Rajani Kumail (ed.). Shiʿite Legal Theory: Sources and Commentaries. Edinburgh University Press,2023. — 352 p.. 2023

This book is a collection of texts of previously unpublished or rare works of usul al-fiqh, along with commentaries and summaries of the ideas within the texts. They have all been edited by contributors from manuscripts; they stretch over many centuries and reflect discussions in many different places; they are all taken from the Shi'i Muslim tradition, broadly conceived. The distinctive Shi'i contribution to the history of usul al-fiqh has not received the attention it deserves in contemporary scholarship. This volume forms part of wider attempt to bring the richness and diversity of Shi'i usul to the wider field. The term usul al-fiqh (often abbreviated to usul) refers, primarily, to two linked phenomena.

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Contents

Shici “Family” of Legal Theories: An Introduction

Robert Gleave and Kumail Rajani

Shiti usul, in general, has received little attention in scholarly discussions of Islamic legal theory. Whilst Twelver usul has gained some attention, there is almost no coverage of the Ismatili and Zaydi usul traditions.[1]

Chapter 1 Are Rulings of the Prophet Due to Ijtihad and Are all Mujtahids Always Correct? A Chapter from the Sharh. Zubdat al-usul of al-Mazandarani (d. 1081/1670)

Robert Gleave

Chapter 2 Refraining from Seeking Clarification: A Chapter from al-Wafl fl sharh al-Wafiya of al-Acraji (d. 1227/1812)

Hadi Qazwini, Aun Hasan Ali, Yusuf Ünal

Chapter 3 Can Non-Muslims Become Experts in Islamic Law? Two Sections from the Kawashif al-hujub can mushkilat al-kutub of al-Mäzandaräni (d. 1285/1868)

Amin Ehteshami and Hassan Rezakhany

Chapter 4 What Makes a Hadith Transmitter Reliable? A Discussion from the Ghayat al-ma3mul of al-Kazimi (d. 1065/1655)

Raha Rafii and Belal Abu-Alabbas

Chapter 5 Debating the Epistemic Value of Hadith: A Chapter from the Fath al-bab ila. l-haqq wa-l-sawab of Mirzä Muhammad al-Akhbäri (d. 1232/1817)

Kumail Rajani and Nebil Husayn

Chapter 6 The Chapter on Analogy (Qiyas) from the Hashiyat al-Fusul al-lulu’iyya of Ahmad b. cAbdalläh Ibn al-Wazir (d. 985/1577)

Sarah Islam and Jan Thiele

Introduction1

List of Manuscript Copies of al-Wazir’s al-Fusul al-lu’lu’iyya

The Chapter on Analogy (Qiyas)

Commentary