Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

The Scope of Rationalization

Islam is a din -religion. Din means a complete way of life consisting of beliefs and laws (both legal and moral). To find the Islamic attitude about understanding religion, we have to study the Qur' an and thesunnah . In the Qur' an and thesunnah , we find two different atti­tudes towards two different aspects of din. These two aspects of din are:

(a)the fundamental beliefs known as usul ' d-din -- the roots of religion,

(b)the shari' ah laws known in general as furu'u ' d-din -- the branches of religion.

As for the “roots” of religion, Islam expects the Muslims to hold their belief in the fundamentals of their religion after attaining conviction of their truth through examination and reflection. The Qur’an clearly con­demns those who follow others blindly in matters of beliefs:

There is no compulsion in the religion (of Islam because) truly the right path has become clearly distinct from error. (Surah al-Baqara, 2:256)

Again the Qur'an says:

And when it is said to them, “Come to what Allah has sent down, and (to) the Messenger,” they say, “Enough for us is what we found our fathers do­ings.” What, even if their fathers had knowledge of naught and were not rightly-guided? (Surah al-Maaida, 5:104)

This strong condemnation of the idol-worshippers for following their fore-fathers blindly has been re­peated elsewhere:

And when it is said to them, “Follow what Allah has sent down,” they say, “No, but we will “follow such things as we found our fathers doing.” (Surah al-Baqara, 2:170; Surah Luqman, 31:20)

Islam says that one may consider the views and opinions of others, but that one should only accept that which is reasonable to believe:

“So (O Muhammad) give good tidings toMy servants who give ear to the word and follow the fairest of it. Those are the ones whom Allah has guided, and those are men possessed of minds.” (Surah az-Zumar, 39:17)

Likewise, in the books of ahadith we find the Prophet and the Imams of Ahlul-Bayt using intellectual arguments in matters of belief to convince their oppo­nents or the seekers of truth. Thisitself is an example and sunnah for the Muslims to base their belief on understanding and conviction.

But as for the “branches” of religion, Islam expects absolute obedience from the Muslims. The reason for this expectation is very obvious: Once a person has believed, by his own free-will, in Allah as the Creator and the Wise Author of laws, in Muhammad as the infallible Messenger of Allah, and in the Qur'an as the authentic message of Allah-then it follows as a neces­sary consequence that he must adhere to the shari' ah laws.

This absolute obedience about the shari'ah laws can be inferred from the following verses:

“It behooves not a believing man and a believing woman that they should have any choice in their affairs when Allah and His Messenger have decided a matter; and whosoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger, he surely has strayed off a manifest straying.” (Surah al-Ahzaab, 33:36)

“O you who believe! Do not take precedence before Allah and His Messenger (in shari'ah matters), and fear Allah; surely Allah is Hearing, Knowing.” (Surah al-Hujuraat, 49:1)

“O you who believe! Obey Allah, obey the Messenger and those who are in authority among you (i.e., the Imams).” (Surah an-Nisaa’, 4:59)

“We have not sent a Messenger but to be obeyed.” (Surah an-Nisaa’, 4:64)

To summarize: In Islamic beliefs, a Muslim is ex­pected to believe only after reflection; and in Islamic laws, he is expected to follow them without any reser­vations.

The Categories of Shari' ah Laws

Now we come to the problem that why such and such law of the shari'ah was legislated. Considering the rea­sons and purposes of the laws, the shari'ah can be divided into four categories:

1. The laws whose reasons and purposes are self ­evident: For example, helping the needy is highly rec­ommended; killing is forbidden; lying is evil; paying taxes like khums and zakat is obligatory. One does not need any expertise or extraordinary intelligence to know that helping the needy is good, paying taxes is necessary for preserving the financial equilibrium in the society; and that killing and lying is evil.

2. The laws whose reasons and purposes have been explained in the Qur'an and hadith: For example, intoxicants are forbidden, interest is prohibited, fasting in Ramadhan is obligatory and prayers are a must.

The Quran and hadith have said that intoxicant is one of the main causes of evil because an intoxicated person is no longer in control of himself. Although it took the world a long time and a bitter experience to realize the wide-spread harm of drunkenness, Islam declared its harm and evil fourteen centuries ago by saying

“its sin is greater than its profit.” (Surah al-Baqara, 2:219)

Interest is forbidden in Islam. The Qur'an and hadith have explained the harm of interest. Interest leads to destruction of the poor section of the society, and all wealth gravitates towards the already wealthy group.1

Fasting is a physical and spiritual training which brings the servants of Allah (SWT) nearer to Him and makes them more obedient to the shari’ah.

