The Islamic Reformulations Project:
Islamic Reformulations is a three-‐year Global Uncertainties Leadership Fellowship (GULF), funded by Research Councils UK and administered by the Economic and Social Research Council. The Fellowship, awarded to Professor Robert Gleave of the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter, aims to explore how Muslim thought has developed in the modern period, and how these modern developments relate to the pre-‐modern tradition of Islamic thought. The project focuses on the interlinked themes of belief, governance and violence.
Beginning in September 2012, Islamic Reformulations runs until February 2016. The project is led by Robert Gleave; the project's full-‐time research fellow was Dr Mustafa Baig. The project continues and develops the LIVIT Project (Legitimate and illegitimate Violence in Islamic Thought), which ran from 2010 to 2013, and was also funded under the RCUK Global Uncertainties programme.
This conference, a collaboration with Istanbul University, forms the last of its major activities.
For more information see www.islamicformulations.net
The faculty of theology of Istanbul University is located in
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ReformulationandHermeneutics:ResearchingtheHistoryofIslamicLegalTheory,IstanbulUniversity
21st-24thFebruary2016.
SupportedbyFacultyofTheology,IstanbulUniversity
IslamicReformulationsproject,InstituteofArabandIslamicStudies,UniversityofExeter
ConferenceProgramme
Sunday21stFebruary201619.00WelcomeandEveningMealDaruzziyafeRestaurant,Suleymaniye
Monday22ndFebruary2016
Day1:09.00:OpeningRemarks:ProfessorsMahmutAk(RectorofIstanbulUniversity),MurtezaBedir(DeanoftheFacultyofTheology,IstanbulUniversity)andRobertGleave(DirectoroftheIslamicReformulationsproject,UniversityofExeter)09.30:PanelA:SituatingUṣūl
Zysow,Aron(IndependentScholar,Boston):“Causalanalogy(qiyāsal-ʿilla):ahistoricaloverview.”
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Reinhart,Kevin(Dartmouth)"PunctualityandLaxity:DeferredPerformanceofRitualObligationsinUṣūlītheory"
11.10:Coffee/tea11.40PanelB:Thescienceofuṣūl
Opwis,Felicitas(Georgetown):BetweenMaqāṣidal-SharīʿaandTashrīʿIslāmī:IbnʿĀshūr’sNavigationoftheSecondaryRulesofLaw,Fatemi,SeyedMohammed(ShahidBeheshtiUniversity,Tehran):“ConjecturalCertainty:ShiiteEpistemicTheoryofInsidādrevisited”
13.20LunchAfternoon:SuleymaniyeManuscriptLibraryTour16.30PanelC:Theemergenceofuṣūl
Vishanoff,David(Oklahoma):“TheStructureandCompositionofal-Shāfiʿī’sRisāla:ThreeBooks,ThreeOutlines,ThreeArguments.”Stewart,Devin(Emory):“HadithReportsthatPresentOrderedListsofUṣūlandTheirImplicationsfortheEarlyHistoryofUṣūlal-Fiqh”
18.10Concludingremarks,Day1(RobertGleave):Close20.00AziyadeRestaurant,PierreLotiHill
Tuesday23rdFebruary2016
Day2:09.30:PanelD:Maturinguṣūl
Temel,Ahmet(IstanbulUniversity):MadhhabandUṣūlal-fiqh:DeterminingSchoolIdentityinUṣūlal-fiqhintheExampleofal-Nāṭiq’sal-Mujzī,Morvarid,Mahmoud(IPM,Tehran):"RationalExemptionvs.RationalCaution:OnaContemporaryDebateinShiiteUṣūl"
11.10-11.40:Coffee/tea
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Bedir,Murteza(Istanbul):“Overemphasizingtheroleofuṣūlal-fiqh:Ijtihāddebatesanduṣūlal-fiqh”
12.30Lunch14.00PanelE:Contestedmodernuṣūlal-fiqh
Ozen,Sukru(IstanbulUniversity):“AbūMansūral-Māturīdī'sConceptoftheBayān"El-Shamsy,Ahmed(Chicago):"Continuityandruptureinfourth/tenth-centurylegaltheory”
15.40Tea/Coffee16.10PanelF:Language
Chaumont,Eric(Aix-Marseilles):"Al-Bāqillānīvs.Taqlīd:Anotherpeculiarityofal-Bāqillānī'slegaltheory"Qazwini,SayedHossein(IslamicSeminary,Karbala):"DidIbnIdrīsal-Hillīendtheeraoftaqlīdafteral-Shaykhal-Ṭūsī?"
