LAHORE UNIVERSITY OF MANAGEMENT SCIENCES (LUMS)

SHAIKH AHMAD HASSAN SCHOOL OF LAW

LAW 260 — ISLAMIC JURISPRUDENCE

SPRING 2015

Instructor Zubair Abbasi

Room No. 223
Class Timings
Office Hours
Email Zubair.abbasi@lums.edu.pk & TA’s email:
Telephone
TA Office Hours TBD
Course URL TBD

Course Basics
Credit Hours (To be filled by the Department /Academic Registrar / Dean in accordance with
Degree requirements)

Lecture(s) Nbr of Lec(s) 2 Duration 1 hour 50 minutes per

per week session
Recitation/Lab (per week)

Tutorial (per week)

Course Distribution
Core This is a core law subject, with no optional or elective modules.

Elective There is no elective component in this course.

Open for Student Category

Close for Student Category

Course Description

This course introduces the science of Fiqh (Islamic law), called Uṣūl al-Fiqh, by examining the sources,
methodologies, methodological tools, historical development and modern application of Islamic law. It aims at
developing an indepth understanding of the reasoning and principles underlying the rules of Islamic law
through the analysis of a wide variety of primary and secondary sources such as the Qur’ān, Aḥādīth, classical
Islamic legal texts, fatāwā (legal opinions of jurisconsults), case law, legal commentaries, articles and research
papers. This course will enable students to critically engage with contemporary debates about Islamic law by
developing a profound understanding of its sources, methodologies and history.

Comparative references will also be made to the developments in jurisprudence under English law and Civil

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law in order to highlight the distinguishing features of Islamic jurisprudence and its interaction with other legal
systems.

Course Prerequisites
• (To be decided by the Academic Registrar, Dean and the Department of Law &
Policy according to the degree progression)

Course Specific Objectives

• Provide an understanding of the function and scope of Uṣūl al-Fiqh in the process of deducing rules
from the primary and secondary sources of Islamic law.
• Develop a profound appreciation of the methodology of drawing rules from the primary and secondary
sources and the reasons for the difference of juristic opinions.
• Develop awareness about the aims and objectives of law in Islam vis-à-vis the requirements of the
society.
• Generate the ability to critically evaluate the issue of the relevance of Fiqh in judicial and legislative
law making in the modern state.

Objectives for the Development of Personal Skills

• Work independently and as part of a group, including participation in oral discussion.

• Develop analytical writing skills and the ability to synthesize material from various sources.
• Find, select, digest and effectively organise material to produce a coherent and reasoned argument
within specified deadlines.

Learning Outcomes

• Clear understanding of the sources, methodologies, methodological tools, history, theories and practical
applications of Islamic law.
• Ability to critically engage with and analyse the primary and secondary texts on Islamic law.
• Appreciation of the challenges faced by Islamic law in the modern world.

Grading Breakup and Policy

Assignment(s)/ Quiz(s): 15%

Class Participation: 10%

Midterm Examination/ Project: 25%

Final Examination: 50%

Class sessions will be interactive based on the suggested readings assigned for a particular topic. You will be
given essay titles to produce your pieces of writing. You may also be required to present your work in the
class, argue and defend it, if necessary.

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Examination Detail
Midterm Exam Yes/No: Yes


Combine Separate: TBD


Duration: TBD


Preferred Date: As per the LUMS Exam Schedule

Exam Specifications: TBD

Final Exam Yes/No: Yes


Combine Separate: TBD


Duration: TBD


Preferred Date: As per the LUMS Exam Schedule

Exam Specifications: TBD

Course Overview
Topic Recommended Readings Objectives

1. Introduction: The Scope Kamali, MH, Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence Provide an

and Function of Uṣūl al- (Islamic Texts Society 1991) Ch 1 (Introduction to understanding of
Fiqh Uṣūl al-Fiqh) 12-21. the function and
scope of Uṣūl al-
Jackson, S, 'Fiction and Formalism: Towards a Fiqh.
Functional Analysis of Uṣūl al-Fiqh' in BG Weiss (ed)
Studies in Islamic Legal Theory (Brill 2002) 177-201.