Prayers is a means of expressing our gratitude to Allah (SWT):

“O you who believe! Eat of the good things thatWe have provided you with and thank Allah.” (Surah al-Baqara, 2:172);

it is an important way of achieving peace of mind:

“surely by Allah's remembrance are the hearts set at rest.” (Surah ar-Ra’ad, 13:28);

and it is also a very effective method of making the believer more obedient to the laws of Islam:

“ surely the prayer keeps (one) away from indecency and evil.” (Surah al-Ankaboot, 29:45)

There are many ahadith of our Imams explaining the reasons and purposes of many laws of the shari'ah. Shaykh as-Saduq, the famous Shi'ite scholar, has col­lected many of these ahadith in his ‘Ilalu ‘sh-Sharaya’.

3. The laws whose reasons and purposes have not been explained in the Qur'an or hadith, but the rising horizon of human knowledge have helped in under­standing their purpose and usefulness. For example, why pork is forbidden2 ; why circumcision is highly recommended by the shari'ah, and why only the fish which have scales is permitted in Shi'ah fiqh.

For the benefit of circumcision, we quote Sherman Silber who says that: “There are a number of reasons why circumcision is beneficial and why itought best be performed in infancy. First, it prevents cancer of the penis in later life. Cancer of penis generally occurs when there has been carelessness in taking care of one's foreskin. A second benefit of circumcision is that the wives of circumcised men are less commonly afflicted with cancer of the cervix. The most common benefit of circumcision is that it prevents accumulation of oils and secretions (called smegma) under the foreskin, which lead to infection, swelling, and sometimes contraction of the foreskin so the tip of the penis is trapped inside.3

About the fish, it has been said that the fish that do not have scales are harmful to human beings. Based on that research, American troops in the east were directed that “tropical marine fishes without scales were to be left alone.”

It must be mentioned here that the reasons of the shari'ah laws which have been discovered by human knowledge cannot be regarded as the actual reason (ra­tio legis) for the legislation of those laws, because the human knowledge is still in its infancy whereas Islam, the final shari' ah of Allah (SWT), is to stay in practise up to the end of this world. However, the scientific facts can be used to explain the usefulness and benefits of the shari'ah laws.

4. The laws whose reasons and purposes have neither been explained in the Qur'an and hadith, nor the new advancement in human knowledge has been able to explain them: For example, why four rak'ats (cycles) in noon, afternoon and night prayers while only three in evening and two in subh prayers.

The Right Approach

As far as the first three types of shari'ah laws are concerned, there is not much problem in explaining their reasons and purposes. The problem arises when one starts to rationalize the laws which come under the fourth category.

On the laws of the fourth category, the only thing which can be said is that a Muslim should have complete faith that there surely are useful purposes in these types of laws. The purpose can be of material or spiritual nature, or both. Why should we have such a confidence in these laws of the shari'ah?

Because, we, the Shi'ah Ithna 'Ashari Muslims, believe that all the actions of Allah (SWT) have purpose, and that they are for the benefit of human beings; and this includes the laws of the shari'ah.4 On basis of this belief, we must have confi­dence that all His laws (including those whose purposes are still unknown to us) have a purpose and benefit for human beings.

One more thing which must be clarified at this point is that it is not only the responsibility of the ‘ulama’ (the scholars of Islamic religious sciences) to discover and explain the purpose and reason underlying the shari'ah laws. Their primary duty is to explain the shari'ah laws to the people. The responsibility for discovering and explaining the purposes of theshari ' ah laws must equally be shared by the Muslim intellectuals who are experts of modern science.

Unfortunately, very few of the Muslim intellectuals are interested in this aspect of the shari'ah, and those who are interested lack the knowledge of the Qur'an and hadith. A bridge must be built between the religious and worldly sciences; and, thanksbe to Allah, some small steps in that direction have been taken in last few years.

The belief that although we might not know the reason and purpose of a certainshari ' ah law, it surely has a good reason and useful purpose behind it can be understood from the following episode in the Qur' an. This episode also shows that if we are made aware of its reasons, we would readily admit that it was the very right thing to do.

