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The reference book “Foundations of Jurisprudence: An Introduction to Imāmī Shīʿī Legal Theory” is a critical edition of Mabādiʾ al-wuṣūl ilā ʿilm al-uṣūl by al-ʿAllāmah al-Ḥillī.
Foundations of Jurisprudence: An Introduction to Imāmī Shīʿī Legal Theory is a critical edition of Mabādiʾ al-wuṣūl ilā ʿilm al-uṣūl by al-ʿAllāmah al-Ḥillī, based upon six manuscripts, four of which date from the lifetime of the author. Sayyid Amjad H. Shah Naqavi has provided a critical edition of the Arabic text, along with an English translation, and analytical introduction.
ʿAllāmah al-Ḥillī participated in leading debates of his day and applied his vast erudition in philosophy, logic, and theology to the paramount subject of jurisprudence. This text presents an exemplar of the rich revival of Shīʿī scholarship in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries CE. Concise, yet comprehensive, this work sets the standard for the subsequent development and discussion of Imāmī Shīʿī legal theory, such that its influence can be traced through to modern times. This dual-text edition is indispensible for students and scholars of Imāmi Shīʿī jurisprudence.
Table of contents
Preface xvIntroduction 1
Part One 1
1 The Life and Times of al-ʿAllāmah al-Ḥillī 1
2 The School of Ḥillah 4
3 Al-ʿAllāmah al-Ḥillī’s Jurisprudence 11
4 Mabādiʾ al-Wuṣūl ilā ʿIlm al-Uṣūl 12
5 Manuscripts and Methodology 13
Part Two 15
1 The Epistemology of al-ʿAllāmah al-Ḥillī 16
2 Chapter One: On Languages 17
3 Chapter Two: On Rulings 30
4 Chapter Three: On the Commands and Prohibitions 35
5 Chapter Four: On Generality and Specificity 45
6 Chapter Five: On the Ambiguous and the Elucidated 49
7 Chapter Six: On Actions 52
8 Chapter Seven: On Abrogation 56
9 Chapter Eight: On Consensus 60
10 Chapter Nine: On Narrations 65
11 Chapter Ten: On Analogical Reasoning 73
12 Chapter Eleven: On Preferment 79
13 Chapter Twelve: On Juristic Reasoning and its Dependents 84
The Foundations of Jurisprudence: An Introduction to Imāmī Shīʿī Legal Theory 97
Prologue 99
1. On Languages (al-lughāt) 101
1 Discussion One: On General Principles 101
2 Discussion Two: On the Classification of Utterances 103
3 Discussion Three: On the Homonym 105
4 Discussion Four: On the Veritative and the Figurative 107
5 Discussion Five: On the Contradiction of the States of the Utterances 109
6 Discussion Six: A Well-Needed Commentary on Particles 111
2. On Rulings (al-aḥkām) 113
1 Discussion One: On Action 113
2 Discussion Two: On the Ruling 113
3 Discussion Three: On the Acts of Worship 113
4 Discussion Four: On the Beautiful and the Ugly 115
5 Discussion Five: On Thanking the Benefactor 115
6 Discussion Six: On Things 115
3. On the Commands (al-awāmir) and Prohibitions (al-nawāhī) 117
1 Discussion One: On the Command 117
2 Discussion Two: On the Imperative Form of the Verb being for Obligation 119
3 Discussion Three: On the Command Not Demanding Repetition 119
4 Discussion Four: On the Command Demanding Neither Expedition Nor Postponement 121
5 Discussion Five: On the Conditioned Command being Non-Existent When the Condition is Non-Existent 123
6 Discussion Six: On the Command that is Delimited by an Attribute not Becoming Non-Existent with the Non-Existence of the Attribute 123
7 Discussion Seven: On the Chosen Obligation 125
8 Discussion Eight: On the Obligation that is to be Performed within a Broad Period of Time 125
9 Discussion Nine: On the Obligation on All Sufficed by the Performance by Some 127
10 Discussion Ten: On the Obligation upon Which the Absolute Obligation Depends 129
11 Discussion Eleven: On the Command of a Thing Necessitating the Prohibition of its Opposite 129
12 Discussion Twelve: When the Obligation is Abrogated the Permissibility Remains 129
13 Discussion Thirteen: On the Impossibility of an Injunction of the Impossible 131
14 Discussion Fourteen: An Injunction on Ritual is not Dependant upon Faith 131
15 Discussion Fifteen: On the Command Demanding Accomplishment 133
16 Discussion Sixteen: On Whether the Impairment [of an act of worship] Demands the Obligation of [its] Compensatory Performance 133
17 Discussion Seventeen: The Command to Command Something does not Constitute a Command for that thing 135
18 Discussion Eighteen: The Non-Existent is not Commanded 135
19 Discussion Nineteen: On the Obligation for the Intention of Obedience 135
20 Discussion Twenty: On the Timing of the Attachment of the Command 137
21 Discussion Twenty-One: On Prohibition 137
22 Discussion Twenty-Two: On Whether Prohibition Demands Unsoundness 139
4. On Generality (al-ʿumūm) and Specificity (al-khuṣūṣ) 141
1 Discussion One: On the General and the Specific 141
