Al-Quran and Al-Sunnah as a sources of Islamic Law

1. the Qur’an or the Sunnah may convey
a command or a prohibition
A command (amr)
conveys obligation
(wujub),
A prohibition
(nahy) conveys
tahrim
A command may thus
imply a recommendation
(nadb)
a mere
permissibility
(ibahah)
abomination
(karahah)

2. Consequently, when the precise value of
the qat’i and the zanni on the scale of five
values is not self-evident, it is determined
by supportive evidence that may be
available in the sources or by ijtihad.

3. The qat’i of the Qur’an and Sunnah is
basically not open to interpretation.
The scope of interpretation and ijtihad
are consequently confined to the
zanni proofs alone.

4. FIRST SOURCES
AL-QURAN

5. This style of Qur’anic legislation, and the fact that it leaves room for flexibility in
the evaluation of its injunctions, is once again in harmony with the timeless
validity of its laws. The Qur’an is not specific on the precise value of its
injunctions, and it leaves open the possibility that a command in the Qur’an may
sometimes imply an obligation, a recommendation or a mere permissibility. The
Qur’an does not employ the categories known as the five values (al-ahkam al-
khamsah) which the fuqaha' have attempted to specify in juristic manuals. When
an act is evaluated as obligatory, it is labeled fard or wajib; when it is absolutely
forbidden, it is evaluated as haram. The shades of values which occur between
these two extremes are primarily religious in character and provide a yardstick
which can be applied to any type of human conduct. But only the two extremes,
namely the wajib and haram, incorporate legal commands and prohibitions. The
rest are largely non-legal and non-justiciable in a court of law. The Qur’an thus
leaves open the possibility, although not without reservations, of enacting into
haram what may have been classified by the fuqaha' of one age as merely
reprehensible, or makruh. Similarly, the recommendable, or mandub, may be
elevated into a wajib if this is deemed to be in the interest of the community in a
different stage of its experience and development.

6. AS-SUNNAH

7. • Literally, Sunnah means a clear path or a beaten track but it has also
been used to imply normative
• practice, or an established course of conduct. It may be a good
example or a bad, and it may be set by
• an individual, a sect or a community

8. • In another Hadith, the Prophet is reported to have said, 'I left two
things among you. You shall not go
• astray so long as you hold on to them: the Book of Allah and my
Sunnah (sunnati).[

9. • The opposite of Sunnah is bid'ah, or innovation, which is
• characterized by lack of precedent and continuity with the past. To
the ulema of Hadith,
• Sunnah refers to all that is narrated from the Prophet, his acts, his
sayings and whatever he has tacitly
• approved, plus all the reports which describe his physical attributes
and character. The ulema of
• jurisprudence, however, exclude the description of the physical
features of the Prophet from the
• definition of Sunnah

10. • Notwithstanding the fact that the ulema have used Sunnah and
Hadith, almost interchangeably, the two
• terms have meanings of their own. Literally, Hadith means a narrative,
communication or news
• consisting of the factual account of an event.

11. • There are two other terms, namely khabar and athar' which have
often been used as alternatives to
• 'Hadith'. Literally, khabar means 'news or report', and athar,
'impression, vestige or impact'. The word
• 'khabar' in the phrase 'khabar al-wahid' for example, means a solitary
Hadith. The majority of ulema
• have used Hadith, khabar and athar synonymously, whereas others
have distinguished khabar from
• athar.

12. Proof-Value (Hujjiyyah) of Sunnah
• The ulema are unanimous to the effect that Sunnah is a source of Shari'ah and that in its rulings with
• regard to halal and haram it stands on the same footing as the Qur'an.' [18. Shawkani, Irshad, p. 33.] The Sunnah
• of the Prophet is a proof (hujjah) for the Qur'an, testifies to its authority and enjoins the Muslim to
• comply with it. The words of the Prophet, as the Qur'an tells us, are divinely inspired (al-Najm, 53:3).
• His acts and teachings that are meant to establish a rule of Shari'ah constitute a binding proof.' [19. Khallaf,
• 'Ilm, p. 37.] While commenting on the Qur'anic ayah which states of the Prophet that 'he does not speak of
• his own desire, it is none other than wahy sent to him', Al-Ghazali writes that some of the divine
• Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence ~ Kamali 51
• revelation which the Prophet received constitutes the Qur'an, whereas the remainder is Sunnah. The
• words of the Prophet are hujjah on anyone who heard the Prophet saying them. As for us and the
• generality of Muslims who have received them through the verbal and written reports of narrators, we
• need to ascertain their authenticity.[20. Ghazali, Mustasfa, I, 83.] The proof of authenticity may be definitive
• (qat'i), or it may amount to a preferable conjecture (al-zann al-rajih); in either case, the Sunnah
• commands obedience of the mukallaf. All the rulings of the Prophet, especially those which correspond
• with the Qur'an and corroborate its contents, constitute binding law. [21. Khallaf, 'Ilm, p. 37.]
• In more than one place, the Qur'an enjoins obedience to the Prophet and makes it a duty of the believers
• to submit to his judgment and his authority without question. The following ayat are all explicit on this
• theme, all of which are quoted by al-Shafi'i in his renowned work, Al-Risalah (P. 47ff):