One day while preaching to his people, Prophet Musa (a.s .) thought about himself that Allah has given him a great privilege and that he is the most learned among the mankind. Allah was not pleased with even such a slight indication of pride in Musa's mind, and so Jibrail was sent to inform Musa that there is a person, among the servants of Allah, who is more learned than him. He was also given an address to go and meet this more learned person. Musa, along with one of his disci­ples, went to meet the learned person who has not been named in the Qur'an but our ahadith identify him as Khizr.

The Qur'an narrates in (Surah al-Kahf, 18:60-82) the details of their meeting:

Musa: “Can I follow you so that you may teach me the right knowledge of what you have been taught (by Allah)?”

Khizr: “Surely you cannot have patience with me. How can you have patience in (the things or actions) of which you do not have a comprehen­sive knowledge?”

Musa: “If Allah wills, you will find me patient and I shall not disobey you in any matter.”

Khizr: “If you would follow me, then do not question me about anything until I speak to you about it.”

So they went their way until they reached a river where they embarked on a boat. When they were close to their destination, Khizr made a hole in the boat.

Musa: “Have you made a hole in it to drown its inmates? Surely you have done a grievous thing.”

Khizr: “Did I not say that you will not be able to have patience with me?”

Musa: “O Khizr, do not blame me for what I forgot, and do not constrain me to a difficult thing in my affair.”

Then they went on until they met a young man. Khizr killed that person.

Musa: “Have you killed an innocent person who had not killed anyone? Certainly you have done an evil thing.”

Khizr: “Didn't I say to you that you will not be able to have patience with me.”

Musa: “If I ask you about anything after this, then do not keep me in your company; indeed, you shall then have found an excuse in my case (to dismiss me from your company).”

They went on until they came to a town. They asked food from the people of that town, but no one accepted them as guests. In that town, they found a wall which was on the point of falling in ruin, so Khizr repaired the wall and put it into the right state.

Musa: “If you had wished, you might certainly have taken a payment for this work.”

Khizr: “This is the parting between you and me. But before you leave, I will inform you of the signifi­cance of my actions which you could not under­stand:

- As for the boat, it belonged to some poor men who worked on the river. I wished to make the boat slightly defective because a king was com­ing behind them who seized every perfect boat by force.

- As for the young man, his parents were believ­ers and I feared lest he would oppress them by rebellion and disbelief. And we desired that their Lord might give them in his place a better one than him in purity and nearer to having compas­sion.

- As for the wall, it belonged to two orphan boys in the city, and there was beneath it a treasure belonging to them; so I rebuilt the wall because your Lord desired that when they attain maturity, they should take out their treasure, which was a mercy from your Lord.

“And moreover, I did not do it of my accord. This is the significance of that on which you could not have patience.” (Surah al-Kahf, 18:60-82)

There are many morals in this story. What is relevant to our discussion is that if a great Prophet of Allah like Musa (a.s.) could not fully comprehend the significance of the actions of a fellow human being who was more learned than him, then how can we expect to know the wisdom and purpose of every shari'ah law which has been legislated by Allah (SWT), the Wise, the Omniscient and the Omnipotent Creator of the humans and the world in which they live!

Notes

1. For a detailed discussion on interest, see 'Allamah Tabataba’i, al-Mizan trans. S.S.A. Rizvi, vol. 4 (Tehran: Wofis, 1982) pp. 295-303.

2. For a detailed discussion on pork, see S.S.A. Rizvi, Pork, (Tehran: Wofis, 1971).

3. Sherman Silber,The Male (New York: 1981) pp. 115-116.

4. See ‘Allamah Hilli, al-Babu ‘l-Hadi ‘Ashar trans. W.M. Miller, (London: Luzac, 1958) pp.45-46; S.S.A. Rizvi, Justice of God (New Jersey: Pyam-e Aman, 1992) chap. 1.

The System of Ijtihad

Some Important Terms

Ijtihad literally means “to endeavor, strive,put one­self out, work hard.” In Islamic legal terminology it means “the process of deriving the laws of the shari'ah from its sources.”

Mujtahid means a person who does ijtihad or who is an expert of Islamic laws.

