Ibn Rushd Language: English | Format: PDF | Pages: 1236 | 2 Vol. Set | Size: 72 MB
Ibn Rushd’s Bidayat al-Mujtahid (The
Distinguished Jurist’s Primer) occupies a unique place among the
authoritative manuals of Islamic law. It is designed to prepare the
jurist for the task of the mujtahid, the independent jurist, who derives
the law and lays down precedents to be followed by the judge in the
administration of justice. In this manual Ibn Rushd traces most of the
issues of Islamic law, describing not only what the law is, but also
elaborating the methodology of some of the greatest legal minds in Islam
to show how such laws were derived.
This text provides a still-relevant basis
for the interpretation and formulation of Islamic law. Combining his
legal and philosophical knowledge, Ibn Rushd transcends the boundaries
of different schools and presents a critical analysis of the opinions of
the famous Muslim jurists and their methodologies.
The legal subject areas covered include
marriage and divorce; sale and exchange of goods; wages, crop-sharing
and speculative partnership; security for debts and insolvency; gifts,
bequests and inheritance; and offences and judgements.
‘My purpose in this treatise is to lay
down in it for myself, by way of remembrance, the issues (Masa’il) of
the Ahkam that are agreed upon and those that are disputed, along with
their evidences, and to indicate those bases of the disputes that
resemble general rules and principles, for the Faqih (jurist) may be
presented with problems on which the Shara’ (law) is silent” The issues
are mostly those that are expressly stated in the Manthuq (unstated text
of the Nass), or are closely related to those that are so stated. They
are the issues agreed upon by the Muslim Fuqaha (jurists) since the
generation of the Sahabah (Companions – God be pleased with them) till
such time that Taqlid (following qualified scholarship) was rampant, or
those over which a difference of opinion among them became widely known-
‘
Ibn Rushd was a Maliki Jurist (Qadi) but
presents the views of other schools ( Hanifi, Shaf’ee, hanbali &
Zahiri) with the usual Respect and objectivity. This book is among the
best known example of the Shari’a science of Ilm al Khilaf (the
knowledge of variant ruling) It is one of the most well knows works of
ilm-ul- Khilaf, a discipline that records and analyses the differences
among Muslim Jurists. Qadi Ibn Rushd, the Grandson (Known as Averrooes
in the West)
Ibn Rushd , Arabic (ابن رشد), known as
Averroes 510-595 AH (1126 – 1198H), was an Andalusian-Arab philosopher
and physician, a master of philosophy and Islamic law, mathematics, and
medicine. He was born in Cordoba, Spain, and died in Marrakech, Morocco.
His school of philosophy is known as Averroism.
Also known as Averroes or ‘The
Commentator’, Ibn Rushd, came from a family of jurists and was born in
Cordoba in Moorish Spain. He himself trained in law and medicine and
later served as qadi or judge in Seville and Cordoba. In 1182 he was
appointed physician to the court of caliph Abu Ya`qub Yusuf in Marrakesh
and to his son, Abu Yusuf Ya`qub, in 1195 but was recalled shortly
before his death.
In the field of medicine Averroës
produced his Kulliyat fi al tib (General Medicine) between 1162 and
1169. He is however better known for his great commentaries on Aristotle
but.
Al-Dhahabi in Siyar A`lam al-`Ulama’
(15:452) quotes al-Abbar as saying: ‘No one of his scholarly perfection,
his erudition, or his high manners was ever raised in Andalus.’
About the Translator: Imran Ahsan Khan Nyazee
Associate Professor in the Faculty of
Shariah and Law, Islamabad. He obtained his law degree (L.L.B) from
Punjab University in 1969. In 1983, he was awarded a gold medal for his
performance in the L.L.M (Shariah) at the International Islamic
University of Michigan Law School, Ann Arbor, USA. His published works
include: Theories of Islamic Law, The concept of Riba and Islamic
Banking, and General Principles of Criminal Law. He has also published
several research articles on Islamic Law and has recently translated
into English Al-Hidayah:A Classical Manual of Hanafi Law-VOL 1 (Amal
Press).
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