2 Discussion Two: On What is Added to Generality Though it is not Thereof 143
3 Discussion Three: On Specification 145
4 Discussion Four: On the Adherence to the General which is Specified 147
5 Discussion Five: On Exception 149
6 Discussion Six: On the Condition, the Attribute, and the Limit 151
7 Discussion Seven: On the Specification by Separate Pieces of Evidence 151
Availment 155
8 Discussion Eight: On What is Considered a Specifier though it is not 157
9 Discussion Nine: On the Predication of the Absolute to the Delimited 159
5. On the Ambiguous (al-mujmal) and the Elucidated (al-mubayyan) 161
1 Discussion One: On some of the Definitions 161
2 Discussion Two: On the Setting Forth of the Ambiguous 161
3 Discussion Three: On Things Which are Considered to be Ambiguous Whilst They are not as Such 161
4 Discussion Four: On the Deferment of the Elucidation 163
5 Discussion Five: On the Possibility of the Charged Agent Hearing the General without Hearing what Specifies it 165
6. On Actions (al-afʿāl) 167
1 Discussion One: On the Infallibility of the Prophets 167
2 Discussion Two: On the Obligation of Following the Prophet 169
3 Discussion Three: On the Preferment between the Statement and the Action 171
4 Discussion Four: On the Prophet’s Following of Prior Revealed Laws 171
7. On Abrogation (al-naskh) 173
1 Discussion One: On the Definition Thereof 173
2 Discussion Two: On the Possibility Thereof 173
3 Discussion Three: On the Abrogation of a Thing Prior to the Expiration of its Time of Performance 177
4 Discussion Four: On What it is Possible to Abrogate 177
5 Discussion Five: Addition to and Omission of Acts of Worship 179
8. On Consensus (al-ijmāʿ) 183
1 Discussion One: On the Consensus of the ummah of Muḥammad 183
2 Discussion Two: On Introducing a Third Opinion 183
3 Discussion Three: On That by which Consensus is and is not Established 185
4 Discussion Four: On The Conditions for Consensus 187
9. On Narrations (al-akhbār) 189
1 Discussion One: On the Definition of a Narration and its Classifications 189
2 Discussion Two: On Continuance Conveying Knowledge 189
3 Discussion Three: On the Conditions of the Continuous Narration 191
4 Discussion Four: On the Classifications which Signify the Truth of a Narration 191
5 Discussion Five: On the Solitary Narration 191
6 Discussion Six: On the Qualifications for a Transmitter of a Narration 193
7 Discussion Seven: On that which is Considered a Condition Whilst it is not 195
8 Discussion Eight: On Rejected Narrations 197
9 Discussion Nine: On Invalidation and Validation 197
10. On Analogical Reasoning (al-qiyās) 201
1 Discussion One: On the Definition of Analogical Reasoning 201
2 Discussion Two: On Analogical Reasoning not being a Legal Proof 201
3 Discussion Three: On the Connection of the Unspoken to the Spoken 205
4 Discussion Four: On the Ruling in Which the Cause is Explicitly Designated 205
5 Discussion Five: On the Derived Cause 207
11. On Preferment (al-tarjīḥ) 215
1 Discussion One: On the Contradiction of Two Pieces of Evidence 215
2 Discussion Two: On the Course of Action When Two Equal Pieces of Evidence Present Themselves 217
3 Discussion Three: On the Ruling of Contradictory Pieces of Evidence 219
4 Discussion Four: On the Preferment of the Narrations 221
12. On Juristic Reasoning (al-ijtihād) and its Dependents 225
1 Discussion One: On Juristic Reasoning 225
2 Discussion Two: On the Qualifications of the Skilled Practitioner of Juristic Reasoning 227
3 Discussion Three: On the Correctness of the Skilled Practitioner of Juristic Reasoning 229
4 Discussion Four: On the Changing of Juristic Reasoning 229
5 Discussion Five: On the Permissibility of Compliance with the Conclusions of the Skilled Practitioner of Juristic Reasoning 231
6 Discussion Six: On the Conditions for Seeking an Edict 233
7 Discussion Seven: On the Ediction of One Who is not a Skilled Practitioner of Juristic Reasoning 233
8 Discussion Eight: On the One Who has not Attained the Degree of Juristic Reasoning 233
9 Discussion Nine: On the Presumption of Continuity 235
Epilogue 237
Appendix 238
Bibliography of Primary Sources 258
Bibliography of Secondary Sources 263
Index 268
Index of Qurʾānic Verses 274
About ʿAllāmah al-Ḥillī
Jamāl al-Dīn Ḥasan b. Yūsuf b. al-Muṭahhar al-Ḥillī (d. 726/1325) 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, ‘the Doctor’.
Sayyid Amjad H. Shah Naqavi
Introduction, Translation and Arabic Edition of this reference book was written by Sayyid Amjad H. Shah Naqavi
Sayyid Amjad H. Shah Naqavi, Ph.D., the University of Edinburgh, is the Dean of the Shīʿah Institute in London. He is the translator of The Mystery of Prayer (Brill, 2015) and is currently engaged with multiple academic projects including the study and translation of the Nahj al-balāgah.
