History of Islamic Law_c.pdf

History of Islamic Law
The History of Islamic law is divided
into Seven Periods
Instructor: Sajjad Ahmed Sheikh

Islamic Civilization
• Rashidun Caliphate (632 – 661 CE)
• Umayyads Caliphate (661–750 CE)
• Abbasids Caliphate (750–1517 CE)
• Ottoman Caliphate (1517–1924 CE)

And it is not for the believers to go forth [to battle]all at once. For
there should separate from every division of them a group [remaining]
to obtain understanding in the religion and warn their people when
they return to them that they might be cautious. (9:122)
Fiqah – Islamic Jurisprudence

Sources of Islamic Law
• There are four sources of Islamic Law or Sharia. Also called four tools
of Islamic jurisprudence used by a jurist.
• Quran: The Book, word of God.
• Sunnah: Traditions of the Prophet (PBUH)
• Ijmah: Consensus of scholarly opinion (based on tradition)
• Qiyas (Jali) & Istihsan (Qiyas-e-Khafi): Process of deductive analogy
for applying a known injunction to a new case or situation using Quran
and Hadith as primary source.

The First Period
• Commences with revelation and ends with it (610 – 632 CE)
• The first source of Law in this period was Quran, the second was
Sunnah (acts, sayings, tacit approvals)
• Quran revealed over a period of 23 years, laws covered position of
women, children, orphans, and the weak, morals, marriage and
family life, prohibition of theft, drinking, gambling, usury/interest of
all forms, respecting contracts.
• Most of these laws were revealed in gradual manner.
• Formation of Muslim community destroyed the roots of Tribalism
and was superseded by family as a basic unit of society.

• Quran was recorded by scribes of the Prophet (pbuh)
• Sunnah: being the second source of law, did not enjoy the
status of a text, directly settling cases and providing legal
guidance
• Sunnah was not recorded in this period and reached the later
generation through narrations of companions.
• Perhaps the reason why Sunnah was not recorded in this early
period was the fear of its being mixed with the Quran
• Fiqh was not developed as an independent subject in this
period.
The First Period

Name Reign (CE)
Abu Bakr as Siddiq 632 – 634
Umar Ibn Al Khattab 634 – 644
Uthman Ibn Affan 644 – 656
Ali Ibn Abi Talib 656 - 661
The Second Period (Khulafa al Rashidun)

• Begins with the death of Prophet (pbuh) in the year 11 AH and ends
with the commencement of the reign of Muawiah ibn abi Sufiyan in
41 AH.
• Companions reached different parts of the globe performing
functions of rulers, generals, judges, muftis. They were strict in
accepting a tradition.
• This rapid growth of Islamic state and interaction with other races
influenced the growth of Fiqh.
• Quran was collected and complied in this period ordered by Hazrat
Abu bakr after the battle of Yamama in 633 CE

• To the earlier sources of law, another source of law was added. This
was Ijma’ (consensus of opinions), resulting from the practice of
Orthodox Caliphs of consulting companions on important issues.
• In this period, foundations of Islamic legal system were refined and
developed. Qiyas was started to be used as an informal practice.
• A large number of legal principles were laid down and established
through the practices and decisions of the Companions that
became precedents for later periods

• Hafiz Ibn Qayyim [ ‫ر‬
‫ﺣﻤﻪﷲ‬ ]: Out of 12,400 Companions (Sahaba), 149 used
to pass legal rulings. Out of these 149, there were 15 who were regarded
as “final authority”
• Ibn Hazm [ ‫ر‬
‫ﺣﻤﻪﷲ‬ ]: “Most of the companions legal opinions came form 7 of
them: ‘Umar (r.a.), ‘Ali (r.a.), Ibn Ma’ud (r.a.), Ibn ‘Umar (r.a.), Ibn Abbas
(r.a.), Zayd ibn Thabit (r.a.), and Amma ‘A’isha (r.a.); and this was from
thousands of the companions (r.a.)”

