Foundations of Jurisprudence - An Introduction to Imāmī Shīʿī Legal Theory

Jamāl al-Dīn Abū Manṣūr al-Ḥasan b. Sadīd al-Dīn Yūsuf b. Zayn al-Dīn ʿAlī b. al-Muṭahhar al-Ḥillī (d. 726 AH/ 1325 CE) was an influential and prolific scholar, jurist, and theologian of the Imāmī Shīʿī school of Ḥillah, whose unrivalled mastery of the Islamic sciences earned him the unique title of al-ʿAllāmah, or ‘Doctor Maximus’.Sayyid Amjad H. Shah Naqavi holds a PhD from the University of Edinburgh. He is the Dean of the Shīʿah Institute in London, the translator of The Mystery of Prayer (Brill, 2015), and is currently working on an English translation of the Nahj al-balāgah.

• Foreword xiiiPreface xvIntroduction 1Part One 11 The Life and Times of al-ʿAllāmah al-Ḥillī 12 The School of Ḥillah 43 Al-ʿAllāmah al-Ḥillī’s Jurisprudence 114 Mabādiʾ al-Wuṣūl ilā ʿIlm al-Uṣūl 125 Manuscripts and Methodology 13Part Two 151 The Epistemology of al-ʿAllāmah al-Ḥillī 162 Chapter One: On Languages 173 Chapter Two: On Rulings 304 Chapter Three: On the Commands and Prohibitions 355 Chapter Four: On Generality and Specificity 456 Chapter Five: On the Ambiguous and the Elucidated 497 Chapter Six: On Actions 528 Chapter Seven: On Abrogation 569 Chapter Eight: On Consensus 6010 Chapter Nine: On Narrations 6511 Chapter Ten: On Analogical Reasoning 7312 Chapter Eleven: On Preferment 7913 Chapter Twelve: On Juristic Reasoning and its Dependents 84The Foundations of Jurisprudence: An Introduction to Imāmī Shīʿī Legal Theory 97Prologue 991. On Languages (al-lughāt) 1011 Discussion One: On General Principles 1012 Discussion Two: On the Classification of Utterances 1033 Discussion Three: On the Homonym 1054 Discussion Four: On the Veritative and the Figurative 1075 Discussion Five: On the Contradiction of the States of the Utterances 1096 Discussion Six: A Well-Needed Commentary on Particles 1112. On Rulings (al-aḥkām) 1131 Discussion One: On Action 1132 Discussion Two: On the Ruling 1133 Discussion Three: On the Acts of Worship 1134 Discussion Four: On the Beautiful and the Ugly 1155 Discussion Five: On Thanking the Benefactor 1156 Discussion Six: On Things 1153. On the Commands (al-awāmir) and Prohibitions (al-nawāhī) 1171 Discussion One: On the Command 1172 Discussion Two: On the Imperative Form of the Verb being for Obligation 1193 Discussion Three: On the Command Not Demanding Repetition 1194 Discussion Four: On the Command Demanding Neither Expedition Nor Postponement 1215 Discussion Five: On the Conditioned Command being Non-Existent When the Condition is Non-Existent 1236 Discussion Six: On the Command that is Delimited by an Attribute not Becoming Non-Existent with the Non-Existence of the Attribute 1237 Discussion Seven: On the Chosen Obligation 1258 Discussion Eight: On the Obligation that is to be Performed within a Broad Period of Time 1259 Discussion Nine: On the Obligation on All Sufficed by the Performance by Some 12710 Discussion Ten: On the Obligation upon Which the Absolute Obligation Depends 12911 Discussion Eleven: On the Command of a Thing Necessitating the Prohibition of its Opposite 12912 Discussion Twelve: When the Obligation is Abrogated the Permissibility Remains 12913 Discussion Thirteen: On the Impossibility of an Injunction of the Impossible 13114 Discussion Fourteen: An Injunction on Ritual is not Dependant upon Faith 13115 Discussion Fifteen: On the Command Demanding Accomplishment 13316 Discussion Sixteen: On Whether the Impairment [of an act of worship] Demands the Obligation of [its] Compensatory Performance 13317 Discussion Seventeen: The Command to Command Something does not Constitute a Command for that thing 13518 Discussion Eighteen: The Non-Existent is not Commanded 13519 Discussion Nineteen: On the Obligation for the Intention of Obedience 13520 Discussion Twenty: On the Timing of the Attachment of the Command 13721 Discussion Twenty-One: On Prohibition 13722 Discussion Twenty-Two: On Whether Prohibition Demands Unsoundness 1394. On Generality (al-ʿumūm) and Specificity (al-khuṣūṣ) 1411 Discussion One: On the General and the Specific 1412 Discussion