ISCH210 1.

2 Introduction to Usul al-Fiqh

Defining Ilm al-Usul Part One
1. Question: Why do we need Usul al-Fiqh?
2. To clarify our practical moral duties in relation to God
a. Question: Why do we have moral duties to God?
b. Answer: Because God is the Necessary Existent and the Creator; all
contingent beings are His creatures; based on the duty to give
thanks for blessings and the duty of a servant to obey his master,
people must act in accordance with the laws God sends down in all
spheres of their life.
3. Islam is the final religion sent to mankind, sent for all people to be guided:
a. that He may make it prevail over all religions (9:33, 48:28,
61:9)
4. God has a ruling for every situation.
5. But not all rulings of the Sharia are clear, therefore we must produce a
science that will remove ambiguities about our practical duties in every
situation on the basis of some evidence/reasoning.
a. Why is the Sharia not completely clear?
i. Distance from the era of revelation (rulings were not clear
even then!)
ii. Distortion and fabrication of Hadith
iii. Apparent contradictions between different source texts
iv. Political situation during the lives of the Imams (a.s.) meant
that they could not explain all rulings properly, so in some
cases they were forced to practice taqiyya
v. The era of Occultation and our lack of access to an Imam
b. Question: Does this only apply during the era of the Occultation?
Will we not need fiqh when the Imam (a.s.) returns?
c. Answer: No because even in the presence of the Imam, we will still
need to derive rulings from his statements. However the presence
of the Imam will make a big difference; one tradition says that even
a housewife will manage her home according to the Quran and
Sunna!
6. This is the science of jurisprudence (fiqh lit. understanding), in which
the jurist (faqih) determines the practical position with regards to the
Sharia through logical demonstration (istidlal) and adducing evidence
(dalil). This process is known as istinbat al-hukm al-shari.
7. Two kinds of evidence (return later):
a. Securing evidence
b. Procedural principles
8. Two kinds of practical position:

a. That specifically based on procedural principles (e.g. Istishab) in a

situation of doubt about the actual ruling.
b. That based on any kind of evidence, whether procedural or
securing, regardless of whether this reveals the actual ruling or it is
merely a procedural principle.
c. However in neither case is this derived from personal opinion.
9. Two categories of evidence
a. Common feature in process of istinbat, i.e. applies to more than one
instance of this process
b. Specific feature in process of istinbat, i.e. only applies to a single
instance of this process
10.Usul al-Fiqh are the universal principles that we apply in this process, and
Ilm al-Usul is the study of them.

Defining Ilm al-Usul Part Two

1. Definition: The Science of Usul is The science of the shared elements
(anasir mushtaraka) in the process of deriving a shari ruling.
2. Question: What are these shared elements?
3. Sadr provides us with three examples to illustrate this:
a. First question: Can someone who is fasting submerge his head in
water? (Spider chart)
i. In al-Kafi, we read the tradition:

( Irab!)
ii. Wording of sentence implies prohibition in common sense;
this prohibition is wadi rather than taklifi (i.e. invalidity).
iii. The chain is: Solitary (ahad) and reliable (thiqa), because
Yaqub b. Shuayb is reliable
iv. And the Lawgiver has instructed us to accept the word of a
solitary reliable narrator.
v. So we conclude: Submerging the head in water while fasting
is prohibited.
b. Second question: Does someone who inherits money from his father
have to pay khums on it?
i. We have a narration stating that khums only applies to
inheritance not received from a father or son.
ii. What does khums ordinarily apply to in inheritance? To a
distant relative dies but he turns out to be the nearest living
heir, this is known as mirath la yuhtasab (unexpected
inheritance); whereas inheritance from a near relative is
mirath yuhtasab (expected inheritance).
iii. Common sense tells us that the import of this sentence is
that the Lawgiver has not established khums in this instance
iv. The chain is reliable through Ali b. Mahziyar
v. And the Lawgiver has instructed us to accept the word of a
solitary reliable narrator.
vi. Conclusion: khums does not apply to inheritance from ones
father.
c. Third question: Does guffawing invalidate prayer?
i. We have a narration:






ii. Common sense tells us that this means that prayer is
invalidated by guffawing
iii. The narrator is Zurara, who is reliable
iv. The word of a reliable narrator is authoritative.
v. Conclusion: Guffawing invalidates prayer.
4. Reflecting on these examples:
a. These rulings are all from different topics of jurisprudence; the
evidences we rely upon for them are different and the wording of
these evidences specific to each narration.

b. And yet there are commonalities between the process the jurist
uses in each of them, for example:
i. Relying on a common sense understanding of the words of
the Infallible (hujjiyyat al-zuhur); because this is a general
discussion that applies to every instance
ii. Relying on a solitary trustworthy narration to establish a
ruling (hujjiyyat khabar al-thiqa); because this is a general
discussion that applies to every instance
c. On the other hand the specifics of each process are like the
particular narrations and narrators; these belong to the study of
fiqh.
d. So the common elements are those which play a role in deriving
multiple rulings, these belong to the study of usul.
e. But usul is not just the study of these common elements, but also
their levels of use and their connections with one another, as we
shall see.