Fiqh literally means knowledge, and in Islamic ter­minology it means the science of Islamic laws.

Faqih (pl. fuqaha') means the expert of fiqh. The terms “mu­jtahid” and “faqih” mean the same.

The Importance of Ijtihad

Is ijtihad necessary? If Islam is a religion which is to stay till the end of time, then there must always be some people who can guide the Muslims in the changing circumstances of time and of place. After the Prophet of Islam (PBUH), the most ideal persons to guide Muslims were the Imams of Ahlul-Bayt. However, the Present Imam, Muhammad al-Mahdi (a.s .) has gone into the Occultation and will re-appear when Allah (SWT) wishes him to appear. So what is to be done in the mean-time?Are the Shi'ahs to suspend the shari'ah? No, of course, not! Islam is the religion for all times and places.

The Imams of Ahlul-Bayt had foreseen the time of the Occultation and had prepared their followers for the situation in which they will not be in direct contact with their Imam. This preparation was done by training the Shi'ahs in the science of Islamic laws, or in other words, in ijtihad. Ijtihad is an essential phenomenon for the survival of the Islamic shari'ah during the Occultation of the Imam (a.s.). Without the system of ijtihad, we would not be able to apply Islamic laws in the rapidly changing circumstances of human society.

Ijtihad is not only permissible, but essential from the Islamic point of view. It is an obligation in Islam to study everything which is necessary for the spiritual develop­ment and material well-being of the Muslim community. However, this obligation is of the category which is known as wajib kifa’i, meaning “an obligation which is on every member of the community as long as it is unfulfilled; but as soon as some person or persons has fulfilled it, it is no longer an obligation on those who have not fulfilled it.”

In the present instance, for example, Islamic society needs experts in the medical sciences, in physics and chemistry, in engineering, edu­cation; and as long as there is a lack of expertise in these areas, it is an obligation on the community as a whole to acquire it. This means that a group of Muslims must devote themselves to research so as to benefit the Islamic people. Similarly, an Islamic society without experts in the shari'ah cannot properly consider itself Islamic, and so it is an obligation for a group of persons from this society to devote themselves to the study of the religious sciences to provide proper guidance to all Muslims.

This is such an important obligation that Allah (SWT) has exempted those who go to seek religious knowledge from the duty of jihad. He says:

“It is not (right) for the believers to go forth all together (for jihad). So why should not a party from every section of them (the believers) go forth to become learned in the religion, and to warn their people when they return to them-so that haply they may beware?” (Surah at-Tawba, 9:122)

It is clear from many narrations that the Imams of Ahlul-Bayt (a.s .) used to be pleased whenever any of their companions taught religion or gave legal rulings (fatwa) to others. There are several documented cases of Shi'ahs who lived far from Medina asking the Imam of their time to appoint someone in their area to adjudicate between them in religious problems: Zakariyyah ibn Adam al-Qummi and Yunus ibn' Abdu 'r-Rahman, for example, were named by Imam 'Ali ar-Riza (a.s.), to solve disputes in their own districts.1

In a famous hadith, 'Umar ibn Hanzalah asked Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq (a.s.) about the legality of two Shi'ahs seeking a verdict from an illegitimate ruler in a dispute over a debt or a legacy. The Imam's answer was that it was absolutely forbidden to do so. Then Ibn Hanzalah asked what the two should do, and the Imam replied:

“They must seek out one of your own who narrates our traditions, who is versed in what is permissible and what is forbidden, who is well-acquainted with our laws and ordinances, and accept him as judge and arbiter, for I appoint him as judge over you…”2

Besides these ahadith, we have quite a few sayings of the Imams which tell us what to do if we come across two ahadith which are contradictory or semi-contradic­tory and solving the contradictory ahadith is one of the functions of ijtihad. These types of ahadith are known as al-akhbar al-‘ilajiyyah, the ahadith which solve the problems in the process of ijtihad.

What we have mentioned above clearly shows that ijtihad is necessary for the perpetuity of the Islamic legal system.

Was not Ijtihad forbidden in the Early Shi’ah Sources?

There are some sayings of the Shi'ah Imams (a.s .), some writings of their companions and that of our early 'ulama which severely condemn the use of ijtihad. This has created confusion among non-specialist readers and has given rise to the question whether or not ijtihad was permitted in Shi'ah Islam.

