What are the main sources of Muhammadan Law? Explain them with their corresponding importance over the other.

Question: What are the main sources of Muhammadan Law? Explain them with their corresponding importance over the other.

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Answer

Islam is an Abrahamic religion and it is one of the most followed religions in the world. The primary sources of Islamic law are the Holy Book (The Quran), The Sunnah (the traditions or known practices of the Prophet Muhammad), Ijma’ (Consensus), and Qiyas (Analogy).

These sources are given below:-

1. Al-Qur’an

The Holy Quran is the first and most important source of Islamic law. The word Qur’an literally means “the reading” or “the recitation”, and refers to the divinely revealed scripture given to Prophet Muhammad. Since Prophet Muhammad is considered the last prophet of God, the Qur’an is considered the ultimate revelation from God to humanity. Some years after the Prophet Muhammad’s death, the verses of the Quran were compiled into a written text, arranged in 114 surahs, generally in decreasing order of length, with each surah representing a chapter or division of the Book. All the teachings, tenets, principles, and practices of Islam originate from the holy Quran. It is the final authority on any issue related to Muslim Personal Laws. It is the first and legislative code of Islam.

2. Sunnah

Sunna literally signifies the ‘trodden path’. The Sunnah is the next important source, the Sunnah or path or way of Prophet Muhammad. The Sunnah consists of the sayings, deeds, and words of Prophet Muhammad which are not revelations of the Quran. In order to understand the teachings of the Quran, the understanding of Sunnah is compulsory. It is the traditions or known practices of the Prophet Muhammad, accepting words, deeds, silent assertions about him, and statements and activities, many of which have been recorded in versions of Hadith literature.

Sunna consists of:

• Sunnat-ul-Qual (Word spoken)
• Sunnat-ul-Fail (Conduct)
• Sunnat-ul-Tahrir (Silence)

3. Hadith (Hadees)

Hadiths are the books containing the Sunnah. It means that Sunnah is the actions and words spoken by the Prophet and Hadith is the Scripture where these are recorded. It is believed that the Prophet forbade his followers from writing his preaching and his actions. He believed that writing what was being done might cause confusion between his actions and the words of the Quran. Therefore, no hadith has been discovered from the time of the Prophet. Nevertheless, it is believed that after his death, the Sunnah was written down in several books and all compiled together are called the Hadiths.

To ensure the authenticity of the books, the Muslim scholars wrote the Hadith with the reference of their source and the reference of the reference so that all the references link in some way to the Prophet or an Imam. All measures were taken to maintain the veracity of the wordings in the Hadiths.

Generally speaking, Hadiths are not different from Sunnah and therefore, there is no hierarchy between them. Sunnah is what is being followed while Hadith is the book containing the Sunnah like the texts contained in the textbook.

4. Ijma

The term ijma means a consensus, i.e. the agreement between all on a particular point of fact or law. When all the judges in the Supreme Court unanimously agree to a point and pronounce judgment on that point, it becomes a precedent and a binding law. Similarly, Ijma is a concept of law made by the consensus of all Islamic jurists or other persons of knowledge and skill.

It is based on the belief that when all the most revered persons of the society having maximum knowledge of the Quran have together taken a decision, it should be for the benefit of the Muslim community.

Like Sunnah was mostly founded and followed by Shia Muslims, Ijma is followed by the Sunni sect. Ijma comes after the Quran and Sunnah as a source of Islamic law. The Sunni Muslims believed that Ijma is as important as the Quran or the Sunna because it constitutes the united and congruent opinion of all the Muslims. However, the Shia sect believed that the Ijmas are not free from errors and cannot be relied on.

5. Qiyas

As Islam spread in different parts of the world, they rendezvous with several other communities such as Byzantines and Persians, and with the passage of time new difficulties arose. The Holy Quran was not capable of dealing with new emerging difficulties arising from contact with the outside world.

To resolve this problem, the Muslim jurists commenced referring to Quran and Sunnah to compare the situations and deduce an answer to the problem on the basis of some analogy. When the answer is found and all the jurists together agree to it, it was called the Qiyas. Thus, Qiyas is Ijmas based on deductive logic.

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