Third Period (Followers)
• Begins in 41 AH and extends up to 2nd century of Hijrah (132 AH), falls within
the rule of Banu Ummayyah.
• The sources of Islamic law were same as those of previous period i.e. Quran,
Sunnah, Ijmah. The use of analogy (i.e. Qiyas) and istihsan became more
systematic toward the end of this period.
• Ijmah (consensus of opinion) become more difficult. It was now confined to
regions, and hence the school of each region emerged.
• The narration of tradition became widespread. The need for knowing
tradition also increased due to new cases coming up. The areas in which
knowledgeable Companions lived became the centers of learning of
tradition and Fiqh.
• False traditions compelled jurists to evolve very strict rules for checking
authenticity which affected the development of Islamic Law.
• The laws and jurisprudence were more or less settled in this period.

• This period saw the birth of the greatest jurist of Islam i.e. Imam Abu
Hanifa (699 AD – 767 AD) widely regarded as Tabai for having met and
learned from at least four sahaba including Anas ibn Malik and was
disciple of Imam Jafar al Sadiq.
• His famous students include Imam Abu Yusuf and Imam Muhammad
al-Shaybani (teacher of Imam Shafi, who was teacher of Imam Ahmed
bin Hanbal).
• Abu Hanifa is regarded as the first to formally adopt and institute the
tool of Qiyas (i.e. analogical reasoning) as a part of Islamic law.
• Imam Malik also lived in this period (born 711 AD) and was almost 40
years old at the close of this period.

Name Birthplace Died in CE Hijri
Imam Abu Hanifa
(Noman ibn Thabit)
Kufa (Iraq) Baghdad (Iraq) 697(9) – 767 80 – 150
Imam Malik Ibn Anas Madina (SA) Madina (SA) 711 – 795 93 – 179
Imam Muhammad Ibn
Idris ash-Shafi
Gaza
(Palestine)
Fustat (Egypt) 767 – 820 150 – 204
Imam Ahmed Ibn
Hanbal
Baghdad
(Iraq)
Baghdad (Iraq) 780 – 855 164 – 241

`
Jurist Jurisdiction
Imam Abu Hanifa
(Noman ibn Thabit)
Offer Qadha (i.e. Pray when reach destination)
Imam Malik Ibn Anas Do Nothing (i.e. Neither Adha nor Qadha)
Imam Muhammad Ibn Idris
ash-Shafi
Do Both (i.e. Offer both Adha and Qadha)
Imam Ahmed Ibn Hanbal Do whatever achievable (i.e. Offer Salah without
performing abolution)
Four Madhabs (or Madahib)

The Fourth Period
• Begins with 2nd century hijrah (132 AH) and continues up to 350 AH
(spreading over more than 200 years). Imam Ahmed bin Hanbal also
lived in this age (164 AH to 241 AH).
• Three main features of this period include:
– Fiqh flourished and achieved maturity.
– Compilation of all kinds of knowledge took place including Fiqh and
Hadith.
– Remaining schools of Fiqh were formed in this period.
• Scholars began collecting meaning of Quran and compiling it in the form
of separate field called ilm-al-tafsir based on what had been passed on
through their teachers from the companions of the Prophet (PBUH).
• Fiqh had now became an independent science in which great thinkers
specialized.

• Compilation of Sunnah passed through THREE phases.
• First phase starts in early 2nd century of hijrah when Umer bin Abdul Aziz
(8th Umayyad caliph) asked his rep in Madinah to record the tradition of
Prophet (pbuh). All areas of muslim world participated in this the noble
task in Makkah, Basrah, Kufah, Syria, Yemen, Egypt etc. Traditions were
recorded chapter-wise like Salat, Soum, Sales etc.
• Second phase begins with the end of 2nd hijrah. The basis of compilation
was the unity of narrator not the unity of subjects. Like Musnad of Abu
Hurayrah, Musnad Imam Malik etc.
• Third Phase begins in 3rd century hijrah and continues till its end. The great
compilations of six Imams occurred in this period. These are Al-Bukhari,
Muslim, Abu Dawood, Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah, Al Nasai.
• Imam of each tradition laid down conditions and criteria for judging a
tradition.
The Fourth Period