This confusion can be easily sorted out by studying the changes undergone by the word “ijtihad”. The word ijtihad was used for the first time by a Sunni school of fiqh in the meaning of ra'iy: Ra'iy means “a subjective opinion, an opinion based on one's personal judgement as opposed to that of the Qur'an and the hadith.” In this sense, “ijtihad” was by itself an independent source of the shari'ah laws besides the Qur'an and thesunnah . Abu Hanifah, the founder of the Sunni Hanafischool of fiqh, was the main proponent of this system of ijtihad.3 The term ijtihad continued to be used exclusively in the meaning of ra'iy up until the early seventh Islamic century.

In the seventh Islamic century, some of the Shi'ah 'ulama' started using the term ijtihad in a different and new meaning. They used the term “ijtihad” for “the process of deriving the laws of the shari'ah from its sources”. In the first meaning, “ijtihad” stands alongside the Qur' an and thesunnah as an independent source of the shari'ah laws; in its new meaning, “ijtihad” is a process of deriving the shari' ah laws from the Qur' an and the sunnah. The first Shi'ah scholar to use the term “ijtihad” in its new meaning was Muhaqqiq al-Hilli (d. 676 A.H.) in his al-Ma’arij. Al-Hilli says, “ijtihad means to strive for deriving the shari'ah laws from their sources.”4

The change through which the meaning of “ijtihad” has undergone clears the confusion about the legality of ijtihad: some of the sayings of the Imams (a.s.), the writings of their companions and the early Shi'ah ulama condemn ijtihad in its pre-7th century meaning of “ra'iy”; they are not opposing the ijtihad in the post-7th century meaning of “the process of deriving the shari'ah laws from their sources”. The condemned ijtihad is a source of the shari'ah laws, while the recommended ijtihad is only the process of deriving the shari'ah laws from their sources. The permissibility of ijtihad in its post-7th century meaning is beyond any doubt.

The Process of Ijtihad

The process of deriving the shari'ah laws from their sources is based on two main branches of Islamic sci­ences: usulu’l-fiqh and fiqh. “Usulu’l-fiqh“ is the science of the method of deriving the shari'ah laws -- it is the methodology of ijtihad. “Fiqh” is the practice of ijtihad -- it is the process of deriving the shari'ah laws. In usulu'l-fiqh, the mujtahid studies the method of ijtihad; in fiqh, he uses that method to derive the shari'ah laws. Thus, usulu’l-fiqh is the theory of ijtihad whereas fiqh is the practice of ijtihad.

In the following pages, I would like to give an outline of usulu’l-fiqh and fiqh to familiarize the reader with the system of ijtihad.

A. Usulu’l-Fiqh

The first and fore-most issue to be discussed in usulu’l-fiqh is about “the binding authority of conviction” (hujjiyyatu’l-qat’). The validity of conviction is determined by intellectual reasoning. This is the corner-stone of ijtihad; it means that the main basis of determining a source of shari’ah is to see whether or not one can achieve conviction about the laws derived from that source.

If a mujtahid finds that a particular source for ex­ample, the Qur' an, is such that he can achieve conviction about the laws derived from it, then such a source is considered by him as a valid and reliable source for ijtihad. This process divides the potential sources of shari'ah laws into two: convincing and non-convincing.

Convincing (Qat’i) & Non-Convincing (Dhanni) Souces

In examining the potential sources of the shari'ah, a mujtahid may find two kinds of sources: either the source creates conviction about the laws derived from it or not. In the first case, it is known as dalil qat'i – a convincing proof, a cogent proof, a proof which creates conviction about the proven laws. In the second case, the source is named as dalil dhanni-- a presumptive proof, a proof based on mere assumption.

The mujtahid will consider the dalil qat'i (the con­vincing proof) as a valid source for the shari'ah laws. But he will not consider the dalil dhanni as such because dalil dhanni does not create conviction it just gives rise to assumption. A mujtahid cannot rely on a dhanni proof or source for deriving laws unless the shari'ah itself approves its use for this purpose. Below I will give examples of two dhanni sources, one approved by the shari'ah and another disapproved by it.

The First Example: Among the various categories of hadith, there is a category known as khabar wahid thiqah - a hadith reported by a single reliable person. Khabar wahid thiqah is a dhanni source. Why? Because a hadith reported by a single person does not create conviction about its contents even if the reporter is reliable; there is the chance of forgetting, misunder­standing or unintended misquotation on the part of the truthful, reliable reporter.