1750Concludingremarks,Day2(RobertGleave):Close1900EveningMeal:BaltalimaniRestaurant,Bosphorus
Wednesday24thFebruary2016Day3
0930PanelG:Reason
Gleave,Robert(Exeter):“SomethingandNothing:AssumingNo-assessmentand/orLicitnessinclassicalShīʿīuṣūlal-fiqh"Schwarb,Gregor(Berlin):“Muʿtazilīuṣūlal-fiqhattheserviceofinner-Jewishpolemics."
11.10MuseumTour(includinglunch)14.30PanelH:Language
Adang,Camilla(TelAviv):“IbnḤazm'sdiscussionofDalīlal-khiṭābinal-Iḥkāmfīuṣūlal-aḥkām”Cohen,Mordechai(YeshivaUniversity,NewYork):
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“Adaptationsofuṣūlal-fiqhbytwoRabbaniteJewishthinkersinal-Andalus,MosesIbnEzra(AbūHārūnMūsābinYaʿaqūbibnEzra)andMosesMaimonides(MūsāibnMaymūn)”
1610:Closingremarks:RobertGleaveandMurtezaBedir16.20Tea/Coffee17.00PublicSession:ThefuturestudyofIslamicLegalTheory18.30Close19.30ConferenceDinner
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ReformulationandHermeneutics:ResearchingtheHistoryofIslamicLegalTheory,IstanbulUniversity
21st-24thFebruary2016.Supportedby
FacultyofTheology,IstanbulUniversityIslamicReformulationsproject,
InstituteofArabandIslamicStudies,UniversityofExeter
ABSTRACTS(Inalphabeticalorder)
NB:Noattempthasbeenmadetostandardisethetransliterationintheseabstracts.
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Adang,CamillaIbnḤazm'sdiscussionofDalīlal-khiṭābinal-Iḥkāmfīuṣūlal-aḥkām
Inhismajorworkofuṣūlal-fiqh,al-Iḥkāmfīuṣūlal-aḥkām--whichsofarhasnotreceivedthescholarlyattentionitdeserves--the well-known Ẓāhirī legal scholar and theologian Ibn Ḥazm ofCordoba (d. 456/1064) presents a detailed refutation ofhermeneuticmechanismslikeqiyās,raʾy,istiḥsān,taʿlīlandtaqlīd,all of which he rejects as arbitrary methods that cannot lead tocertainknowledgeofGod'slaw.Asubstantialsectionoftheworkisdevotedtoacritiqueofdalīlal-khiṭāb,alsoknownasmafhūmal-mukhālafa or counterimplication, which can be defined as "theimplicationofameaningthatrepresentstheconverseofanexplicitmeaning"(Weiss2010:482).Regardedasakindofqiyās,itiseasytoseewhythismethodwouldbeunacceptabletoIbnḤazm,whosemainguidingprinciplewashiscommitment,whereverpossible,totheexternalsenseoftBedirherevealedtext.Thepaperwilldiscussa number of examples ofdalīl al-khiṭāb andhighlight IbnḤazm'smethodofinvalidatingit.
