al-Ijtihad fi Manat al-Hukm al-Shari Dirasa Tasiliyya Tatbiqiyya
- Author died
- -
- Editions
- Takween Center for Studies and Research
al-Ijtihad fi Manat al-Hukm al-Shari: Dirasa Tasiliyya Tatbiqiyya (Legal Reasoning Regarding the Ratio of Sharia Rulings: A Theoretical and Applied Study) is an academic treatise on legal theory (usul al-fiqh) by Balqasim ibn Dhakir ibn Muhammad al-Zabidi . The book examines the concept of the ratio or locus of legal rulings (manat al-hukm) and the modes of juristic reasoning (ijtihad) associated with identifying, refining, and applying it in Islamic jurisprudence .
Origin and Publication
The work originated as a doctoral dissertation submitted to the Department of Usul al-Fiqh in the College of Sharia and Islamic Studies at Umm al-Qura University in 1435 AH (2014 CE), prepared under the academic supervision of Prof. Dr. Ghazi ibn Murshid al-Utaybi . It was published in its first edition in 1435 AH / 2014 CE by the Takwin Center for Studies and Research (Markaz Takwin li-l-Dirasat wa-l-Abhath) .
Subject and Structure
The book addresses the three classical divisions of legal reasoning concerning the manat (the operative cause or ratio legis of a ruling):
- Ascertainment of the Ratio (Tahqiq al-Manat): Investigating the presence of an already established ratio, universal legal rule, or general textual expression within specific cases and individual instances . The author explores its scopes, distinguishing between verification across broad categories (al-anwa') and application to specific concrete persons or items (al-ashkhas wa-l-a'yan), drawing on the frameworks developed by al-Shatibi .
- Refinement of the Ratio (Tanqih al-Manat): Isolating the effective legal cause by eliminating irrelevant attributes associated with a text (hadhf wa-ta'yin) or by negating legally relevant disparities between an original precedent and a new case (ilgha' al-fariq) .
- Extraction of the Ratio (Takhrij al-Manat): Deducing and eliciting an unstated legal cause from scriptural texts or consensus through systematic juristic inquiry and analogical reasoning (qiyas) .
Method and Historical Analysis
The work surveys the terminological evolution of these classifications across the major schools of legal theory. The author traces the earliest explicit treatment of the three categories in extant literature to Abu 'Ali al-Hasan ibn Shihab al-'Ukbari (d. 428 AH) in his Risala fi Usul al-Fiqh . It analyzes how Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (d. 505 AH) in al-Mustasfa categorized them under reasoning in effective causes (al-ijtihad fi al-'illa), a framework subsequently adopted by Ibn Qudama (d. 620 AH) in Rawdat al-Nazir, whereas Abu al-Hasan al-Amidi (d. 631 AH) in al-Ihkam fi Usul al-Ahkam explicitly utilized the phrasing al-ijtihad fi manat al-hukm . The book combines this theoretical history with applied discussions of contemporary and classical juridical problems .
Answer updated