However, in spite of being a dhanni source, khabar wahid thiqah is considered by most of Shi'ah mujtahids as a valid source for the shari'ah laws. Why?Because the shari'ah itself has approved it. Verse six of Chapter forty nine (Surah al-Hujuraat, 6:49) says that if a single report (khabar wahid) comes from an unreliable (fasiq) reporter, then it should not be accepted without further verification. The impli­cation of this verse is that if a single report comes from a reliable (thiqah) reporter,then accept it without any need for further verification. Therefore, the mujtahids accept the single hadith narrated by a reliable reporter as a source for shari'ah laws because the Qur'an has implicitly approved it.

The Second Example : One of the dhanni sources for the shari'ah laws is qiyas. In Islamic laws, qiyas means analogy. In qiyas, you look at a shari'ah law for one issue and then apply it to another issue because of the similar­ity that exists between the two. Let us suppose that “wine is haram” is a proven law of the shari'ah. You then look at beer and say that 'beer is like wine'; and then you apply the law of wine on beer -- here the prohibition of beer has been proved on basis of qiyas.

Qiyas is a dhanniproof, it does not create conviction because one cannot always know the real reason ('illah in Arabic, ratio legis in Latin) of the shari'ah laws. And since the qat'i sources of the shari'ah have not approved the use of qiyas as a way of deriving Islamic laws, qiyas is not accepted by our mujtahids as a valid source for shari' ah laws.5

However, according to most mujtahids, if the shari'ah has explicitly explained the ratio legis ('illah) of a particular law, then the mujtahid can generalize that law for other similar things by the means of qiyas. And in such cases, it is known as qiyas mansusi’l-illah -- an analogy based on the ratio legis explicitly explained (by the shari'ah).

Legal (Shar’i) & Rational ('Aqli) Proofs

All sources of the shari'ah, whether qat'i or dhanni, can be of two types: dalil shar'i and dalil 'aqli. Dalil Shar'i means a source which emanates from religious texts; we may translate it as “legal proof'. Dalil 'aqli means a source which emanates from intellectual argu­ments.

1. Dalil Shar’i

Dalil Shar'i or the Legal Proof. The dalil shar'i consists of the Qur' an and thesunnah -- the two main sources of the shari'ah. The dalil shar'i is divided into two: (a) Oral Proof like the Our'an and the hadith. (b) Non-Oral Proof like the practice of the ma'sum and his 'silent approval' of the action done in his presence. The silent approval of a ma'sum is known as “taqrir”. How­ever, even the non-oral proof reaches to us through the oral reports of the witnesses; therefore, for all practical purpose, both the oral and non-oral proofs are on the same level.

In order-to use the Legal Proofs in ijtihad, the mu­jtahid has to study the following issues in Usulu’l-Fiqh:

(A) The Linguistic Problems

Some of the questions studied in this area are:

Should I take all the words in dalil shar'i in their literal meaning?

Are metaphorical meanings of any use in dalil shar'i or not?

What are the imperative forms of words and what are their implications: does a command to do something automatically means the one is for­bidden from its opposite?

What are the implications of the unconditional use of the word: do we generalize its contents?

What is the implication of a conditional sentence: do we restrict its application?

What are the implications of a nass? (N ass means an oral proof containing a word which has only one meaning.)

What are the implications ofa mujmal? (Mujmal means an oral proof containing a word which has more than one meaning and is used in those meanings equally.)

How do we use the context of the sentence to understand the mujmal word? For example, the word “yad” is used in the Qur'an in the verses of wudu, tayammum and punishment for theft. The word “yad” means palms, forearm and hand. So how do you interpret the word “yad” in such verses? Well, in the verse of wudu it is simple because we have a context; the verse says that wash your “yad up to the elbows”. The context (“up to the elbow”) helps us in under­standing the meaning of “yad” in the verse of wudu.

(B) The Problems of Authenticity:

The mujtahid has also to study the ways of determin­ing the authenticity of the Legal Proofs. This problem has given rise to the development of two sciences known as 'Ilmu 'r-Rijal and Dirayatu 'l-Hadith.

