LexIslamica Series – Book 2 – The Original Meaning of _anaf_ U__l al-Fiqh

Book excerpt: The texts of the Ḥanafī School on uṣūl al-fiqh written up to the end of the Fifth Century of the Hijrah show that the discipline of uṣūl al-fiqh was significantly different from what it turned out to be in the later centuries, which were more theoretical in nature as compared to the earlier texts. As Shāfi'ī uṣūlīs started wielding greater influence, especially the promotion of a different concept of the Sunnah and a more literal approach, Ḥanafī writers probably went on the defensive, incorporating ideas from Shāfi'ī uṣūl. The purpose of this book is not to trace the historical development of uṣūl al-fiqh, but to merely identify what the early uṣūlīs like Jaṣṣaṣ, Dabbūsī and Sarakhsī had to say about the discipline of uṣūl al-fiqh.Another aim is to find out the nature of the discipline during the early period that was responsible for growth and dynamism. The main emphasis, however, is on the meaning of uṣūl al-fiqh as a discipline and on the nature of the rules of interpretation (qawn̄īn uṣūliyyah).