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Bedir,MürtezaOver-EmphasizingtheRoleofUsulal-fiqh:ANewUsulal-fiqh?19thCenturyReformsinMuslimSocietiestransformedthemethodoffiqhinaradicalway.BeginningwithMecellethemethodoffiqhincreasingly put the emphasis on changing circumstances andexigenciesofmodernage.Onparticiparthechallengesofmodernityaltered theway theMuslim juristsdealwith theopinionsofpastmasters. The thousand year-old madhhab-based approach wasabandonedforabroaderandmoreinclusiveapproachthatusedtheopinions of the past masters as an open source for solving
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contemporaryproblems.Usulal-fiqhrespondingtothischangeinlegal practice has been conceived as a forward-lookingmethodologicaldisciplinethatwouldenableanewijtihadinordertomeetthechallengesofmodernity,justasitdidintheformativeperiodoffiqh.Thispapershallhighlightthechanges inthewaythenewusulal-fiqh is perceived by the modern Muslim legal thought. Morespecifically it is argued newusul al-fiqh is designed toprovide abasisforthenewfiqhbyshiftingtheemphasisfromthehukm-partofamas’alahash-shar‘iyyatoitsdalil-part.
Cohen,MordechaiAdaptationsofuṣūlal-fiqhbytwoRabbaniteJewishthinkersinal-Andalus,MosesIbnEzra(AbūHārūnMūsābinYaʿaqūbibnEzra)andMosesMaimonides(MūsāibnMaymūn)
Recent scholarship reveals the extent to which MosesMaimonides(1138-1204)drewuponMuslimjurisprudence(uṣūlal-fiqh) to develop his bold halakhic hermeneutical model thatintegrates Bible exegesis and talmudic halakhah. Given itssophistication,itisnotunreasonabletosupposethatprecedentsforMaimonides’ hermeneutical system had been circulating amongearlierAndalusianJewishscholarswhoadaptedMuslimtheoreticallegaltermsandconceptstodescribethehalakhicprocess.Todate,briefdiscussionsofthisnaturehavebeenidentifiedinthewritingsofBahyaIbnPaquda,Judahha-Leviand,mostrecently,inthenewlydiscovered fragmentarywritingsof theeleventh-centuryGranadadayyanDavidbenSaadiaha-Ger.InthispaperIwouldliketobringtolightsomerelevantremarksbythepoetandliterarycriticMoses
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IbnEzra(c.1055-1138).InhisPoetics,TheBookofDiscussionandConversation, Ibn Ezra compares the intellectual creativity ofprophets and legal scholars. While the prophets employ theiringenuitytorenderGod’smessageinthemostexcellentpoeticandrhetorical format, the legal scholarsactuallyaugment the Lawbyextrapolating new conclusions from what is stated explicitly inscripture—a concept he describes in terms borrow from Islamiclegal theory. In my paper I aim to explore the unique literaryperspectiveonthissubjectbrought tobearbyMoses IbnEzrabycontrastwiththelegal-philosophicalvantagepointofMaimonidesandhishalakhically-orientedAndalusianpredecessors.
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ElShamsy,AhmedContinuityandruptureinfourth/tenth-centurylegaltheory
This paper seeks to make a concrete contribution tobridgingthegapbetweenformativeera legal theoryandclassicaluṣūl al-fiqh by presenting two hitherto little known, very earlytreatisesonlegaltheorywrittenbyIbnSurayj(d.306/918)andal-Khaffāf (fl. fourth/tenth century), respectively.Anexaminationoftheir contents—the topics they cover and the terminology theyuse—shedsnewlightonthecontinuitiesanddiscontinuitiesinthedisciplineoflegaltheoryinitsearlieststages.
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Fatemi,SayedConjecturalcertainty:ShiiteEpistemictheoryofInsidādrevisited1
Introducing insidad argument as an original epistemictheory inShiiteusul,aswellas itshermeneutical implications isthemaintaskofthisarticle.Mystartingpointinitsexaminationis Abulqasem al-Qummi’s proposal, who argues that sinceepistemiccertaintycannotbeobtainedtojustifyShariahnorms,jurists are left with no alternative but to rely upon epistemicconjecture. Ansaari is the most distinguished post Qummiopponentofthe insidadargument;whobelievesinexistenceofsufficient quantity of reliable textual evidences, some ofwhichenjoysstatusofepistemiccertainty,andtherestenjoysupportofcertainty for their validity.Qummi’s ultimate aim is to offer anepistemic justification for reliability of such Shariah sources askhabar al-wahid, as he seems not to be convinced with otherarguments. Yet, the hermeneutical potentials of his theory forreconstruction of Islamic thought seem to be much moreappealing to be ignored by contemporary Shiite reformistthinkers.
