IEF 201 - Islamic Law Methodology

The course aims to:

1. Provide the students with general knowledge of the meaning and function of Usul al-Fiqh in regulating the process of ijtihad.
2. Familiarize the students with the origin and development of Islamic legal theory.
3. Give the students a grounding about the meaning of the rules of law (al-Ahkam) together with the methods of deriving them from the revealed sources.
4. Familiarize the students with some of the major methodological problems and issues debated in Usul al-Fiqh and highlight the possibilities of practical application of Usul methodologies to their respective fields of specialization.
5. Help the students to understand and appreciate the relationship between revelation and reason.

This course concentrates on the history, indicators and methodological principles of Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh). It describes the origin and development of Islamic legal theory. It traces the efforts made by the leading Muslim legal theorists in explaining the ways that human mind can interact with the revelation. Likewise, it focuses on the methods of reasoning adopted by various schools of jurisprudence to expound the Islamic law. The course also discusses theories on the objectives of Shari` ah (Maqasid al-Shari‘ah) and emphasizes the need for ijtihad and its role in harmonizing the requirements of the Muslim’s contemporary life with the imperatives of the Qur`an and Sunnah.