'Ilmu 'r-Rijal literally means 'knowledge about men,' it deals with the biography and character of the narrators of hadith. On basis of this knowledge, the 'ulama' classify the narra­tors in different categories; and these categories in turn help in classifying the hadith as authentic or acceptable or weak or fabricated or unreliable, etc. There are at least 38 different classifications of hadith.

Dirayatu ' l-Hadith means the science of hadith, and it deals mostly with the “chain of narration” as a whole instead of the individual narrators. This science helps the mujtahid in classifying certain narrators into groups and expedites their judgement about hadith narrated through those particular channels.

Examples of how a mujtahid comes to know of a Legal Proof:

i. Tawatur: a narration reported by so many people that the very number of its reporters is enough to create conviction about the truth of its contents. A hadith or an account of a ma’sum’s narrated in such a way is known as mutawatir.

ii. Khabar wahid thiqah: a hadith narrated by a single reliable narrator. We have already mentioned khabar wahid thiqah earlier.

iii. Siratun mutasharri'ah: the general attitude or practice of the religiously-minded companions of our Imams about a particular issue which is not found in the existing hadith literature. This' general attitude or prac­tice' is known as siratun mutasharri'ah. This sirah indicates that an oral proof must have existed during their time. For example, if the prominent companions of Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq (a.s .) did not attend the Friday prayers led by persons appointed by the rulers, then their attitude proves that the Friday prayer behind a person appointed by an illegitimate government is not valid­ otherwise, the Imam would have objected to the actions of his companions.

iv. Ijma’: 'means consensus. In Usulu’l-Fiqh, it refers to the consensus of the early Shi'ah 'ulama' on an issue which is not found in the existing hadith literature. Such an ijma' indicates that an oral proof must have existed in their time on which they based their ruling. In Shi'ah jurisprudence, ijma' is not by itself a source of the shari'ah; instead, it is a means of proving the existence of an oral proof which is now extinct.

2. Dalil 'Aqli:

Dalil 'aqli means the intellectual reasoning or ra­tional argument.In Usulu'l-Fiqh, dalil 'aqli means the intellectual prepositions which can be used as a source of deriving shari'ah laws. However, the scope of intel­lectual prepositions in shari'ah is limited; it is not like ijtihad bi 'r-ra'iy (application of independent opinion). The intellectual prepositions are only used for deriving the details of the shari'ah laws which exist.

For example, one such intellectual preposition says, “If an act is made obligatory (wajib) by the shari'ah, then it automatically follows that its essential preliminaries are also wajib.” This intellectual preposition is known in Arabic as “muqaddimatu 'l-wajib, wajibun”, So if the shari'ah says, “Hajj is wajib,” then the mujtahid can use the above mentioned intellectual preposition and derive the following laws: to travel to Mecca is wajib; to acquire the means of transportation is wajib, and to apply for a passport is wajib -- because without these preliminaries, hajj would be not be possible.

The intellectual prepositions which are used in ijti­had are formed by studying, among other things, the following relationships between the shari'ah laws:

i. The relationship between haram (forbidden) and batil (invalid): if an act is haram, is it automatically batil also?

ii. The relationship between haram (forbidden) and sahih (valid): can an act be valid but haram at the same time?

iii. The relationship between legislation of a law (ja'l) and its application on an individual (fi'liyyah).

iv. The relationship between the laws and those on whom they are to be applied.

v. The relationship between laws and its essential preliminaries as explained in the example of hajj.

The Procedural Rules (Al-Usulu'l-'Amaliyyah)

After defining the sources of the shari'ah, the mujta­hid has to set up a mechanism to solve the problems which have not been mentioned in the Qur'an and thesunnah . For example, when a mujtahid looks into his sources for the ruling on smoking, he does not find anything specific on it. In Usulu 'l-Fiqh, the mujtahid establishes some “procedural rules” or “practical prin­ciples” which he will use in such cases. These rules or principles are known as “al-usulu 'l-‘amaliyyah”.

The Usulu ‘l-‘Amaliyyah are four: asalatu ‘l-istishab; asalatu ‘l-bara’ah; asalatu ‘l-ihtiyat; andasalatu ‘t -takhyir.

