Legal Maxims and Other Genres of Literature in Islamic Jurisprudence

Abstract

This essay introduces the legal maxims of fiqh {qaw?cid kulliyya fiqhiyya) as a distinctive genre of fiqh literature side by side with three other related areas of development, namely al-d?aw?bit (rules controlling specific themes), al-fur?q (distinctions and contrasts), and al-na^ariyy?t al-fiqhiyya (general the ories of fiqh). Developed at a later stage, these genres of fiqh literature seek, on the whole, to consolidate the vast and sometimes unmanageable juris corpus o? fiqh into brief theoretical statements. They provide concise entries into their respective themes that help to facilitate the task of both the students and practioners of Islamic law. Legal maxims are on the whole inter-scholastic, and disagreement among the legal schools is neg ligible on them. Legal maxims also closely relate to the maq?sid, and pro vide useful insights into the goals and purposes of Sharfa (maq?sid al-sha?ca), so much so that some authors have subsumed them under the maq?sid. Yet, for reasons that will presently be explained, legal maxims represent a late development in the history of Islamic jurisprudence. The discus sion which follows begins with introductory information on the basic con cept and scope of legal maxims. This is followed by a more detailed account of the leading five maxims which the jurists have seen as repre sentative of the entire field, saying that all the other maxims can be seen as a commentary on these five. The discussion continues by looking into the history of legal maxims, and then provides an account of their sub sidiary themes, namely the daw?bit, the fur?q, the resemblances and simil itudes (al-ashb?h wa'l na^ir), and finally the naiariyy?t. There is a lacuna in the available English literature on Islamic law that cries to be filled. Except for a few cursory references in the works