A Note on the Origination of Uṣūl al-Fiqh: The Implication of Hallaq’s Refutation of Al-Shāfiʿī as the Master Architect of Uṣūl al-Fiqh

Abstract

In his article “Was al-Shafiʿi the Master Architect of Islamic Jurisprudence?” Wael B. Hallaq refuted a decades-long scholarly assumption that al-Shāfiʿī was the founder of Uṣūl al-fiqh, for upon a close examination of the sources, historical evidence does not support it. Considering the implication of Hallaq’s claim in the study on the origination of Islamic jurisprudence, this paper shows how Hallaq reconstructed a history of Islamic jurisprudence in a fresh new light, arguing against continuity between al-Shāfiʿī’s theory and classical Uṣūl al-fiqh, and discusses the impact and implication of his new findings and interpretation.