2. Basic Terminology Nyazee, IAK, Outlines of Islamic Jurisprudence Introduction to the

(Advanced Legal Studies Institute 2000) Ch 2 (The basic terminology
Scope of Islamic Law and Jurisprudence) and 3 (The of Uṣūl al-Fiqh.
Meaning of Uṣūl al-Fiqh and Basic Terms), 4 (The
Ḥukm: What is Islamic Law?) and 5 (Classification of
Islamic Law) 25-76.

Kamali, MH, Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence

(Islamic Texts Society 1991) Ch 17 (Hukm Shar‘i)
278-306.

3. Principal Sources (1): Kamali, MH, Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence Introduction to the
Qur’ān and Ḥadīth (Islamic Texts Society 1991) Ch 2 (The Sources of primary sources of
Sharī‘ah: the Qur’ān) and Ch 3 (The Sunnah) 22-83. Islamic law.

4. Principal Sources (2): Al-Shāfi‘ī, MI, Al-Risāla fī uṣūl al-Fiqh (2nd edn Ibid
Qur’ān, Ḥadīth, Practice Majid Khadduri tr, The Islamic Texts Society 1961)

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 of Companions 32-40, 88-108.
(especially righted
guided Caliphs), Sharā‘ Khurshid Jan v Fazal Dad PLD 1964 (WP) Lahore
min qablinā (Judaism, 558 (addressing the issues of the sources of Muslim
Christianity, Natural law and the authority of courts to differ from the views
Law) of classical jurists on policy grounds)

Kamali, MH, Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence

(Islamic Texts Society 1991) Ch 10 (The Revealed
Laws Preceding Shari‘ah of Islam) 206-9.

5. Subordinate/Supplement Articles 36-45 Majalla (Ottoman Civil Code) 1870. Introduction to the
ary (1): ‘Urf subordinate sources
Rahim, A, The Principles of Muhammadan of Islamic law and
Jurisprudence (Luzac & Co. 1911) Chapter III highlighting the
(Custom and Usage) 136-37. distinction between
sources and
Libson, G, 'On the Development of Custom as a methodology.
Source of Law in Islamic Law' (1997) 4 Islamic Law
and Society 131

Kamali, MH, Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence

(Islamic Texts Society 1991) Ch 14 (‘Urf) 248-58.

6. Subordinate/Supplement Masud, MK, 'The Doctrine of Siyāsa in Islamic Law' Ibid

ary (2): Qānūn (state (2001) 18 Recht van de Islam 129
legislation) and Judicial
Hoexter, M, 'Qāḍī, Muftī and Ruler: Their Roles in the
Decisions (including
Development of Islamic Law' in R Shaham (ed) Law,
fatāwā of official muftīs) Custom, and Statute in the Muslim World (Brill 2007)
67-86.
7. Primary Methodology: Al-Shāfi‘ī, MI, Al-Risāla fī uṣūl al-Fiqh (2nd edn Understanding the
Ijtihād (independent legal Majid Khadduri tr, The Islamic Texts Society 1961) methodology of
reasoning) 295-303. drawing rules from
principal and
Iqbal, SM, The Principle of Movement in the Structure subordinate sources
of Islam in The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in by introducing
Islam (OUP 1934) 139-70. various juristic
concepts used for
Kamali, MH, Shari‘ah Law: An Introduction, this purpose.
Oneworld 2008, Ch 8 (Independent Reasoning
(Ijtihād) and Juristic Opinion (Fatwā) 162-78.

Kamali, MH, Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence

(Islamic Texts Society 1991) Ch 19 (Ijtihad) 315-38.

8. Secondary Methodology Rahim, A, The Principles of Muhammadan Ibid

(1): Jurisprudence (Luzac & Co. 1911) Chapter III (Ijtihad
Taqlīd and Taqlid) 168-92.

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 Fadel, M, 'The Social Logic of Taqlīd and the Rise of
the Mukhataṣar' (1996) 3 Islamic Law and Society
193.

9. Methodology (2): Kamali, MH, 'Methodological Issues in Islamic Ibid

Takhrīj, Talfīq and Jurisprudence' (1996) 11 Arab Law Quarterly 3
Takhayyir
Nyazee, IAK, Islamic Jurisprudence (Islamic Research
Institute 2009) 325-353.