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Gleave,RobertSomethingandNothing:AssumingNo-assessmentand/orLicitnessinclassicalShīʿīuṣūlal-fiqh1 S. Mohammad Ghari S. Fatemi, professor of comparative human rights and Islamic legal theory, faculty of Law, Shahid Beheshti university, Tehran, Iran, [email protected]
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Thenotionthatanyaction ispermitteduntilhere isan indication(dalīl)indicatingitisforbidden,orthataobjectispureuntilthereisindicationthatitisrituallyimpure,hasbeenacanonicalelementofuṣūldiscussion.InlateShīʿīuṣūltherewasextensivedebateastowhetherthisprinciple,knownasal-barāʾaal-aṣliyya,constitutedanindication in itself. The famous division was between Akhbārīscholarswho rejected theprinciple, andUṣūlīswhopromoted it.This paper will examine some of the salient themes in thesediscussions up to, and perhaps including, the thought ofMuḥammadBāqiral-Bihbihānī.
*********Morvarid,MahmoudRationalExemptionvs.RationalCaution:OnaContemporaryDebateinShiiteUṣūlal-Fiqh
Theideaofproceduralprinciples(al-uṣūlal-‘amaliyya)hasbeenconsiderablydevelopedinthecontemporaryShiiteuṣūl.Afterexplainingtheideaitself,Ishallproceedtointroduceawell-knowndistinctionbetweentheprimary(orrational)proceduralprinciples,ontheonehand,andthesecondary(orshar‘ī)proceduralprinciples,on the other. In this presentation, I am only concernedwith theformer, that is, primary or rational procedural principles. Thequestionsuchprinciplesareconcernedwithisthat,intheabsenceofanyrelevantḥojja,whichpracticalstanceshouldanagentadoptvis-a-visagivenaction.Twomainanswershavebeenofferedtothisquestion.Mostcontemporaryuṣūlīsadvocatetheso-calledprincipleofrationalexemption(al-barā’atal-‘aqliyya)accordingtowhichtheagentisexemptedfromcomplyingwithadivineobligationwhenhehas no ḥojja for that obligation. The other answer, given byMuḥammadBāqirṢadr,appealstotheideathatGod'srightfulclaim
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toobedienceisextremelyextensive.Consequently,Ṣadrarrivesatthe so-called principle of rational caution (al-iḥtiyāṭ al-‘aqlī)accordingtowhichwheneveranagentlacksanyrelevantḥojja,heought to exercise caution with respect to possible obligations.Recently,ṢādiqLārījānīhascriticizedṢadr'sviewonthegroundthatitsuffersfromaninternalinconsistency.IshallarguethatLārījānī'scriticism fails, although his observations might provide anotherbasisforcriticizingṢadr'sargument.
*********Opwis,FelicitasBetweenMaqāṣidal-SharīʿaandTashrīʿIslāmī:IbnʿĀshūr’sNavigationoftheSecondaryRulesofLaw
The rapidly changing modern environment challengesIslamic lawto incorporate legalchangewithout losing the Islamiccharacter of the law. This challenge involves ensuring that theIslamicprinciplesandmethodsof law-findingareable toaddressunprecedented situations on a larger scale than previously.Furthermore,jurisprudentsfacethequestionofintegratingIslamiclaw into the legal systemof themodern nation-state in order toretain its relevance. The 20th century Tunisian scholar-jurist IbnʿĀshūraddressesthesechallengesbyre-interpretingthesecondaryrules of law, particularly those that determine the correctprocedures of law-finding (rules of recognition). He turns to the‘Purposes of the Law’, the maqāṣid al-sharīʿa, to address bothchallenges.Bysubsumingtheprinciplesoflaw-finding(uṣūlal-fiqh)underthePurposesoftheLaw,healterstheepistemologicalstatusof rulings (aḥkām) and objectives (maqāṣid) and expands theacceptable modes of analogical reasoning. Importantly, he re-definesthescopeofhumanlegalresponsibilitytoexcludethemoraldimension from the legal, thereby envisioning Islamic law to
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functionakintoapositivist legalsystem.Theresult isasystemof‘Islamic legislation’thatemploystraditionalmodesof Islamic law-findinginafashionthatembracesthevaluesofmodernity.
