Slides from Dr Mohd. Afandi Bin Awang Hamat, IIUM,UIAM

1. THE SOURCES OF LAW
SUMBER2 HUKUM
‫ةةةة‬
‫ةةةةةة‬
‫ة‬

2. OUTLINE
 Introduction
 Classification of Sources:
a. Origin
b. Application
c. Authoritativeness

3. INTRODUCTION
 Source = Dalil
 Technical Meaning of ‘dalil’
A valid examination of which yields transmitted information (hukm)
 Dalil is equivalent to:
Usul al-Ahkam [The roots of the Ahkam]
al-Masadir al-Shar’iyyah li al-Ahkam [Legal sources of the Ahkam]
 The evidences of religious law from which the law and legal
obligations of the Muslim are derived.

4. Meaning of Source or Dalil
Prof Kamali in his book “Principles of Islamic
Jurisprudence” mentions that Source or Dalil Literally
means proof, indication or evidence. Technically it is
an indication from which a practical rule of Shari’ah,
or a hukm is deduced from. These sources may be
text or nass or may be ijtihad or ray’, The sources
may also agreed upon by all Muslim jurists or these
sources may be disagreed upon among Muslim
jurists. The hukm so obtained may also be definitive
(qat’i') or it may be speculative (zanni) depending on
the nature of the subject, clarity of the text, and the
value which it seeks to establish.

5. CLASSIFICATION OF THE SOURCES
 Islamic scholars have classified the sources of Islamic law into
various classifications.
 Classification according to the origin:
a. Textual sources [al-Nass]
b. Non-textual sources [al-Ra’i]
 Classification according to the application:
a. Agreed upon [Muttafaq ‘alayha]
b. Disagreed upon [Mukhtalaf fiha]
 Classification according to the authoritativeness:
a. Definitive sources [al-Qat’iyyah]
b. Probable sources [al-Zanniyyah]

6. 1-Classification According To The Origin
 Al-Nass: al-Qur’an and al-Sunnah.
These two are called ‘textual’ because the Qur’an and the corpus
of Hadith are wholly contained between the covers of books, or
because the two are the texts of revelation.
 al-Ra’y or Ijtihad
The sources which are based on ‘the power of reasoning’ and
therefore are non-textual sources because it based on the
exercise of human intellect.

7. The Sources of Islamic Law

8. 2-Classification According To The Application
 Agreed upon [Muttafaq alayha]
Sources in which the scholars of Islamic law are in agreement in
utilizing them.
 Disagreed Upon [Mukhtalaf fiha]
Sources in which the scholars differ in utilizing them as a basis in
deducing the rulings.

9. SOURCES OF ISLAMIC LAW

10. PROBABLEDEFINITIVE
THE SOURCES OF LAW
TRANSMISSIONMEANING TRANSMISSIONMEANING
3- Classification According To The Authoritativeness

11.  With respect to transmission (Qatiyyah al-
Thubut)
A source is qat’i (definitive) if it has been reported by a large
group of people from a similarly large group of people, who
are not the subject of suspicion because they could not have
assembled all together to fabricate a falsehood. (tawatur)
 With respect to the meaning(Qatiyyah al-Dilalah)
A source is definitive when the text of the transmitted dalil
(evidence) indicates something about which there can only
be one meaning.
3-Classification According To The Authoritativeness

12. 3-AUTHORITATIVENESS – Cont’d
 Qat’iyyah al-Thubut wa al-Dilalah
Sources that are definitive with respect to sanad (transmission) and
definitive with respect to meaning.
 Qat’iyyah al-Thubut, Zanniyyah al-Dilalah
Sources that are definitive with respect to sanad (transmission) but
are probable with respect to meaning.
 Zanniyyah al-Thubut, Qat’iyyah al-Dilalah
Sources that are probable with respect to sanad (transmission) but
are definitive with respect to the implied meaning.
 Zanniyyah al-Thubut wa al-Dilalah
Sources that probable with respect to both sanad (transmission) and
meaning.

13.  Qat’iyyah al-Thubut wa al-Dilalah
Sources that are definitive with respect to sanad (transmission) and
definitive with respect to meaning.
 Refers to the texts of the Qur’an and the Sunnah Mutawatirah that
convey single meanings.
 Example:
‫ة‬‫ة‬‫ة‬‫ة‬‫ة‬‫ة‬‫ة‬‫ة‬ ‫ج‬‫ة‬‫ة‬‫ة‬‫ة‬‫ةة‬‫ة‬
“The woman and the man guilty of illegal sexual intercourse, flog each of
them with a hundred stripes. Let not pity withhold you in their case, in a
punishment prescribed by Allah, if you believe in Allah and the Last Day. And
let a party of the believers witness their punishment”.
[Al-Nur: 2]
3-AUTHORITATIVENESS – Cont’d

14.  Qat’iyyah al-Thubut, Zanniyyah al-Dilalah
Sources that are definitive with respect to sanad (transmission) but
are probable with respect to meaning.
 Refers to the texts of the Qur’an and the Sunnah Mutawatirah that
convey more than one meaning, that is subject to different
interpretation.
 Example
‫ة‬‫ة‬‫ة‬‫ة‬‫ة‬‫ة‬‫ةة‬‫ة‬‫ة‬‫ة‬‫ة‬‫ة‬ ‫ج‬‫ةةة‬‫ة‬‫ة‬‫ة‬‫ة‬‫ة‬‫ةة‬‫ة‬
O you who believe! If you wish to pray, wash your faces, your hands as far as
the elbows, partially wipe your heads and your feet as high as the ankles.
[al-Maidah: 6]
3-AUTHORITATIVENESS – Cont’d

15.  Zanniyyah al-Thubut, Qat’iyyah al-Dilalah
Sources that are probable with respect to sanad
(transmission) but are definitive with respect to the implied
meaning.
 Refers to the hadiths of the Prophet s.a.w. that were
transmitted by one of two individuals in the first three
generations.
 Example:
Two types of dead animal : Grasshopper (Belalang)
and Whale (ikan paus): Two tyyes of blood: Heart
(hati) and lung (paru2)
3-AUTHORITATIVENESS – Cont’d

16.  Zanniyyah al-Thubut wa al-Dilalah
Sources that probable with respect to both sanad
(transmission) and meaning.
 Refers to the traditions that were transmitted by one of two
narrators and convey more than one meaning.
 Example:
The Prophet s.a.w. is reported to have said:
“The killer shall not inherit (from his victim).
A question arises whether the killing here means qatl ‘amd
(killing with intention or qatl khata’ or killing by mistake).
***The jurists have disagreement in the matter.
3-AUTHORITATIVENESS – Cont’d

17. CLASSIFICATION OF THE SOURCES
 Islamic scholars have classified the sources of Islamic law into
various classifications.
 Classification according to the origin:
a. Textual sources [al-Nass]
b. Non-textual sources [al-Ra’i]
 Classification according to the application:
a. Agreed upon [Muttafaq ‘alayha]
b. Disagreed upon [Mukhtalaf fiha]
 Classification according to the authoritativeness:
a. Definitive sources [al-Qat’iyyah]
b. Probable sources [al-Zanniyyah]

18. FINISH