10. Primary Methodological
tools:
Qiyās (analogy), Istiḥsān
(juristic preference) and
Ijmā‘ (consensus)
Al-Shāfi‘ī, MI, Al-Risāla fī uṣūl al-Fiqh (2nd edn Ibid
Majid Khadduri tr, The Islamic Texts Society 1961)
285-94, 304-32.
Rahim, A, The Principles of Muhammadan
Jurisprudence (Luzac & Co. 1911) Chapter III
(Sources of Law) 115-65.

Kamali, MH, Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence

(Islamic Texts Society 1991) Ch 8 (Ijma‘ or Consensus
of Opinion) 154-79; Ch 9 (Qiyas or Analogical
Deduction) 180-205; Ch 12 (Istihsan or Equity in
Islamic Law) 217-34.

11. Secondary Opwis, F, 'Maṣlaḥa in Contemporary Islamic Legal Ibid

Methodological tools (1):
Istiṣlāḥ (serving a public
interest), Maṣlaḥa (public
interest) and Maqāṣid
(objectives)
Theory' (2005) 12 Islamic Law and Society 182
Nyazee, IAK, Outlines of Islamic Jurisprudence
(Advanced Legal Studies Institute 2000) Ch 11, 162-
74

12. Methodological tools (2): Kamali, MH, Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence Ibid
Istiṣḥāb (continuity), (Islamic Texts Society 1991) Ch 15 (Istishab) 259-68;
Sadd al-dharā’a (pre- Ch 16 (Sadd al-Dhara’i) 269-76.
emptive measures),
Ḍarūra (exigency) and Krawietz, B, 'Ḍarūra in Modern Islamic Law: The
Ḥiyal (legal devices) Case of Organ Transplantation ' in R Greave and E
Kermeli (eds), Islamic Law: Theory and Practice (I.B.
Tauris 1997) 185-93.

Johansen, B, 'Casuistry: Between Legal Concept and

Social Praxis' (1995) 2 Islamic Law and Society 135-
156.
13. Methodology in Islamic Kamali, MH, 'Sharī'ah and Civil Law: Towards a Highlighting the
Law and other Legal Methodology of Harmonization' (2007) 14 Islamic distinguishing
Systems (1) Law and Society 391 features of Islamic
jurisprudential
Hallaq, WB, 'Logic of Legal Reasoning in Religious methodology by
and Non-Religious Cultures: The Case of Islamic Law comparing it with

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 and the Common Law' (1985-1986) 34 Cleveland other legal systems.
State Law Review 79

14. Methodology in Islamic Hallaq, WB, 'Logic, Formal Arguments and Ibid
Law and other Legal Formalization of Arguments in Sunnī Jurisprudence'
Systems (2) (1990) 37 Arabica 315

Crone, P, 'Weber, Islamic Law, and the Rise of

Capitalism' in TE Huff and W Schluchter (eds), Max
Weber & Islam (Transaction Publishers 1999) 247-72.

15. Stages of Development Hallaq, WB, 'Islamic Law: History and Understanding the
(1) Transformation' in R Irwin (ed) The New Cambridge origins and
History of Islam, vol 4 (Cambridge University Press development of
2010) 142-83 (for a very brief introduction) Uṣūl al-Fiqh.

16. Stages of Development Hallaq, WB, Sharī‘a: Theory, Practice, Ibid

(2) Transformations (Cambridge University Press 2009)
(for a detailed analysis see Introduction and Part I) 25-
124.

17. Stages of Development Shalakany, AA, 'Islamic Legal Histories' (2008) 1 Evaluation of the
(3) Berkeley Journal of Middle Eastern and Islamic Law 1 modern Western
(a critique of Schacht and Coulson’s works) scholarship on the
history of Islamic
Hallaq, WB, 'The Quest for Origins or Doctrine? law.
Islamic Legal Studies as Colonialist Discourse' (2003)
2 UCLA J. Islamic & Near EL 1

Powers, DS, 'Wael B. Hallaq on the Origins of Islamic

Law: a Review Essay' (2010) 17 Islamic Law and
Society 126

18. Current Challenges (1): Hallaq, WB, The Impossible State: Islam, Politics, and Conceptualise the
Islamic law and the Modernity's Moral Predicament (Columbia University relationship
Modern State Press 2013) 1-36, 155-70. between Sharī‘a
and the modern
Hallaq, WB, 'Juristic Authority vs. State Power: The state by engaging
Legal Crises of Modern Islam' (2003) 19 Journal of with the thesis that
Law and Religion 243 morality oriented
Islamic law is
Fadel, M, 'A Tragedy of Politics or an Apolitical incompatible with
Tragedy?' (2011) 131 Journal of the American Oriental the modern state
Society 109 based on coercive
power.