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Özen,ŞükrüAbūManṣūral-Māturīdī’sConceptofBayān
al-Māturīdī (d. 333/944) has come into prominence inrecent timesmoreoften in respect tohisworksand thoughtsontheology(kalām)andQuranicexegesis(tafsīr),andinthathisideaswereelaboratedinmanyworks.However,hewasalsowell-knowninhis timeasal-faqîh, and lateron referred to as ra'īsmashāikhSamarkand, i.e.theleaderofthescholarsinSamarkand,aphrasethat expresses the community of local jurists from Samarkand.Furthermore, al-Māturīdī's tafsīr, Ta'wīlāt al-Qur'ān, serves as animportantsourceforhislegalandmethodologicalthoughtsaswellashistheologicalideas.Thusitwouldbemisleadingtoperceivehimonlyasaprominenttheologian(mutakallim)ormufassir.Oneofthepurposesofthisstudyistocorrectthiscommonmisperception.
Sinceduringtheal-Māturīdī'sera,lotsofconceptswerenotdefinedasinthelaterperiods,hetoucheduponmostofthemintheconceptual level in a descriptive manner some of which can berestatedwiththetermsemergedlater.Actually,hewasoneofthepioneerswhopaved theway for the followingHanafi scholars tosystematizetheSchool'sperceptionofjurisprudentialmethodologyingeneral,andtheconceptofbayāninparticular.
Wecanfindal-Māturīdī'sviewsanddiscussionsabouttheconcept of bayān disseminated in his tafsīr especially during hiscommentaryon theverse89ofal-Nahl, the sixteenth chapterofQuran.al-Māturīdīdealswiththeconceptofbayānfromdifferentaspects. He defines and categorizes it as well as criticizes someviews of earlier scholars such as Imām al-Shāfiī and the Zāhirī
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School. He also deals with the problems that emerged from histheoryofbayān.Nevertheless,wecannotsaythatthesepassagesrepresent all his views on the subject, but comparing to the al-Shāfiī's accounts in the al-Risāla, we can safely argue that al-Māturīdī'saccountsarericherintheircontent.
In this paper, I will try to shed light on the al-Māturīdī'sconcept of bayān analyzing his views in the historical context ofIslamic jurisprudentialmethodologyespeciallywithinthe limitsofhispolemicswithal-ShāfiīandtheZāhirīSchool.Qazwini,SayedHosseinDidIbnIdrisAlHilliendtheeraoftaqlidafterShaykhAlTusi?
ThehundredyearsafterthedeathofShaykhMohammadIbnAlHassanAlTusi iscommonlyknownastheeraoftaqlid,thereason being that this era did not produce innovativemujtahids;rathertheywereallemulatorsofTusi'susuliopinions.
Several reasons have been stated for the academicstagnation inthisperiod.Was it theauthoritativepersonaofTusithatcausedthisdecline inscholarship,orwas itpolitical tensionsandunrest?Werethereotherreasons?Oristhenotionoftaqlidinthis period exaggerated, and that therewere, indeed, innovativemujtahidsinthisperiod?Ourpaperexaminesthisaspect.
Furthermore,whyisIbnIdrisAlHilliconsideredamujadidandwhyisthehonorofendingtheeraoftaqlidascribedtohim?Didheintroducenewusulitheories?Orwashesimplyoutspokenbut not innovative? Perhaps Ibn Idris's role has also beenexaggerated?Ourpaperexaminesthisaspectaswell.
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Schwarb,GregorMuʿtazilīuṣūlal-fiqhattheserviceofinner-Jewishpolemics
In the late 10th and throughout the eleventh centuriesMuʿtazilī kalām provided the common conceptual andterminological framework for major exponents of Jewish andSamaritanreligiousthought.GiventheirintimateacquaintancewithMuʿtazilite works, doctrines and nomenclature, it is perfectlyappropriate to relate to these figures as representatives of a‘Jewish/SamaritanMuʿtazilism’. Their extantworks cover amuchwiderspectrumofgenresanddisciplinesthanthosebytheirMuslimpeersandallowustoexploretheapplicationofMuʿtazilitethoughtinsettingswhicharelessfamiliarfromextantMuslimsourcetexts.
