Introduction

The science of legal theory (usul al-fiqh) studies how to infer the rulings of Sacred Law directly from the Qur’an and sunna. This course will clear your confusions over (1) the role of scholarly consensus (ijma’) in preserving Islam; (2) how the Sunna of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) was preserved; (3) and the role of human reason in interpreting the Qur’an and Sunna. Since the Qur’an and Sunna are both in Arabic, some knowledge of Arabic, however, is a highly recommended prerequisite to this course. But the instructor makes every effort to explain things in a way that can be understood by English speakers without any knowledge of Arabic

• This is a second-level course

• Complete Step One before taking this course

Course Outline

Session 1	Lesson 1 -Imam al-Juwayni and the Waraqat Lesson 2 – Usul, Fiqh, and Usul al-Fiqh Lesson 3 – What is Fiqh?
Session 2	Lesson 4 – The Rulings of Sacred Law Lesson 5 – Probabilistic Inference Lesson 6 – What is Usul al-Fiqh?
Session 3	Lesson 7 – What is Speech and Why is it Important? Lesson 8 – Kinds of Speech in Legal Inference Lesson 9 – Literal and Figurative Speech
Session 4	Lesson 10 – How to Discern Figurative Speech Lesson 11 – Four Examples of Figurative Speech
Session 5	Lesson 12 – Commands, Prohibitions, and Moral Responsibility Lesson 13 – How to Fulfill One’s Moral Responsibility
Session 6	Lesson 14 – Who is Morally Responsible? Lesson 15-  Is a Prohibited Action Also Invalid?
Session 7	Lesson 16 – What are Inclusive Expressions? Lesson 17 – Excluding from Inclusive Expressions
Session 8	Lesson 18 – Excluding by the Sunna Lesson 19 – Excluding by Analogy Lesson 20 – Excluding by Revelatory Context
Session 9	Lesson 21 – The Different Strengths of Linguistic Signification
Session 10	Lesson 22 – The Figurative Interpretation of Probabilistic Expressions Lesson 23 – Why Anthropomorphists are Mistaken
Session 11	Lesson 24 – Prophets are Divinely Protected from Sin Lesson 25 – What can be inferred from the fact that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) did something?
Session 12	Lesson 26 – Prophetic Approval Lesson 27 – What can be inferred from the fact that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) did not do something?
Session 13	Lesson 27 – What can be inferred from the fact that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) did not do something?
Session 14	Lesson 28 – Abrogation is Possible and it Actually Happened Lesson 29 – Abrogation of Qur’anic Commands and Prohibitions
Session 15	Lesson 30 – Kinds of New Rulings After Abrogation Lesson 31 – Abrogation by the Qur’an and Abrogation by the Sunna
Session 16	Lesson 32 – Evidentiary Conflict and Reconciliation
Session 17	Lesson 33 – Scholarly Consensus of the Muslim Umma is Never Wrong Lesson 34 – Scholarly Consensus is the Impenetrable Fortress of Islam
Session 18	Lesson 35 – Explicit and Implicit Scholarly Consensus Lesson 36 – Ijtihad of a Companion
Session 19	Lesson 37 – Isnad is the Distinction of the Muslim Umma Lesson 38 – Kinds of Transmitted Reports
Session 20	Lesson 39 – Mursal Hadiths Lesson 40 – How Hadiths Were Transmitted
Session 21	Lesson 41 – Human Reason and the Sacred Law Lesson 42 – Kinds of Legal Analogy
Session 22	Lesson 43 – The Initially Presumed Ruling of Sacred Law Lesson 44 – The Presumption of Continuity
Session 23	Lesson 45 – The Precedence-Order of Legal Evidence
Session 24	Lesson 46 – The Conditions of Ijtihad Lesson 47 – Following Qualified Scholarship Lesson 48 – Is Every Mujtahid Correct?

What You Will Learn:

• Explain what Islamic legal theory is and why it needs to be studied
• Learn how to interpret the Qur’an and Sunna
• Memorize the definitions of key terms in the science of Islamic legal theory
• Appreciate the depth of scholarship of all four Sunni schools of Islamic jurisprudence
• Apply the techniques of Islamic legal theory to gain clarity on contemporary religious debates about literalism, ijtahad and taqlid, and bid‘a

About the Course Text

This course is a contemporary explanation of al-Waraqat, a primer on Islamic legal theory (usul al-fiqh) by Imam al-Haramayn al-Juwayni (d. 478 A.H. / 1085 C.E.). Imam al-Juwayni was an imam (i.e., someone who is taken as an exemplar) of the Islamic sciences in the fullest sense of the word: he authored multi-volume seminal works in Shafi‘i jurisprudence, Islamic theology, and Islamic legal theory, that became the basis for all future work in each science. His al-Waraqat is a short work that brings his vast scholarship in the science of Islamic legal theory down to the level of an absolute beginner. Ever since it was written almost a thousand years ago, students of the Shafi‘i, Maliki, and Hanbali schools have successfully used it to begin their study of Islamic legal theory. A translation of the course text is provided as part of the course materials.