19. Current Challenges (2): Peters, R, 'From Jurists Law to Statute Law or What Ibid
Islamic law and the Happens When the Shari'a is Codified' (2002) 7
Modern State Mediterranean Politics 82

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 Aharon, L, 'The Transformation of the Sharī‘a from
Jurists' Law to Statutory Law in the Contemporary
Muslim World' (2004) 44 Die Welt des Islams 85

Mayer, A.E, The Sharī‘ah: A Methodology or a Body

of Substantive Rules? in Heer, N and Ziadeh, FJ,
Islamic Law and Jurisprudence (University of
Washington Press 1990) 177-198.

An-Na'im, A.A. "Shari'a and Positive Legislation: Is

an Islamic State Possible or Viable?" in Intellectual
Property Laws of the Arab Countries, ed. Abu-
Ghazaleh Intellectual Property (TMP Agents The
Hague 2000) 29-41. Available
at http://www.law.emory.edu/aannaim/pdfiles/dwnld2
0.pdf

20. Current Challenges (3): Peters, R, 'Idjtihād and Taqlīd in 18th and 19th Critical evaluation
Judicial and Legislative Century Islam' (1980) XX Die Welt des Islams 131 of the issue of the
Ijtihād relevance of Fiqh
Kamali, MH, 'Issues in the Legal Theory of Uṣūl and in judicial and
Prospects for Reform' (2001) 40 Islamic studies 5 legislative law
making in the
Fadel, M, Book Review Radical Reform: Islamic modern state.
Ethics and Liberation by Tariq Ramadan, Oxford
University Press, 2009 in 81 (2013) Journal of the
American Academy of Religion 1159.

Fadel, M, 'Is Historicism a Viable Strategy for Islamic

Law Reform-The Case of Never Shall a Folk Prosper
Who Have Appointed a Woman to Rule Them' (2011)
18 Islamic L. & Soc'y 131-76.

21. Current Challenges (4): Odatalla v Odatalla [2002] 355 N.J. Super. 305; 810 Examination of the
Islamic Jurisprudence in A.2d 93 (Ch. Div. 2002) available issue of the
the West at https://www.courtlistener.com/njsuperctappdiv/b42 application of
w/odatalla-v-odatalla/ Islamic law in the
West by looking
Shamil Bank v Beximco Pharmaceuticals [2004] into selected court
EWCA (Civ) 19 available decisions.
at http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2004/19.
html

22. Islamic Jurisprudence in Mohammad Ahmed Khan v Shah Bano Begum 1985 Analysis of the
South Asia (1) AIR 945 developments in
Islamic
Mas‘ud, MK, 'Trends in the Interpretation of Islamic Jurisprudence
Law in the Fatāwā Literature of Deoband School, M.A under Pakistani
Thesis' (McGill University 1969) available legal system in the
at http://digitool.library.mcgill.ca/view/action/singleVi historical context

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 ewer.do?dvs=1389340782328~394&locale=en_US&s of South Asia.
how_metadata=false&VIEWER_URL=/view/action/si
ngleViewer.do?&DELIVERY_RULE_ID=6&adjacen
cy=N&application=DIGITOOL-
3&frameId=1&usePid1=true&usePid2=true

23. Judicial Islamisation of Qazalbash Waqf v Chief Land Commissioner PLD Examination and
Laws in Pakistan (1) 1990 SC 99 critical evaluation
of the application
of Islamic
jurisprudence in the
process of judicial
Islamisation of
laws.

