Modernizing Islamic Thought: Difference between revisions

In the second part of the book, considering the significance of [[usul al-fiqh]] in the structure of [[Sunni]] [[ijtihad]] and the abundance of writings on the subject, al-Sharafi seeks to critique the foundational assumptions and six main presuppositions of Sunni jurisprudential theory ([[usul al-fiqh]]) in light of contemporary conditions. He emphasizes the need to contemporize (ta'sir) this discipline. He believes that all the foundational principles upon which this science is built are human constructs, and therefore, at minimum, we should be able to question whether these principles align with modern realities.

The six presuppositions and his critiques are as follows:

# '''The Principle of the Pervasiveness of Sharīʿah Rulings over All Human Actions:''' Al-Sharafi traces the idea that every human action must fall under one of the five legal rulings ([[al-ahkam al-khamsah]]) to the ideas of [[al-Shafi'i]] and subsequent jurists, particularly the notion: “Kullu mā nazala bi-Muslimin fīhi ḥukmun lāzim…” (كُلُّ ما نَزَلَ بِمُسلِمٍ فَفِيهِ حُكمٌ لازِم...).<ref>Al-Shafi'i, al-Risalah, p. 477.</ref> He argues that although earlier religions contained this notion of sacred law dominating all spheres of life, this idea did not exist among early Muslims. They engaged freely in cultural exchange and adopted elements from various civilizations without religiously codifying every interaction (pp. 48–50).

# '''The Principle of the Continuity of the Prophet’s Practice (Sunnah) in the Eras of the Companions, Followers, and Their Followers:''' Al-Sharafi considers this presumption an illusion. He believes its roots lie in Christian theology, particularly Catholicism, where the continuity of Christ’s tradition is claimed through the Popes (p. 51).

# '''The Principle of Basing Divine Rulings on Outward Forms:''' Al-Sharafi attributes this principle to the jurists’ and theorists’ concern for social cohesion, believing that conformity to external appearances ensures unity among Muslims. However, he sees this as producing hypocrisy, secrecy, ostentation, and duplicity (p. 54).

# '''Equating Jurists’ Rulings with Divine Law:''' He states that one of the foundational assumptions in [[Sunni]] usul is to consider the standards and rules of the discipline as identical to God’s law. This gave rise to the two major schools of thought: [[musawwibah]] (those who believe every sincere juristic opinion is correct) and [[mukhti'ah]] (those who believe only one opinion is correct). Al-Sharafi notes that early jurists were far more cautious and hesitant to attribute [[halal]] or [[haram]] to God and exercised meticulous care in issuing rulings (p. 55).

==Critique of the Sources of Derivation==