Name of
Imam
Birthplace Died in CE Hijri
Bukhari Bukhara
(Uzbekistan)
Khartank
(Uzbekistan)
810 – 870 194 – 256
Muslim Nishapur (Iran) Nishapur
(Iran)
820 – 875 204 – 261
Abu
Dawood
Sistan (Iran) Basra (Iraq) 817 – 888 202 – 275
Nasai Nasa (Iran) Mecca (SA) 830 – 915 215 – 303
Tirmidhi Tirmiz (Iran) Tirmiz
(Iran)
828 – 896 209 – 279
Ibn Majah Kazvin (Iran) Kazvin
(Iran)
828 – 890 209 – 273
The Fourth Period

The Fourth Period

• Imam al-Bukhari included only 7500 hadith from a collection of nearly
600,000 narrations.
• Imam Bukhari devised a stringent criteria for selecting sound
narratives. First, the lifetime of a narrator should overlap with the
lifetime of the authority from whom he narrates.
• Second, it should be verifiable that narrators have met with their
source persons. Third, narrators should also expressly state that they
obtained the narrative from these authorities. This is a stricter
criterion than that set by Muslim.
• Imam al-Bukhari accepted the narratives from only those who,
according to his knowledge, not only believed in Islam but practiced its
teachings. Thus, he has not accepted narratives from the Murjites.
The Fourth Period

• Imam Muslim on the other hand was not only to collect authentic
traditions but also to collect only traditions that all Muslims should
agree on about its accuracy.
• Out of 300,000 hadith which he evaluated, approximately 12,000
were extracted for inclusion into his collection based on acceptance
criteria.
• Imam Abu Dawood collected 500,000 hadith, but included only
4,800 in this collection. Imam Abu Dawood compiled twenty-one
books related to Hadith and preferred those Ahadith (plural of
"Hadith") which were supported by the example of the companions
of Muhammad.
The Fourth Period

The Fifth Period: Maturing of Legal System
• This period extends from 350 A.H to the 8th Century of Hijrah.
• Our entire method of studying Islamic law and more than 95% of the
literature that we deem as original sources of Islamic law is a product
of this golden period.
• The literature of Shafi and Hanbali schools is also a product of this age.
• Jurists like al-Jassas, al-Sarakhsi, al-Bazdawi, al-Ghazali, al-Nawawi, are
the greatest names of this period who systematized the fields of
knowledge. Usul-al-fiqh was truly developed as a discipline during this
period.
• Taqlid as a doctrine was formulated during this period.

The Sixth Period: Age of Qanoon and
Codification
• The period may be said to extend from 14th century to 17th CE before
the advent of colonialization. Attempts were made to codify law.
• A code means a set of laws promulgated and enforced by the state.
• Two outstanding examples are the Ottoman state in Turkey and the
Mughal Empire in India, esp. rule of Awrangzeb Alamgir.
• In the Ottoman Empire, these dealt mainly with the criminal law and
were called Qanun Namah and the process reached its zenith during
the period of Sulayman Alishan when Turkey dominated Europe
including the sea routes.
• Alamgir appointed a commission headed by the Nizam of India. The
result was comprehensive work called Fatawa Alamgiriyah, it covers
the entire spectrum of Islamic Law as expounded by the Fuqaha but
does not cover the law administered by the state. Moreover it was not
binding upon the subjects.

The Seventh Period: Colonialization
and After
• Most Islamic laws were slowly replaced by Western laws. Only
personal laws were left intact.
• In turkey, European laws were adopted by choice starting in 1850
Sharia penalties were dropped, interest was made permissible. The
sharia and khilafat system was completely abrogated after WWI by
Kamal Ataturk.
• In India, British rulers permitted the application of personal law.
However, in the application of Islamic laws, the judges did not
always stay within the confined manual of Islamic law and this
resulted in what is called Anglo-Mohammadan law.