24. Judicial Islamisation of M Aslam Khaki v Muhammad Hashim 2000 PLD SC Ibid
Laws in Pakistan (2) 225 (Ribā Judgment)

25- Guest Lectures

26.
27- Revision
28.

Textbook(s)/Supplementary Readings

Books

Ahmad, AA, Structural Interrelations of Theory and Practice in Islamic Law: A Study of Six Works of
Medieval Islamic Jurisprudence (Brill 2006) (See Chapters 1, 2 and 8)

Gleave, R, Inevitable doubt: Two Theories of Shi'i Jurisprudence (Brill 2000).

Hasan, A, The Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence: Command of the Sharī'ah and Juridical Norm (Islamic
Research Institute, International Islamic University 1993)

Hassan, A, Analogical Reasoning in Islamic Jurisprudence (Islamic Research Institute 1986)

Hassan, A, The Doctrine of Ijmā‘ in Islam (Islamic Research Institute 1976)

Lowry, JE, Early Islamic Legal Theory: The Risāla of Muḥammad Ibn Idrīs Al-Shāfi‘ī (Brill 2007) (See
Chapter 2 Hermeneutical Techniques) 61-163

Masud, MK, Shatibi’s Philosophy of Islamic Law (Islamic Research Institute, International Islamic University
1995)

Vikør, KS, Between God and the Sultan: A History of Islamic Law (Hurst & Co. 2005)

Articles

al-Atawneh, M, 'Wahhabi Legal Theory as Reflected in Modern Official Saudi Fatwas: Ijithad, Taqlid,

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Sources, and Methodology' (2011) 18 Islamic L. & Soc'y 327

Dutton, Y, 'The Introduction to Ibn Rushd's “Bidāyat al-Mujtahid”' (1994) Islamic Law and Society 188

Emon, AM, 'Natural Law and Natural Rights in Islamic Law' (2004) 20 Journal of Law and Religion 351

El Fadl, KA, 'Islamic law and Muslim minorities: The juristic discourse on Muslim minorities from the
second/eighth to the eleventh/seventeenth centuries' (1994) Islamic Law and Society 141

Hallaq, WB, 'Non-Analogical Arguments in Sunni Juridical Qiyas' (1989) 36 Arabica 286

Horii, S, 'Reconsideration of Legal Devices (Ḥiyal) in Islamic Jurisprudence: The Ḥanafī's and Their "Exits"
(Makhārij)' (2002) 9 Islamic Law and Society 312

Moosa, E, 'Colonialism and Islamic Law' in MK Masud and others (eds), Islam and Modernity (Edinburgh
University Press 2009)

Opwis, F, 'The Construction of Madhhab Authority: Ibn Taymiyya's Interpretation of Juristic Preference
(Istiḥsān)' (2008) 15 Islamic Law and Society 219

Rabb, IA, 'Islamic Legal Maxims as Substantive Canons of Constructions: Hudud-Avoidance in Cases of
Doubt' (2010) 17 Islamic L. & Soc'y 63

Zaman, MQ, ‘The Caliphs , the ʿUlamāʾ , and the Law: Defining the Role and Function of the Caliph in the
Early ʿAbbāsid Period’ (1997) 4 Islamic L. & Soc'y, 1-36.

Research Journals

Islamic Law and Society

Arab Law Quarterly

International Journal of Middle East Studies

Journal of Islamic Studies (Oxford)

Online Resources

Some of Professor Nyazee’s books are available at http://www.nyazee.org/islaw/theory/theory.html, password

nyazee

Professor Hashim Kamali’s Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence is available

at http://www.bandung2.co.uk/books/Files/Law/Principles%20of%20Islamic%20Jurisprudence%20-
%20Hashim%20Kamali.pdf

Abdur Rahim's book Principles of Muhammadan Jurisprudence is available

at https://archive.org/details/principlesofmuha031574mbp

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Gateway to selected scholarly websites

http://www.intute.ac.uk/

Free latest articles from the top universities

http://www.ssrn.com/

Pakistani Case Law Online

http://www.pakistanlawsite.com/

Free Indian Case Law Online

http://www.indiankanoon.org/

Indian Case Law Online

http://www.manupatra.com/

Free UK Case Law Online

http://www.bailii.org/

English Case Law Online

http://www.westlaw.co.uk/

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