Primary and secondary sources of Islamic law

AL-QURAN
Literally al-Quran derives from the word qara’a which means reading or recitation. Technically
al-Quran can be defined as the book containing the speech of god revealed to the prophet
Muhammad (SAW) in Arabic and transmitted to us by continuous testimony or tawatur to be the
light to all human beings till the judgment day.

Muslim jurists either traditional or contemporary unanimously agreed that al-Quran is the most
authoritative source of law, which is unquestionable and definitive as Allah (SWT) says in surah
al-Baqarah verse 2: “This is the Book in which there is no doubt (Since its author Allah the
Creator of Universe possesses complete and perfect knowledge, there is no room for doubt of
its content”.

SUNNAH
Sunnah, linguistically, means a path or a way. As a juristic term “Sunnah” has different
meanings to various disciplines of the Islamic culture.

Sunnah refers to all that is narrated from the Prophet (SAW), his acts, his sayings, whatever he
has tacitly approved, and all the reports which describe his physical attributes and character.
Sunnah thus refers to another source of Shariah along with the Quran.

IJMA’
Ijma is the verbal noun of the Arabic word Ajmaa, which has two meanings:
1) to determine
2) to agree upon something.
There are many types of Ijma discussed in the books of Usul al Fiqh. Some of these being, Ijma’
al-Ummah, Ijma al-Mujtahideen, Ijma ahl-Bayt, Ijma al-Madinah and ljma as-Sahabah.

QIYAS
The linguistic meaning of Qiyas is measurement. As a juristic term Qiyas is the extension of a
Shariah ruling from an original case to a new case because of the equivalence of the causes
underlying them (illah).

There are specific guidelines and requirements for Qiyas explained in the books of Usul al Fiqh.
One such guideline is that there should be no existing ruling from the Quran, Sunnah, and Ijma
as Sahabah for the new case.

Some of the other requirements for Qiyas are that the original ruling has to be from
Quran, Sunnah, and Ijma as Sahabah, not from another Qiyas. In addition, the texts of the
Quran, Sunnah, and Ijma as Sahabah must contain the justification for the ruling.
ISTIHSAN
Istihsan literally means to approve or to do something preferable. As a juristic term, Istihsan is
defined as shifting from one Qiyas to another Qiyas due to a reason or suspending a Qiyas for a
reason. A Mujtahid may take into consideration any of these options.

1. Istihsan by Qiyas - switching from a ruling of Qiyas to an other ruling of Qiyas due to a
stronger reason.
2. Istihsan by necessity - shifting to another Qiyas due to necessity.
3. Istihsan by Sunnah - Canceling the Qiyas due to a contradiction caused by the Hadih
4. Istihsan by Ijma as Sahabah - canceling a ruling from Qiyas due to a contradiction
caused by the Ijma as Sahabah

MASLAHAH AL MURSALAH
Maslahah is the consideration of public interest or benefit in deriving the rulings. Deriving the
rulings based on maslahah aims at protecting the five core values of the Shariah which are:

1) Protection of the religion;

Any rulings that uphold these core values or evading the mafsadah (evil) fall within the concept
of maslahah. The maslahah must be general and aimed at preventing harm or protecting the
public interest at large. Maslahah should not be used to a particular person or a group of
persons. It should give the benefit or interest to the largest possible number of people in the
society.

Maslahah should not be in any conflict with the injunctions or principle and value upheld in the
Al-Quran, the sunnah or ijma’. The rulings to be made using maslahah must derive more
benefits than harms – i.e., benefits outweigh harms that possibly come from such rulings.

‘URF
‘Urf is an Arabic term that refers to the customary practice or knowledge of the people or given
society (i.e., social tradition). The word “customary” indicates that the sayings or actions are
applied repeatedly until such words or actions are accepted by society. However, should there
be any disagreement between the customary practice or knowledge against the Al-Quran and
the Sunnah, such customary practice and knowledge are disregarded.

ISTISHAB
Istishab refers to the principle of the presumption of continuity. Istishab holds the principle
where the rulings given in the past are presumed to be valid until there is new evidence that
suggests otherwise or contrary to the earlier rulings. This presumption applies to both the
positive and negative rulings. This means if in the past a specific rule was proved as positive,
such rule will remain positive until there is proof or evidence which suggests otherwise is
established. For example, a concluded contract is Shariah compliance until there is proof that
suggests otherwise.

SADD DHARAI’E
In the terminology of usul al-fiqh (jurisprudence fundamentals) scholars, they give various of
difference meaning of al-dhari‘ah word. The dispute may be inferred as following:

1. The group has opinion that al-dhari‘ah is an intermediary to something either toward to
the prohibited matter or permitted. During the discussing of this topic, al-Qarafi defines it
as “al-Dhari‘ah is each way (intermediary) to something”.
2. This group has opinion that it is a matter where the origin of the law is permissible but
become relatival or intermediary to a prohibited matter.
3. “Al-Dhari‘ah is a connector or a way leads to a matter, but it more recognizable in ‘urf
(custom) and among scholars as something leading to the prohibited matter”.