Two: On What is Added to Generality Though it is not Thereof 1433 Discussion Three: On Specification 1454 Discussion Four: On the Adherence to the General which is Specified 1475 Discussion Five: On Exception 1496 Discussion Six: On the Condition, the Attribute, and the Limit 1517 Discussion Seven: On the Specification by Separate Pieces of Evidence 151Availment 1558 Discussion Eight: On What is Considered a Specifier though it is not 1579 Discussion Nine: On the Predication of the Absolute to the Delimited 1595. On the Ambiguous (al-mujmal) and the Elucidated (al-mubayyan) 1611 Discussion One: On some of the Definitions 1612 Discussion Two: On the Setting Forth of the Ambiguous 1613 Discussion Three: On Things Which are Considered to be Ambiguous Whilst They are not as Such 1614 Discussion Four: On the Deferment of the Elucidation 1635 Discussion Five: On the Possibility of the Charged Agent Hearing the General without Hearing what Specifies it 1656. On Actions (al-afʿāl) 1671 Discussion One: On the Infallibility of the Prophets 1672 Discussion Two: On the Obligation of Following the Prophet 1693 Discussion Three: On the Preferment between the Statement and the Action 1714 Discussion Four: On the Prophet’s Following of Prior Revealed Laws 1717. On Abrogation (al-naskh) 1731 Discussion One: On the Definition Thereof 1732 Discussion Two: On the Possibility Thereof 1733 Discussion Three: On the Abrogation of a Thing Prior to the Expiration of its Time of Performance 1774 Discussion Four: On What it is Possible to Abrogate 1775 Discussion Five: Addition to and Omission of Acts of Worship 1798. On Consensus (al-ijmāʿ) 1831 Discussion One: On the Consensus of the ummah of Muḥammad 1832 Discussion Two: On Introducing a Third Opinion 1833 Discussion Three: On That by which Consensus is and is not Established 1854 Discussion Four: On The Conditions for Consensus 1879. On Narrations (al-akhbār) 1891 Discussion One: On the Definition of a Narration and its Classifications 1892 Discussion Two: On Continuance Conveying Knowledge 1893 Discussion Three: On the Conditions of the Continuous Narration 1914 Discussion Four: On the Classifications which Signify the Truth of a Narration 1915 Discussion Five: On the Solitary Narration 1916 Discussion Six: On the Qualifications for a Transmitter of a Narration 1937 Discussion Seven: On that which is Considered a Condition Whilst it is not 1958 Discussion Eight: On Rejected Narrations 1979 Discussion Nine: On Invalidation and Validation 19710. On Analogical Reasoning (al-qiyās) 2011 Discussion One: On the Definition of Analogical Reasoning 2012 Discussion Two: On Analogical Reasoning not being a Legal Proof 2013 Discussion Three: On the Connection of the Unspoken to the Spoken 2054 Discussion Four: On the Ruling in Which the Cause is Explicitly Designated 2055 Discussion Five: On the Derived Cause 20711. On Preferment (al-tarjīḥ) 2151 Discussion One: On the Contradiction of Two Pieces of Evidence 2152 Discussion Two: On the Course of Action When Two Equal Pieces of Evidence Present Themselves 2173 Discussion Three: On the Ruling of Contradictory Pieces of Evidence 2194 Discussion Four: On the Preferment of the Narrations 22112. On Juristic Reasoning (al-ijtihād) and its Dependents 2251 Discussion One: On Juristic Reasoning 2252 Discussion Two: On the Qualifications of the Skilled Practitioner of Juristic Reasoning 2273 Discussion Three: On the Correctness of the Skilled Practitioner of Juristic Reasoning 2294 Discussion Four: On the Changing of Juristic Reasoning 2295 Discussion Five: On the Permissibility of Compliance with the Conclusions of the Skilled Practitioner of Juristic Reasoning 2316 Discussion Six: On the Conditions for Seeking an Edict 2337 Discussion Seven: On the Ediction of One Who is not a Skilled Practitioner of Juristic Reasoning 2338 Discussion Eight: On the One Who has not Attained the Degree of Juristic Reasoning 2339 Discussion Nine: On the Presumption of Continuity 235Epilogue 237Appendix 238Bibliography of Primary Sources 258Bibliography of Secondary Sources 263Index 268Index of Qurʾānic Verses 274