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Outside the Western tradition

Islamic Jurisprudence (Usul al-Fiqh)

Law is derived by qualified scholars from the revealed sources, using reasoned methods.

8th century to today · Middle East, North Africa and Asia. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.

Read this first. This is a first map of a large subject. Each school is a family of views, and its thinkers often disagree with one another, so every summary simplifies. We describe each school in terms its own followers would accept and give the strongest criticism beside it. Read the original works before you cite anyone, and check your own course's reading list. This is general information, not legal advice.

What is law?

Sharia is God's way. Fiqh is scholars' human understanding of it, worked out through usul al-fiqh from the Quran, the Sunna, the consensus of scholars (ijma) and reasoning by analogy (qiyas), with other tools in some schools.

Law and morality

Law and ethics are joined: acts are classed as obligatory, recommended, permitted, discouraged or forbidden.

Where does its authority come from?

Revelation, interpreted by qualified scholars (mujtahids).

How should judges decide?

Judges (qadis) apply fiqh. The four Sunni schools (Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i, Hanbali) and the Shia schools differ in method and result.

The question it asks

How far may reasoning adapt revealed law to new cases?

Main criticism

Modernists debate how far independent reasoning (ijtihad) may reinterpret rules, and states differ on how much of fiqh they codify.

Legacy today

Personal status law and other fields in many Muslim-majority countries, and Islamic finance.

Key thinkers

Al-Shafi'i, Abu Hanifa, Malik ibn Anas, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Al-Ghazali, Al-Shatibi.

Key works

  • Al-Shafi'i, al-Risala
  • Al-Ghazali, al-Mustasfa
  • Al-Shatibi, al-Muwafaqat

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Read further

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: philosophy of law (an overview). For the exact arguments, go to the original works above.

TheLawToKnow Tools’s guide to schools of legal thought is an educational overview. It is not legal advice. Report a mistake.