In the Name of Allah, the Most Generous, the Most Merciful

Every branch of knowledge employs its own specific framework, methodology and processes to arrive at its objectives. In the early days of Islam, Muslims sought the Prophet's (S) guidance to resolve matters they found problematic, and in some instances he (S) sought further Divine revelation to inform his response. When he was no longer with them, the Muslim community relied upon reports of his companions such as Ali (‘a), Ibn Abbas or Abdullah Ibn Masoud on how he (S) had dealt with specific matters.

Later Muslim scholars were faced with a variety of contentious issues regarding hermeneutics, the interpretation of the Qur'an - especially its equivocal terms - the reliability of those who reported ahadith and the interaction between the Qur'an and the ahadith. This necessitated the setting-up of guiding principles by which to meet ever-increasing requests for answers.

Discussions regarding these principles and rules has resulted in the discipline now referred to as jurisprudence. The general principles evolved from such scholarly debate and investigation developed into the sole 'tools' by which questions regarding shari’ah are universally answered.

In this reference text, intended for students of Islamic Jurisprudence at MA level, I have tried to provide a concise exposition of the thirty major principles most frequently used in this field. I hope that it will be followed in the future by a further work of greater depth.

Dr. Sayyid Fadhel Hosseini Milani