The discipline of Usul al-Fiqh has received great attention from scholars in every century and rightly so. Today, our expectations from this discipline have increased manifold due to the contact of Muslim societies with other civilizations. The discipline deals with interpretation and legal reasoning. It deals with a large body of rules that guide interpretation. In short, it is not one but many disciplines. Accordingly, this section is divided below into a number sub-disciplines that show that expanse and scope of this field.

Sub-title 1: Usul al-Fiqh. This discipline has been called legal theory, principles of Islamic jurisprudence or simply Islamic jurisprudence. It deals with the sources of Islamic law or the criteria of validity for the legal rule in Islamic law. Major discussions include the description of the sources and the methods of legal reasoning.

        1. Outlines of Islamic Jurisprudence by Imran Ahsan Nyazee. Download book (1.9MB zip file). This book deals, in a concise way, with fiqh or the substantive law as well as well as with the schools of law along with usul al-fiqh. The first edition of this book was sold out, and work on the second revised edition is nearing completion.

        2. Theories of Islamic Law: The Methodology of Ijtihad by Imran Ahsan Khan Nyazee. This book has been placed on this site with the permission of the International Institute of Islamic Thought, Pakistan the owner of the copyright (courtesy: Dr. Zafar Ishaq Ansari). Download book (1.8MB zip file)

Sub-title 2: Qawanin Usuliyyah. The qawanin usuliyyah are legislative presumptions or the true usul al-fiqh in the meaning of a set of rules that guide legal reasoning. Considerable work has been undertaken in this area at the Institute and the result will be available in the near future.

Sub-title 3: Qawa`id Fiqhiyyah

         1. Usul al-Karkhi. The first book on Islamic legal maxims by `Abd Allah ibn al-Husayn al-Karkhi (d. 340/951). Translated by Imran Ahsan Nyazee, reviewed by Dr. M. `Abd al-Latif al-Shafie (President, International Islamic University, Islamabad), and with an Introduction by Dr. Zafar Ishaq Ansari, Director General, Islamic Research Institute, International Islamic University, Islamabad. To be uploaded soon.
         2. Ta'sis al-Nazar. The second book on Islamic legal maxims by Abu Zayd al-Dabusi. Translated by Imran Nyazee. To be uploaded, but not very soon.

Sub-title 4: Maqasid al-Shari`ah. The purposes of Islamic law form the subject-matter of books on Islamic jurisprudence. Some work has been undertaken by the Institute in this area under the title "Justice and the Purposes of the Shari`ah."

Sub-title 5: `Ilm al-Khilaf. This discipline deals with the differences among the leading jurists. The main reason why this is treated as separate subject by some is to see "why" these jurists differed.

Sub-title 6: `Ilm a-Furuq. This discipline is related to that of the qawa`id fiqhiyyah. The major work in this area is that of the Malik jurist al-Qarafi. Al-Qarafi has tried to show why two or more apparently similar cases are actually governed by different legal principles. In other words, it is the discipline that deals with the art of distinguishing cases.

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