In the present paper Iwill allege a few examples of howRabbaniteandQaraite JewsandSamaritansemployed termsandconcepts of Muʿtazilī uṣūl al-fiqh in internal controversies tobuttresstheirparticulartheologicalandlegalviewsortounderminethoseoftheopposingcamp.ThemaintextstobeconsideredareananonymousQaraitepolemicagainsttheSamaritans(al-Naqḍʿ alāal-Sāmira)andarefutationbytheQaraiteYūsufal-BaṣīrofaworkbySamuelbenḤofnīGaon(al-NaqḍʿalāŠemuʾel,raʾsal-maṯība).
*********Stewart,DevinḤadīthReportsThatPresentOrderedListsofUṣūlandTheirImplicationsfortheEarlyHistoryofUṣūlal-Fiqh
A well-known ḥadīth report that portrays the ProphetcommissioningtheCompanionMuʿādhb.Jabaltoserveasajudgein Yemen is cited frequently inmanuals ofuṣūl al-fiqh andotherworksasaprooftextforijtihādorqiyās.Intheaccount,theProphetasksMuʿādhonwhatbasishewilljudge,andMuʿādhrepliesbythe
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Book,meaningtheQurʾān.TheProphetthenasksonwhatbasishewilljudgeifhedoesnotfindtheanswerintheQurʾān,andMuʿādhrepliesbytheSunnah.TheprophetthenasksonwhatbasishewilljudgeifhedoesnotfindtheanswerintheQurʾānorintheSunnah,andhereplies,ajtahiduraʾyīwa-lāālū“Iwillexertmyopinionandspare no effort.” Despite wide awareness that the chain oftransmission of this report is suspect, for the transmitters fromMuʿādhare simply termed “men fromHoms,” the report is citedwidelywithapprovalbylegaltheorists.Ibnal-Jawzī(d.597/1201)writesinal-ʿIlalal-mutanāhiyah:hādhāḥadīthlāyaʾiḥḥwa-inkānaal-fuqahāʾyadhkurūnahufīkutubihimwa-yaʿtamidūnaʿalayhiwa-la-ʿamrī in kāna maʿnāhu ṣaḥīḥan innama thubūtuhu lā yuʿraf.”“This is anunsoundḥadīth, even though the juristsmention it intheirbooksanddependonit.Forthelifeofme,evenifitssenseiscorrect,thereisnowaytoestablishitssoundness.”
Thisḥadīthwasfabricated,asmanymedievalscholarsandasJosephSchachtrealized.Itappearswidelyinworksofthe3rd/9thcentury,andwasprobablyfabricatedinthelate2nd/8thcentury.Itwas fabricated specifically to make a point about legalhermeneutics, and was intended to present and sanction anorderedlistofuṣūl.Becauseoflaterdevelopmentsinjurisprudenceand because of shared assumptions on the part of later legaltheorists, the implicationsofthereporthaveoftennotbeenfullyrealized.The reportpresentsanordered listof threeuṣūl: 1) theQurʾān;2)theSunnahoftheProphet;and3)Raʾy“soundjudgment”or “considered opinion.” The report thus remarkably omits ijmāʿ“consensus.” The original focus was on raʾy, and not on ijtihād,somethingthatindicatesitwasfabricatedtosupporttheviewsofahlal-raʾy, something that isobscuredby later interpretation.Asraʾy became less popular as an independent hermeneuticalprinciple,theemphasisshifted:raʾybecamesoftenedtoijtihādal-raʾy [perhaps because of the wording of the report itself], andfurther to ijtihād tout court, and then al-Shāfiʿī andahl al-ḥadīthweakened it further by equating ijtihādwithqiyās. Such ordered
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listsofuṣūlwereanimportantfoundationforthegenreofmanualsonuṣūlal-fiqh,andthebeginningsofgenremaygobacktothelate2nd/8thcentury,whenthisreportwasforged.Al-Shāfiʿī’sRisālahdidnot inauguratethegenreofuṣūlal-fiqhbutratherarguedagainstan already existing genre, written bymembers of the ahl al-raʾycamp,thatwasbasedonaconceptionofuṣūlsimilartothatwhichisevidentinthereportofMuʿādh.Hisworkshouldbeseenasanefforttorestrictthesourcesofthelawtotwo“scriptural”sources,the Qurʾān and ḥadīth, arguing against hermeneutic approachesthatadmittedextra-textualprinciples.
