Lessons In Usool And Fiqh From Various Madhahib (legal schools

of Jurisprudence)
05/02/2009

The benefits of the study of Usul al Fiqh are many. From a study of Usul, we come to know
the methods of interpretations of the Quran and Sunnah, all the secondary sources of

Islamic law, the views on Usul of major scholars of the past and present, the rules of Qiyas
and other methods of Ijtihad, the history of development of Islamic law and legal theory. All
these make anybody who studies Usul cautious in approach to Islamic law. He develops

respect for the methodology of past masters and becomes aware of the need to follow rules

in the matters of deduction of new rules of Islamic law. The principal objective of Usul is to
regulate Ijtihad and guide the jurist in his effort at deducing the law from the sources.
Primarily Usul al Fiqh deals with the sources or roots (Adillah) of Islamic law and the law
itself. Usul al Fiqh (Usul is plural of Asl) the bases or roots of Islamic Law, expound the

methods by which Fiqh (detail Islamic law) is derived from their sources. In this view, Usul
is the methodology and the Fiqh is the product. Historically, there have been two dominant
paradigms in approaching usul al-fiqh:

The first approach involves discovering an Imams principles by analyzing his legal

decisions.The second approach involves setting down legal principles from which legal
decisions are derived. Both approaches prove the preponderance of their principles using
Quran; sunnah; precedence from the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), his
Companions (Allah be pleased with them) and the righteous forbears; linguistics; and
logical.
The first approach is known as the way of the fuqaha, and it is an approach
popularized by the Hanafis. The second approach is known as the way of the mutakallimin,
and it was first systematically formulated by Imam al-Shafi`i but is also followed by the
Malikis and
Hanbalis. There is a third approach that follows a path between the preceding two
approaches.

By Yahya Ibrahim