SOURCES OF MUSLIM LAW

 Primary Sources  Secondary Sources

I. The Quran I. Customs
II. The Sunnat and II. Judicial Decisions
Ahadis (Traditions) III. Legislation
III. Ijma IV. Justice, Equity and
IV. Qiyas (Shias don’t Good Conscience
recognize it)
 THE QURAN

I. Derived from the Arabic word Quarra which means to

read
II. Muslims belief that revelations are were of two kinds –
Manifest (zahir) and internal (batin)
III. Quran is composed of manifest revelations which
consist of communications which were made by angel
Gabriel under direction of God to Mohammad
IV. It contains revelation of God to his Prophet
Muhammad through angel Gabriel over 23 years
V. Internal revelations were Prophets own words
 THE QURAN
I. Quran is divided into 30 parts, 114 Sura (Chapters) and
6666 /6236 Ayat (Verses)
II. Quran is basis of Muslim Law, around 6666 verses out
of which 200 deal with legal principles such as
marriages, matrimonial remedies, maintenance,
acknowledgement of paternity, transfer of property,
gifts, wills, inheritance etc.
III. The Quran was given to the world in fragments. Abu
Bakr collected and arranged it and Usman 3rd Caliph 18
years after the death of Prophet arranged it in textual
form in which we have it in present day
 SUNNA OR AHADIS

I. Second most important source of Islamic law

II. Whatever the Prophet said, did or allowed tacitly is
called “hadis”(traditions)
III. Whatever the Prophet said in words – Sunnat-ul-qual
IV. Whatever he did - Sunnat-ul-fail
V. Whatever he allowed to be done without actually
saying it (tacitly) Prophet silence amounted to approval
to question put before him – Sunnat-ul-tuqrir
VI. Sunnats were collected and compiled by various people
and these collections were called “Musnads”
 SUNNA OR AHADIS
 Internal revelations consisted of the opinion of the
Prophet and delivered from time to time on question that
happened to be raised before him.
 In cases when no revelations came to him he decided
questions ,through his own judgment and own opinion
 The ideas contained in his words were inspired by God
 Consequently what was said, done or upheld by Prophet
became primary source after Quran known as Sunna.
 IJMA
 Ijmaa (Unanimous decisions of Jurists)
I. Consensus of the most learned members of the
community on a particular question of law.
II. This source has been validated by both the Quran and
the Prophet
III. Essential Ingredients of a valid Ijma –
• The Consensus – It is reached through two stages –
Firstly people express their opinion, secondly they
discuss and debates take place and finally agreeing on
one point
• The Jurists – Only the opinion of the experts are
admissible. In cases such as marriage, divorce etc
 QIYAS
 Qiyas (Shias don’t recognize it)
I. Collection of rules and principles deductible by the
methods of analogy and interpretation from the Quran,
Sunnat and Ijmaa.
II. In Arabic language Qiyas means measurement. It
means measuring or comparing a thing in relation to a
standard.
III. If there was any problem before the society on which
texts(Quran, Sunna and Ijma) were silent then Qiyas
was applied to get the law.
IV. It was a method of comparing the problem of society
with a similar problem for which solution was given in
 SECONDARY SOURCES
(CUSTOMS)
 Custom (Urf or Taamul)
I. Before Islam the Arabs were goverened by customs.
II. Bad customs were totally abolished by Prophet but
certain pre-Islamic customs (dower, talaq) which were
good and tolerable and Prophet did not abolish them and
they continued in the society because Prophet sanctioned
them by his silent approval i.e. Sunnat-ul-taqrir
III. At present The Shariat Act 1937 abolishes most of the
customs. Section 2 of the act provides for marriage,
inheritance, guardianship, maintenance
IV. Customs are still applicable in the matters of charities
and religious endowments.
 JUDICIAL DECISIONS
 The subordinate court is bound to follow the law laid
down in that decision. This is called the principle of
precedent
 Muslim law is no exception to this judicial practice and
thus a point of law decided by the Supreme court and
High Court becomes a source of law for the courts
subordinate to them.
 LEGISLATION
 The Mussalman Waqf Validating Act 1913
 The Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929
 The Muslim Personal (Shariat)Application Act 1937
 Dissolution of Muslim marriage Act 1939
 Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act
1986