Taysir Ilm Usul al-Fiqh
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- Mu'assasat al-Rayyan li al-Tiba'ah wa al-Nashr wa al-Tawzi'
Taysir Ilm Usul al-Fiqh (Taysīr ‘Ilm Uṣūl al-Fiqh, "Facilitating the Science of the Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence") is a contemporary treatise on Islamic legal theory authored by Abd Allah al-Juday . The work was written to simplify and systematize the principles of jurisprudence (usul al-fiqh) for students and aspiring jurists, presenting it as an essential auxiliary science .
Background and Composition
The author completed the work in Leeds, United Kingdom, on the Day of Arafah, Dhu al-Hijjah 1417 AH (April 16, 1997 CE) . It served as the inaugural publication of the Islamic Research Centre (Markaz al-Buhuth al-Islamiyyah), which al-Juday' established in the United Kingdom .
In his introduction, al-Juday' frames the book as an attempt to return the discipline of legal theory to its original scriptural foundations, emulating the method pioneered by al-Shafi'i (d. 204 AH) in his al-Risala, which drew principles directly from the Quran and the Sunnah without dialectical overburdening . He also drew upon valuable insights from later Hanafi theorists, such as Abu Bakr al-Jassas (d. 370 AH), and other schools while stripping away scholastic theological (kalam) digressions that offered no practical legal utility . Al-Juday' also acknowledged earlier 20th-century efforts to simplify legal theory, specifically citing the works of Abd al-Wahhab Khallaf and Abd al-Karim Zaydan .
Methodology and Features
The work is organized through systematic definitions, thematic divisions, and illustrations drawn directly from scriptural sources . Key methodological features include:
- Strict hadith verification: The author conditioned that every prophetic narration (hadith) and report (athar) used for deduction or exemplification must be critically authenticated, drawing them directly from primary hadith compendia (such as Sahih al-Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, and the Sunan) rather than relying on unverified citations or imitating earlier usuli treatises .
- Purification of subject matter: It excludes extraneous philosophical and speculative questions historically attached to usul al-fiqh while incorporating authentic foundational matters often overlooked in standard manuals .
- Synthesizing school traditions: It integrates usuli concepts scattered across the Shafi'i, Hanafi, and theological methodologies into a unified, accessible manual .
- Streamlined apparatus: To keep the volume concise and accessible, the author omitted extensive isnad critical chains (takhrij) and avoided heavy footnote citations, listing his principal references at the end of the volume .
Publication History
The book was first published in 1997 CE (1418 AH) by the Islamic Research Centre in Leeds and distributed through Mu'assasat al-Rayyan in Beirut . It went through several subsequent reprints by Mu'assasat al-Rayyan, including a second edition in 1421 AH and a third edition in 1425 AH (2004 CE) .
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