al-Fikr al-Sami fi Tarikh al-Fiqh al-Islami
- Author died
- 1376 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya
al-Fikr al-Sami fi Tarikh al-Fiqh al-Islami (The Lofty Thought on the History of Islamic Jurisprudence) is a comprehensive treatise on the historiography, development, and methodology of Islamic jurisprudence by the Moroccan Maliki scholar and statesman Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Hajwi (1291–1376 AH / 1874–1956 CE) .
Background and Composition
The work originated in response to inquiries regarding how Islamic jurisprudence arose and developed across historical eras . al-Hajwi delivered summaries of substantial portions of the material as public lectures at the literary club of the secondary school in Fez around 1918 . He composed the initial text over several years and later supplemented it with additions and an appendix (dhayl), finishing the fair copy of the appendix in Rabat in Jumada al-Thaniyya 1349 AH .
Structure and Content
The author opens the treatise with three preliminary discourses: defining fiqh and whether it is purely religious knowledge, examining Arabian legal practices before Islam, and discussing the status of jurisprudence in Islam . The core body of the book is arranged chronologically into four principal developmental phases (atwar), mapping the evolution of jurisprudence onto the stages of human life :
- First Phase (Infancy / Tawr al-Tufuliyya): Spans the prophetic mission of Muhammad ﷺ until his death . It covers the primary scriptural sources of law (the Quran and Sunnah), foundational principles of derivation such as consensus (ijma), analogical reasoning (qiyas), public interest (masalih mursalah), and blocking the means (sadd al-dhara'i), alongside a historical survey of specific rulings enacted during the prophetic era .
- Second Phase (Youth / Tawr al-Shabab): Extends from the caliphate of the Rightly Guided Caliphs through the end of the second century AH . It details the expansion of the Islamic realm, the rise of independent legal reasoning (ijtihad), the methodology of judicial verdicts among the Companions and Successors, and biographies of prominent early jurists .
- Third Phase (Maturity / Tawr al-Kuhula): Covers the third and fourth centuries AH, a period marked by the formal recording of doctrines, the plateau of upward growth, the emergence of imitation (taqlid), and the eventual extinction of nine out of the thirteen recorded early legal schools .
- Fourth Phase (Old Age and Decrepitude / Tawr al-Shaykhukha wa-l-Haram): Begins in the fifth century AH and continues into modern times . It addresses legal stagnation, excessive abridgment of manuals, the mechanics of judicial practice ('amal), the question of whether the gate of ijtihad closed, reform efforts at University of al-Qarawiyyin, and biographical accounts of later scholars across the Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i, and Hanbali schools .
Reception and Publication
The work received commendations from senior contemporary scholars across North Africa. The Tunisian Maliki Shaykh al-Islam Muhammad al-Tahir ibn Ashur lauded its synthesis of legal philosophy, jurisprudence, and historical biography . Other scholars penned endorsements, including the Moroccan judge Ahmad Sukayrij, the former mufti of Fez Ismail al-Idrisi, the Tunisian military figure and writer Muhammad ibn Khuja, and the scholar al-Siddiq al-Fasi . It was also reviewed in newspapers and periodicals across Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Syria, and Egypt, including al-Sa'ada, al-Zahra, al-Najah, and al-Shihab .
The book was issued in four parts across multiple printing houses, including Matba'at al-Ma'arif in Rabat, Matba'at al-Baladiyya in Fez, and Matba'at al-Nahda in Tunis .
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