From Dr. Muḥammad Ḥasan Hītū’s al-Khulāṣa (with some minor alterations)

Translated by Ali Godil

The science of uṣūl al-fiqh (Islamic legal theory) in its present form was not known in the nascent period of Islam. The Righteous Predecessors, including the Companions, the Successors, and others from the earliest period of Islamic history were not in need of this science, due to their sound linguistic capabilities through which they were able to perceive the principles related to the Arabic language intuitively. Just as they were aware that the subject of a verb is in the nominative case intuitively, they were aware that the relative pronoun “mā” is generally applicable (‘āmm), and that it refers to non-intelligent objects or beings by default usage and refers to intelligent beings figuratively.

This same can be said for all other principles of uṣūl al-fiqh. For instance, the Companions knew with certainty that ijmā‘ (scholarly consensus) and qiyās (analogical reasoning) constitute authoritative legal proofs. They had no need to study the discussions related to the sunna, because there was no medium between them and the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, so they were undoubtedly obliged to act according to whatever they heard from him.

However, after the territorial expansion of the Islamic empire and the subsequent decline of the Arabic language (due to the incorporation of non-Arabic peoples into the Islamic State), the scholars were compelled to formalize the principles of jurisprudence related to the language. Similarly, as the era of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, grew more and more distant, and the prophetic traditions began to be transmitted through the medium of narrators, the scholars saw it necessary to formalize the discussions of usūl related to the sunna, which deal with the status of ḥadīth narrators as well as distinguish authentic material from inauthentic material. These would eventually develop into an independent discipline known as the science of muṣṭalaḥ al-ḥadīth (ḥadīth nomenclature). The same process would take place with all of the religious sciences that would eventually come into existence.

The earliest scholar to author a work in this field was Imām al-Shāfi’ī (d. 206 AH), may Allah be please with him, when he compiled his masterpiece, al-Risāla, which is considered the pioneering work of this discipline. Those who came after him would successively produce works in uṣūl al-fiqh (and they continue to do so), each according to his own methodology, until the field finally reached full maturity, which we observe today in the available books on the topic.

Methods of Authorship in Usūl al-Fiqh

There are two primary approaches to authorship in usūl al-fiqh:

The way of the mutakallimīn (scholastic theologians).

(scholastic theologians). The way of the fuqahā (jurists)

A. The Way of the Mutakallimīn

This is the approach of the vast majority of Islamic legal theorists, including those affiliated with the Mālikī, Shāfi‘ī, and Ḥanbalī schools of jurisprudence, as well as other non-Ḥanafī scholars. Those who adopted this approach were mainly concerned with precisely formulating the topics of uṣūl, laying down its rules and principles, and providing reasoning for them, without delving into particular legal rulings. Particular legal rulings (furū‘) were secondary to the principles of jurisprudence and dependent on them, and not vice versa.

B. The Way of the Fuqahā

This is the approach of the Ḥanafī scholars to authorship in the field of usūl. According to this method, the principles of jurisprudence are derived from the individual legal rulings of the founder of the school and his close students. Abū Ḥanīfa (d. 150), may Allah have mercy on him, as well as his students (primarily Abū Yūsuf and Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan), dictated their rulings to their students and had them compiled. These rulings were issued based on legal principles present in the minds of the jurists, but the principles themselves were not formally collected in book form. When later scholars affiliated with Abū Ḥanīfā’s school wished to gather the legal principles he adhered to in formulating his body of jurisprudence, they did not find them compiled in written form. They only came across his individual rulings.

Through examining these individual rulings, these scholars managed to derive the legal principles to which he adhered. According to their approach, the principles of jurisprudence were secondary to the rulings of the imāms of the school and dependent on them. Due to this, their method was called the way of the jurists, as opposed to the scholastic theologians who did not examine the rulings of their imāms. Rather, they would look at the legal principle first and would then derive rulings based on said principle.

However, this was only applicable to the primary stages of the compilation of uṣūl. As for today, a Ḥanafī jurist seeking to perform ijtihād in a particular legal issue will undoubtedly extract his ruling based on the principles formalized by the legal theorists of his school.

Most Significant Works Authored According to the Way of the Mutakallimīn

As mentioned previously, following Imām al-Shāfi‘ī, scholars authored works in the field one after another, each according to his own method. Some of them wrote encyclopedic works, whereas others wrote brief texts. Some wrote about all of the topics of the science, whereas others only focused on one topic.

The seminal works of uṣūl according to the way of the mutakallimīn are the following:

al-‘Umad, by Qāḍī ‘Abd al-Jabbār al-Hamadānī (d. 415) al-Mu‘tamad, by Abū al-Ḥusayn al-Baṣrī (d. 436) al-Burhān, by Imām al-Ḥaramayn Abū al-Ma‘ālī al-Juwaynī (d. 478) al-Muṣtaṣfā, by Ḥujjat al-Islām Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī (d. 505)

Two great imāms took up the task of merging the contents of these four texts and abridging them:

Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī (d. 606), who merged their contents and summarized them in his renowned work, al-Maḥṣūl. Sayf al-Dīn al-‘Āmidī (d. 631), who merged their contents and summarized them in his work, al-Iḥkām fī Uṣūl al-Aḥkām.

Al-Maḥṣūl is distinguished by its systematic arrangement and chaptering, as well as brevity in providing the reasoning supporting legal principles.

Al-Iḥkām is distinguished by its copious mention of the reasoning supporting legal principles, as well possible objections raised against this reasoning and detailed rebuttals to said objections.

Numerous abridgments were written on these two works. The most famous abridgments of al-Maḥṣūl and al-Iḥkām respectively are Qāḍī al-Bayḍāwi’s (d. 685) al-Minhāj and ibn al-Ḥājib’s (d. 646) Mukhtaṣar al-Muntahā. These two texts are considered to be among the most popular short texts in the field of uṣūl. One after another, great scholars of the field continued to write commentaries and marginal glosses on these texts, to the extent that their total commentaries numbered in the hundreds, and students of the religious sciences across the globe devoted themselves to studying them and committing them to memory.

Most Significant Works Authored According to the Way of the Fuqahā

The most significant works according to the way of the jurists are the following:

al-Fuṣūl fī al-Uṣūl, by al-Jaṣṣāṣ (d. 380) Taqwīm al-Adilla, by al-Dabūsī (d. 430) al-Wuṣūl ilā Ma‘rifat al-Uṣūl, by al-Bazdawī (d. 483) Uṣūl al-Sarakhsī, by al-Sarakhsī (d. 490) One of the most important short texts, one that has enjoyed immense attention in terms of being taught, studied, and being the subject of numerous commentaries, is al-Manār, by Abū al-Barakāt al-Nasafī (d. 710).

A number of later scholars from both schools authored works in uṣūl combining both the method of the mutakallimīn and that of the fuqahā.

Most Significant Works Combining Both Methods

1. Jam‘ al-Jawāmi‘, by Tāj al-Dīn al-Subkī (d. 771), who is one of the senior scholars of the Shāfi’ī school of jurisprudence. He mentions in the introduction to this text that he summarized its contents from one hundred different works. It has been the subject of numerous commentaries, and its importance is clear to any student of the science of uṣūl. 2. al-Taḥrīr, by Kamāl al-Dīn ibn al-Humām (d. 861), who is one of the imāms of the Ḥanafī school. This text is characterized by its concise expressions and precise wording.

Anyone wanting to acquire more information about this disciple should refer to my book, al-Wajīz fī Uṣūl al-Tashrī‘, al-Shīrazī Ḥayātuhū wa Uṣūluhū, and the introductions to al-Mankhūl and al-Tamhīd.