THE PRINCIPLE OF ISLAMIC JURISPRUDENCE

This is the third and most
revised edition of one of the
best textbook on the subject of
Usool Al-Fiqh Al-Islami , (The
Principles of Islamic
Jurisprudence).
Usool Al-Fiqh is one of the main
realms of Islamic knowledge
and is so essential that not only
Fiqh—which is the practical
aspect of Islam and the way of
living and applying its laws –but
all other realms use it and rely upon it. In fact, the main function of these
Usool or principles is to help the scholars understand Islam and facilitate
its application by providing the people with tools they need to refer all
matters facing Muslim individuals and communities to the original and only
two textual sources of Islam, namely the Noble Quran and the Sunnah of
Prophet Muhammad so that all needed rulings and guidelines may be
derived from them, thus preserving their authenticity and insuring their
maximum credibility of correctness and validity. It is no wonder that many
students of knowledge complain of the dryness of Usool Al-Fiqh books and
difficulty of its subject matter—this book is no exception.
I know that it is a dense read, and that it can be boring if you are not a
student of the subject of the principles of Fiqh or someone who has a good
background in Islamic knowledge, yet I found Kamali's style to be
distinguished by clarity and readability. But this is a book that is best used
as textbook for a university level course or as a desk reference for varying
specialists and scholars of Islamic law who cannot access the principles of
Fiqh or Islamic knowledge in Arabic. Some of my colleagues mentioned
that Kamali tried his best to follow the style of earlier scholars in writing
about the subject, and they wished that he would change that to a style that
is more befitting to the learning abilities of today's student and in
accordance with today's methods of instruction. I am of the opinion that
both approaches have merits in teaching this kind of subject matter and
both may be effective in teaching the principles of Fiqh provided one has a
good teacher and the right learning environment—both of which are hard
to find considering today's situation of many of the so-called Islamic
universities.
The fact remains that when the Principles of Islamic jurisprudence was
first published, it offered an excellent addition to the few English Usool Al-
Fiqh textbooks available then. This edition, however, represents a far
better detailed and substantially expanded discussion of the same topics of
the earlier editions as well as newer ones. This excellent book,
nevertheless, can still benefit some of the essential enhancement that are
typical in the production process of academic books like, an expanded
index, extensive and more comprehensive glossary, authentication of
references especially the Hadeeth and certain quotations, more footnotes
and cross-referencing, among others.
Kamali was honestly seeking objectivity in adding the two sections about
the Usool of Al-Khawaarij and Shia sects. But while this may have worked
in the case of Al-Khawaarij, I do not think the inclusion of the Shia Usool
served objectivity. Not only that there are serious differences between the
Sunnah and Shia Usool, but the extent of discussion in this limited-scope
book of Usool does not permit a real discussion of comparative Usool Al-
Fiqh.
Furthermore, I wished that Kamali had left the topic of Tajdeed Usool Al-
Fiqh (the renewal of the Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence) out of this
book. This was another place where he failed to provide appropriate
discussion to issues that are essential but highly controversial. Dr
Mohammad Hashim Kamali is Professor of Law at the International Islamic
University, Malaysia, where he has been teaching Islamic law and
jurisprudence since 1985. Aspiring students should find this book very
informative.