Overview

Loosely translated as principles of Islamic jurisprudence, usul al-fiqh is the legal theory that underpins Islamic positive law and practical ethics. The book Usul ash-Shashi is a primer on legal theory according to the Hanafi School of Law. The original title of the text was Al-Khamsin fi Usul al-Din due to the author either writing it at the age of 50 or completing it within 50 days. It is widely favoured and accepted in the darse niazmi syllabus of South Asian seminaries and their sister institutions outside of the Asian Subcontinent.. The translation and coursebook will appeal to a wide readership in particular to elementary students of Islamic law and to those that are interested in legal theory.

About the author:

The book has been attributed to Nizam al-Din al-Shashi who passed away in the 7th or 8th century AH (11/12th century CE). Little is known about the author, however some of the discussions in the text only appear in Hanafi texts around that time and commentaries of it appear in the 8th century AH. The author hails from Shash which is part of modern-day Uzbekistan.

About the text:

A special coursebook translated by Tahir Kiani and edited by Bilal Brown has been created which is available to purchase here.

Course Structure – How students will be taught:

The coursebook is divided into eight units and we will cover each unit in 2 or 3 lessons maximum, each lesson will be structured to last between 45-60 minutes. Active discussions will be encouraged to help absorb and contextualise the contents, making it easier for its practical application. Some level of Arabic is preferred and a level of prior study in jurisprudence. Prospective students will be expected to make their own (brief) notes on key points of the lesson as emphasis, at this stage, is placed more upon the correct understanding of this science, rather than on note-taking. There will be no examination on this course.

Topics covered

Unit 1: Types of coined rulings in Islamic law.

Unit 2: How we understand the language of the Quran and Hadith and the purports of words in Arabic. This is by far the most important, detailed, and also difficult unit.

Unit 3: Types of reports transmitted from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and what is acceptable for practice.

Unit 4: Scholarly Consensus (ijma).

Unit 5: The obligations of the mujtahid and analogy (Qiyas).

Unit 6: Other types of evidence.

Unit 7: Reasons for legal commands.

Unit 8: Impediments preventing the effective cause and ruling.