*********Temel,AhmetMadhhabandUṣūlal-fiqh:DeterminingSchoolIdentityinUṣūlal-fiqhintheExampleofal-Nāṭiqbi-al-ḥaqq’sal-Mujzī Thispaperexplorestheroleofschoolaffiliationandthewaysofidentifyingitinuṣūlal-fiqhbyofferingamethodtofollowincorrectlyassigningaschoolaffiliationtoparticularscholars.Itbeginswithdeconstructingthehithertoknowndivisionofmutakallimūn,fuqahā,andmamzūjbyarguingthatthedivisionofmutakallimūnandfuqahāexistedbutjustasanarbitrarygroupingofmultiplegroupsandthatmamzūjisfarfromareconciliationofthesetwogroups.Thenitprovidesamodelforidentifyingschoolaffiliationinthetextsofuṣūlal-fiqhthroughanalysisonthenetworkofauthoritativescholarsinthetexts.Itusesthetextofal-MujzītodemonstratedifferentstepsofthismethodandconcludesthatthistextwasactuallyproducedaccordingtotheestablishedschoolofMu‘tazilīuṣūlal-fiqhdespitewrittenbyaZaydīimām,ratherthanaZaydīuṣūlal-fiqhasarguedbycontemporaryZaydīsandthosewhofollowtheminthisregard.
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Vishanoff,DavidTheStructureandCompositionofal-Shāfiʿī’sRisāla:ThreeBooks,ThreeOutlines,ThreeArguments
Thepuzzlingstyleandstructureofal-Shāfiʿī’sfamousEpistleon Legal Theory, al-Risāla, have elicited clarificatory glosses andheadings ever since the work was copied in the ninth century.Scholarsarestillproposingwidelydivergentreadings,outlines,andevenreorderingsofthetext.ThispaperarguesthattheRisālaisbestreadasasequenceofthreedistinctbutrelatedcompositions,eachwithitsownthesis,argument,andoutline.BookOnewaswrittentoshowthattheQur’an,whenunderstoodinlightofnaturalevidenceand the Prophet’s Sunna, is a clear statement of the entire law.Following discussions with opponents, al-Shāfiʿī appended BookTwotorefutetheobjectionthathehadusedḥadīthcapriciouslyinBookOne,andthenaddedBookThreetojustifythesubjectivityanduncertainty of his interpretive methods. This paper points outstylistictracesofthiscompositionalprocess;itnoteshowcopyists,editors,andmodernscholarshaveattemptedtosqueezetheworkintoasingleoutlineoflegaltheorytopics;anditdemonstratesthatthework’slegalcasestudiesandtheoreticalstatementsaremorereadilyunderstandableandmorecompellingwhenreadasstepsinasequenceofthreedistinctbutrelatedarguments.
*********Zysow,AronCausalanalogy(qiyāsal-`illa):ahistoricaloverview
Theanalysisofanalogy (qiyās) in termsof fourelements,aṣl,far`,`illa,andḥukm,isamongthemostfamiliarfeaturesofuṣūl
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al-fiqh,sofamiliarastoseemvirtually inevitable. Butthere is,ofcourse,no inevitabilityhere.Thispaper seeks to sketch theearlydevelopment of causal analogy as well as to touch upon a fewrepresentativecontroversiesthat illustrate itssubsequenthistory.The resources forwriting an account of the beginnings of causalanalogyarebrieflysurveyedandsomeof theproblemsattendingtheuseofthesesourcesareaddressed.