The Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence

This is the third and most revised edition of one of the best textbook on the su
bject of Usool Al-Fiqh Al-Islami, (The Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence).
Usool Al-Fiqh is one of the main realms of Islamic knowledge and is so essential
that not only Fiqhwhich is the practical aspect of Islam and the way of living a
nd applying its laws but all other realms use it and rely upon it. In fact, the m
ain function of these Usool or principles is to help the scholars understand Isl
am and facilitate its application by providing the people with tools they need t
o refer all matters facing Muslim individuals and communities to the original an
d only two textual sources of Islam, namely the Noble Quran and the Sunnah of Pr
ophet Muhammad sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allah exalt his mention
) so that all needed rulings and guidelines may be derived from them, thus prese
rving their authenticity and insuring their maximum credibility of correctness a
nd validity. It is no wonder that many students of knowledge complain of the dry
ness of Usool Al-Fiqh books and difficulty of its subject matterthis book is no e
xception.
I know that it is a dense read, and that it can be boring if you are not a stude
nt of the subject of the principles of Fiqh or someone who has a good background
in Islamic knowledge, yet I found Kamali's style to be distinguished by clarity
and readability. But this is a book that is best used as textbook for a univers
ity level course or as a desk reference for varying specialists and scholars of
Islamic law who cannot access the principles of Fiqh or Islamic knowledge in Ara
bic. Some of my colleagues mentioned that Kamali tried his best to follow the st
yle of earlier scholars in writing about the subject, and they wished that he wo
uld change that to a style that is more befitting to the learning abilities of t
oday's student and in accordance with today's methods of instruction. I am of th
e opinion that both approaches have merits in teaching this kind of subject matt
er and both may be effective in teaching the principles of Fiqh provided one has
a good teacher and the right learning environmentboth of which are hard to find
considering today's situation of many of the so-called Islamic universities.
The fact remains that when the Principles of Islamic jurisprudence was first pub
lished, it offered an excellent addition to the few English Usool Al-Fiqh textbo
oks available then. This edition, however, represents a far better detailed and
substantially expanded discussion of the same topics of the earlier editions as
well as newer ones. This excellent book, nevertheless, can still benefit some of
the essential enhancement that are typical in the production process of academi
c books like, an expanded index, extensive and more comprehensive glossary, auth
entication of references especially the Hadeeth and certain quotations, more foo
tnotes and cross-referencing, among others.
Kamali was honestly seeking objectivity in adding the two sections about the Uso
ol of Al-Khawaarij and Shia sects. But while this may have worked in the case of
Al-Khawaarij, I do not think the inclusion of the Shia Usool served objectivity
. Not only that there are serious differences between the Sunnah and Shia Usool,
but the extent of discussion in this limited-scope book of Usool does not permi
t a real discussion of comparative Usool Al-Fiqh.
Furthermore, I wished that Kamali had left the topic of Tajdeed Usool Al-Fiqh (t
he renewal of the Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence) out of this book. This wa
s another place where he failed to provide appropriate discussion to issues that
are essential but highly controversial. Dr Mohammad Hashim Kamali is Professor
of Law at the International Islamic University, Malaysia, where he has been teac
hing Islamic law and jurisprudence since 1985. Aspiring students should find thi
s book very informative.