al-Tabsira fi Usul al-Fiqh
- Author died
- 476 AH
- Editions
- Dar Al-Fikr
al-Tabsira fi Usul al-Fiqh (Insight into the Principles of Jurisprudence) is a classical work on Islamic legal theory (usul al-fiqh) by the Shafi'i jurist and legal theorist Abu Ishaq al-Shirazi (393–476 AH / 1003–1083 CE) .
Title and Context of Composition
The author, Ibrahim ibn Ali ibn Yusuf al-Shirazi al-Firuzabadi, composed major treatises in both substantive law (fiqh) and legal theory (usul al-fiqh) . According to a report cited by Ibn Khallikan, al-Shirazi reportedly derived the titles of several of his primary works from the titles of books written by the grammarian Ibn Jinni; parallel to Ibn Jinni's titles, al-Shirazi composed al-Muhadhdhab and al-Tanbih in substantive jurisprudence, and al-Luma' and al-Tabsira in legal theory .
Method and Legal Doctrine
The treatise serves as one of al-Shirazi's detailed formulations of legal methodology within the Shafi'i school . In it, he examines theoretical principles and debates regarding legal transmission, deduction, and hermeneutics. Among the methodological questions he addresses in al-Tabsira is whether derived legal rulings (al-wujuh al-mukharraja)—deduced by Shafi'i jurists on the basis of the statements and textual precedents of Imam al-Shafi'i—may formally be attributed to al-Shafi'i himself as his own stated opinion . Al-Shirazi maintained that such extrapolated positions cannot legitimately be attributed to al-Shafi'i as his personal statements, a view he affirmed both in al-Tabsira and in his Sharh al-Luma', which was subsequently adopted by later Shafi'i authorities such as Ibn al-Salah and al-Nawawi .
Publication
The text was edited and studied by Muhammad Hasan Hito and published by Dar al-Fikr in Damascus .
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