Asalatu ‘l-Istishab means the principle or rule of continuity. This principle is used in a case in which a person has “a previous certainty” and “a present doubt” about the same thing. For example, there is a glass of water on my table. I am sure that it was ritually pure (tahir) in the morning, but now I doubt in its ritual purity. The principle of istishab saysthat act on your previous certainty and ignore your present doubt because doubt cannot over-ride certainty.

This procedural rule has been taken from the following hadith of Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) who said in the answer to Zurarah that “doubt cannot over-ride certainty; it can be over-ridden only by another certainty.”

Asalatu 'l-Bara'ah means the principle of exon­eration. This procedural rule is applied in a case which has not been mentioned, explicitly or implicitly, in the sources of the shari'ah. Asalatu ‘l-Bara’ah says that since the shari'ah has no opinion in this issue, the Muslims are free to do whatever they like. For example, when dealing with the question of smoking, the mujtahid does not find any opinion about it in the sources of shari'ah. In such a case, he would apply the principle of exoneration and say that “Smoking is not haram.”

Asalatu ' l-Ihtiyat means the principle of precau­tion. This principle is applied in a case where there is only partial knowledge about the law; that is, in cases of al-‘ilmu ‘l-ijmali -- where there is a semi-doubt and a semi-certainty. In such cases, the shari'ah expects us to act precautionarily. A most familiar example where this principle is applied is the case of Friday prayer during the major occultation of the Present Imam. We know that on Fridays, one of the two prayers -either Friday prayer or noon prayer- is definitely wajib, but we do not know which one. Application of asalatu ‘l-ihtiyat in this case would mean that it is precautionarily better to pray both prayers to ensure that we have performed what was expected of us.

The last procedural rule is known asAsalatu ‘t -Takhyir.Asalatu ‘t -Takhyir which means the principle of choice. This principle is applied in cases similar to that of asalatu ‘l-ihtiyat, that is, semi-doubt and semi certainty. However, the principle of choice is applied where it is not possible to act on both sides of the issue. For example, when dealing with the noon or Friday prayer issue, some mujtahids may conclude that saying both prayers is not practical and specifying one withouta clear evidence is not correct -- therefore, they apply the principle of choice and say that one can say either Friday prayer or noon prayer.

The Problem of Contradiction

The last topic to be discussed in Usulu 'l-Fiqh deals with the problem of contradiction in the proofs of the shari'ah. The mujtahid has to layout a mechanism which he will use in case he comes upon contradiction in his sources. Our Imams have given quite a few guidelines to solve such problems; as mentioned earlier, the ahadith dealing with these problems are known as al-akhbaru ‘l-ilajiyyah.

The contradiction between the proofs can be found in different forms and has to be solved in different ways: (a)The contradiction between two oral-proofs can occur in following ways:

(a) The contradiction between two oral-proofs can occur in following ways:

A nass and a hadith with an “apparent” meaning: the former is preferred over the latter. For example, one hadith says, “Pray (salli) the mid-night prayer;” and another hadith says, “Mid-night prayer is recommended (mustahab).” The first example is of a hadith with an “apparent” meaning: it contains the word “pray” in imperative form which is used both for obligatory acts as well as for recommendation. The second example is of a hadith which is a nass: it contains the words “rec­ommended” which only means that the act is recom­mended and not wajib. In this case, the nass will be preferred and used as a qualifier for the “apparent” hadith.

One is of a general nature and the other is conditional: the conditional proof curbs the generaliza­tion of the former. For example, one hadith says, “If you break your oath, then you must free a slave;” whereas another hadith says, “If you break your oath, then you must free a Muslim slave.” The second hadith will be preferred and used to curb the general implication of the first hadith.

Onedeals with the legislation of laws and the other restricts its application on certain individuals: the later over-rides the former. For example, one hadith says, “Respect the 'ulama;” while another hadith says, “Do not respect the fasiq 'ulama.” The latter hadith limits the application of the former hadith.

(b) If two authentic ahadith contradict each other in such a way that it is not possible to reconcile them together, then both are to be discarded.

(c) If the contradiction is between “convincing oral­proof' andan non-oral, non-convincing proof, then the former is preferred.

(d) If there is contradiction between a convincing proof and a dhanni proof on the one hand and a proce­dural rule on the other, then the former is accepted because the latter is applied only when there is no proof at all.

(e) If there is a contradiction between the principles of bara’ah and of istishab, then the latter is preferred.