• Lead by Hazrat Zayd ibn Thabit, Prophets's main scribe, to gather the written fragments
held by different members of the community. Zayd ibn Thabit, Muhammad's primary
and personal scribe, narrates:
"Abu Bakr sent for me at a time when the Yamama battles had witnessed the martyrdom of
numerous Companions. I found 'Umar bin al-Khattab with him. Abu Bakr began, Umar has
just come to me and said, 'In the Yamama battles death has dealt most severely with the
qurra',[Reciters of the Quran] and I fear it will deal with them with equal severity in other
theatres of war. As a result much of the Quran will be gone. " 'I am therefore of the opinion
that you should command the Quran be collected.'" Abu Bakr continued, "I said to 'Umar,
'How can we embark on what the Prophet never did?' 'Umar replied that it was a good
deed regardless, and he did not cease replying to my scruples until Allah reconciled me to
the undertaking, and I became of the same mind as him. Zaid, you are young and
intelligent, you used to record the revelations for Muhammad, and we know nothing to
your discredit. So pursue the Quran and collect it together." By Allah, had they asked me to
move a mountain it could not have been weightier than what they requested of me now".
(Al-Bukhari, Sahih, Jam'i al-Qur'an, hadith no. 4986; see also Ibn Abu Dawud, al-Masahif, pp. 6-9)
Revelation of Quran

Revelation of Quran
• Different ways through which Wahi was revealed.
1. Sound of ringing bell
2. Hazrat Jibril (as) himself
3. Indirect revelation on heart
4. Angle in the form of Sahabi
5. Dream

Revelation of Quran
• At the age of 40 on the night of Qadr
• In solitude on Mount Hira, Sura Alaq (‘Iqra’)
• Pause for 3 years until later revelation (Surah Mudasir
and others)
• Makki and Madni Surah
• Revealed over a period of 23 years gradually
• Reasons for gradual revelation
• Compilation of Quran: Hazrat Abu Bakr & Hazrat Uthman
• Major themes of Quran

Revelation of Quran
The Topic Pertaining to 05 Themes:
1. Injunctions (Ahkam): This includes the Incumbent, the Recommended, the
Approved, the Disapproved and the Forbidden, covering worships, social dealings,
household economy, and state politics. Its discussion is the responsibility of jurists.
2. Disputation (Mukhasimah): This deals with the four misguided sects, the Jews, the
Christians, the Polytheists and the Hypocrites, and its discussion and analysis falls
within the jurisdiction of dialecticians.
3. Divine Favours: This covers explanation of the creation of the Heavens and the
Earth, of the perfect attributes of God and the guidance which the people received
about necessities of life.
4. Past Events: important events which God caused to take place, favouring the
obedient and punishing the disobedient, stories of previous people and prophets
5. Death/ Resurrection/After Life: The Gathering, the Reckoning, the Balance, the
Paradise, and the Hell.

(Absolute Must DOs) (Absolute Must Not)
Makrooh/Disliked/Discouraged
Tanzeehi Tehreemi
Mubah
Mustahab
Ghair - muakadah
Wajib
Fardh
Haram
Sunnah
Muakadah
Ihsan
Nafil
Continuum of A’amaal

• Usul-e-Hadith
• Mutawatir
• Khabr-e-Wahid: (A/c to Number of Narrator)
– (Mashoor / Aziz / Ghareeb)
• Khabr-e-Wahid: (A/c to Originator)
– (Marfu / Mauqoof (Asr) / Maqtu’)
• Khabr-e-Wahid: (A/c to Attributes of Narrator)
– (Sahi / Hasan / Zaif/ Others)
• Khabir-e-Wahid: (A/c to Continuity of Chain)
– (Mutasil – Musnad – Munqatih – Muallaq – Mugzal – Mursal – Mudallas)
• Mouzu (Fabricated)
The Science of Hadith
Source: https://pdfcoffee.com/khairul-usool-english-pdf-free.html

Knowledge vs. Ideology
• Based on ‘Ilm
• Read first, then position
• Do not disagree until
understood
• Others may be valid also
• Long and difficult
• Based on ‘Aql
• Start with their own Ra’y
• Do not agree until
understood
• Only we are valid
• Short and easy
Knowledge Vs. Ideology

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