafi‘i (limited) |
| Sadd al-dhara'i | Blocking the means to evil | Maliki, Hanbali |
| Urf / Adat | Custom — admissible if compatible with Shariah | Hanafi, Maliki |
| Istishab | Presumption of continuity until contrary proved | All schools |
| Qawl al-sahabi | Opinion of a Companion | Hanafi, Hanbali |
| Shar‘ man qablana | Pre-Islamic divine law | Limited |
For CSS Muslim Law, structure source questions in the order Quran → Sunnah → Ijma → Qiyas, citing one Quranic verse and one hadith for each. Mention al-Shafi‘i's Risala as the foundational text of usul al-fiqh. For "modern ijtihad," cite Iqbal's Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam (1930), Lecture VI.
Ijtihad and taqlid
Ijtihad is the exhaustive juristic effort to derive a ruling from the sources. Taqlid is following an established ruling without independent investigation. Following Imam Suyuti (d. 1505) and Shah Waliullah Dehlawi (d. 1762), classical Sunni scholars debated whether the "gate of ijtihad" had closed; most reformers — Muhammad Abduh, Rashid Rida, Iqbal — argued it remained open.
In Pakistan, ijtihad is institutionalised through the Council of Islamic Ideology (Articles 228–230 of the 1973 Constitution) and the Federal Shariat Court (Article 203D). Notable rulings include the CII Report on Hudood Laws (2007) and the FSC judgment in Hazoor Bakhsh v. Federation PLD 1981 FSC 145 on Rajm (stoning).
Foundational texts
- al-Risala by Imam al-Shafi‘i (c. 820 CE) — first systematic usul al-fiqh.
- al-Mustasfa by al-Ghazali (c. 1110).
- al-Muwafaqat by al-Shatibi (d. 1388) — theory of maqasid al-shariah.
- Hidaya by al-Marghinani (d. 1197) — Hanafi furu' classic, foundational in Indian/Pakistani courts.
- Fatawa Alamgiri (c. 1675) — compendium of Hanafi rulings compiled under Aurangzeb.
- Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam by Allama Muhammad Iqbal (1930) — modern Muslim philosophy of law.