Fiqh al-Nawazil
- Author died
- 1429 AH
- Editions
- Mu'assasat al-Risalah
Fiqh al-Nawazil (Jurisprudence of Novel Issues) is a contemporary legal treatise by the Saudi scholar Bakr Abu Zayd (d. 1429 AH / 2008 CE) examining emergent modern legal, financial, and bioethical dilemmas under Islamic jurisprudence.
Scope and Structure
The work was published in two volumes and compiles independent analytical monographs addressing specific unprecedented matters (nawazil), defined by the author as newly emerging cases and occurrences often referred to in modern usage as "theories" or "phenomena." Abu Zayd explicitly noted his deliberate preference for the classical term nawazil over borrowed expressions like "theories" (nazariyyat).
The first volume encompasses five focused treatises:
- Al-Taqnin wa-al-Ilzam (Codification and Binding Judicial Enforcement), examining the history, legality, and arguments surrounding the codification of Islamic law and restricting judges to a specific legal school or statute.
- Al-Muwada'ah fi al-Istilah (Conventional Agreement in Terminology).
- Khitab al-Daman al-Banki (Bank Letters of Guarantee), addressing modern commercial and banking contracts.
- Jihaz al-In'ash wa-'Alamat al-Wafah (Resuscitation Devices and the Sign of Death), analyzing medical life support and criteria for determining biological death.
- Turuq al-Injab fi al-Tibb al-Hadith: Tifl al-Anabib (Methods of Reproduction in Modern Medicine: Test-Tube Babies), covering artificial reproduction and in vitro fertilization.
Methodology
Abu Zayd followed a comparative, evidence-based approach modeled after the method of Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn al-Qayyim. He systematically presents each differing viewpoint along with its respective arguments and potential harms or benefits, followed by critical refutations and a deduced preference grounded in the texts of the Quran and the Sunnah.
The drafting of the individual studies spanned several years; for instance, the treatise on codification was initially drafted in Medina in 1392 AH and finalized in its final copy in Riyadh in 1401 AH.
Publication History
The work was published in Beirut by Mu'assasat al-Risalah, with its first edition appearing in 1416 AH / 1996 CE. Subsequent printings and editions by Mu'assasat al-Risalah appeared in 1422 AH, 1423 AH, and 1433 AH in Beirut and Damascus.
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