Abstract :
The Holy Qur’an, which is the main source of Islamic sciences, points to a number of basic principles of these sciences. Through their areas of expertise, Islamic scholars have tried to understand these principles of the Qur’an, and construct a sense of knowledge appropriate to the Qur’an in the light of these. The scholars of usul al‐fiqh (Islamic law methodology) also interpreted many verses of the Qur’an in the course of establishing their sense of the methodology from the Qur’an. In this article, we have considered the 59th verse of the chapter an‐Nisa (4) as an example, and have attempted to identify and analyze some of the methodical conclusions extracted by scholars of usul al‐fiqh and tafsir (commentary of the Qur’an). Usul al‐fiqh (Islamic law methodology) is the science that deals with the sources of the shar’i provisions and the methods of extracting the provisions from these sources. Since the time of Shafi’i (204/820), the author of the first independent work on usul al‐ fiqh, this science has been established on four basic sources: al‐Kitab (the Holy Qur’an), as‐Sunnah (tradition of the Prophet), al‐ijma (consensus of scholars), and al‐qiyas (analogical reasoning). The basis of these sources is extremely important for establishing the main structure of usul al‐fiqh. Scholars of usul al‐fiqh and tafsir (commentary of the Qur’an) made many deductions about Islamic law methodology from the 59th verse of chapter an‐Nisa (4). For example, Ibn Hazm (456/1064) stated that his voluminous work of al‐Ihkam fi usuli’l‐ahkam on methodology is merely a broad explanation of this verse. Fakhraddin ar‐Razi (606/1210) said that this verse includes the majority of the science of usul al‐fiqh. These deductions can be separated into two main groups: finding the basis for the four main sources, namely the Book, the sunnah, the ijma, the qiyas; and the details of these sources. Here, we find and analyze deductions about the foundations of the basis for the four main sources, as extracting the details of these sources from this verse are beyond the scope of this article. The translation of this verse is as follows: “O you who have believed, obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you. And if you disagree over anything, refer it to Allah and the Messenger, if you should believe in Allah and the Last Day. That is the best [way] and best in result” (an‐Nisa 4/59). This verse begins with commanding Allah to obey. Many commentators have noted that obedience to Allah is to, “follow His Book.” In the continuation of the verse, “Obey the Messenger” is mentioned, and commentators have noted that obeying the Messenger is in keeping with his sunnah (tradition). “Ulu’l‐amr” has been determined as the third authority ordered to obey in this verse. There are two common views on the meaning of “ulu’l‐amr”: the rulers and the scholars. Many scholars of tafsir, fiqh and usul al‐fiqh have determined “ulu’l‐amr” as scholars, and from there they have reached the conclusion that the ijma (consensus) of scholars is a source in Islamic law. The reason for this is that if these qualities coexist; in other words, the rulers have the qualification of scholarship, obeying them will be obligatory by consensus. If the rulers do not have this qualification, they are obliged to ask the scholars about the things they do not know about the order, “Ask the people of the message if you do not know” (an‐Nahl 16/43). If these scholars are in a consensus in the answers they give, it is obligatory that the rulers comply with them and apply this judgment; and consequently, compliance with the consensus of scholars becomes obligatory for both the rulers and the ummah. Today, the opinions of rulers and others with knowledge and experience in various fields can be seen as an auxiliary source of Islamic law, and these opinions are important for being aware of social conditions. The scholars should act based on their views in mind when undertaking ijtihad (legal reasoning) or giving fatwa (legal opinion), and should explain the judgment Muslims should comply with after evaluating whether they contradict Islamic law. Consequently, empowering those who do not have a certain license to work in this area is contrary to the established understanding in Islamic law methodology; it is necessary to take into account the views, knowledge, experiences and evaluations of the rulers as well as other members of the Muslim community, provided that the scholars consulted in the determination of the shar’i judgment. It is ordered in this verse that controversial subjects are to be referred to Allah and His Messenger. After the death of the Prophet, the disagreements that had arisen in the Islamic community were explained by many commentators by referring to the text of the Qur’an and sunnah if there was a clear ruling related to the issue. If there was no clear ruling, this was dealt with by establishing a similarity between the new issues and the issues mentioned in the Qur’an and sunnah: in other words, qiyas was done. From a wider perspective, it can be said that “referring the disagreements to Allah and His Messenger” means making ijtihad based on the aims and objectives of the rules of the Qur’an and sunnah. This ijtihad is done by the scholars in two ways: one of these is to make qiyas (analogical reasoning) on a matter similar to that found in the Qur’’an and sunnah, and the other is to ensure the general purpose of the rules as long as they are not contradictory to the Qur’an and sunnah. Today, some scholars have discussed the necessity of establishing a jurists committee to make this type of ijtihad and check whether the laws and decrees are in accordance with the Qur’an and sunnah. As a result, we can say that Islamic scholars established their methodology by referring to the Qur’an first. The Qur’an contains the foundations of usul al‐fiqh, which is the subject of the method to be followed in the understanding and application of religion. Islamic scholars have extracted these bases from many verses. From the 59th verse of the chapter an‐Nisa (4), which is only one of these verses, they were able to determine that Qur’an, sunnah, ijma and qiyas are the main sources of Islamic law. It is possible to reveal the relationship between the Qur’an and usul al‐fiqh; in other words, the efforts of the Islamic scholars to build Islamic law methodology on the Qur’an by scanning the tafsir and usul al‐fiqh works. In this article, only a small part of the interpretations, which Islamic scholars put forward to extract the methodology from the Qur’an, has been identified and analyzed through a selected verse as a model. It is seen that such extractions and interpretations are open to debate; in other words, the meaning of these verses can be controversial sometimes. However, as a result of referring to the Qur’an as a source, it is possible to detect many rules about Islamic law methodology. The gathering and reassessment of the effort, put forth by Islamic scholars in this direction from tafsir and usul al‐fiqh literature, will lead to the establishment of a number of important rules. The rich accumulation of knowledge on this field is a valuable treasure that must be utilized by researchers.
