For the past few years we have been discussing Usool AI-Fiqh and some of the principles related to it. lnsha Allah from this edition we shall be taking a look at another course and this is Al-Qawaaid Al-Fiqhiyyah. Alqawaaid is the plural for the word qaaidah which linguistically means a base. While alfiqhiyyah is derived from fiqh which means understanding. Technically Al-Qawaaid Al-Fiqhiyyah refers to "a shari ruling on a major issue from which the rulings of other issues are known" This is to say a Qaaid al Fiqhiyyah is a group of shari rulings from different chapters of fiqh which are bound together by acommon fiqh feature. However, if these similar shari rulings are are gotten from just one chapter of fiqh, the scholars of fiqh refer to this as a daabit fiqh.
The differences between Al-Qawaaid Al-Fiqhiyyah and AI-Qawaaid AI- Usooliyyah.
1. The principle of Usool al Fiqh comes first. And it is from it that a fiqh ruling is developed. Afterwards similar fiqh rulings are put together to form a fiqh principle.
2. We can not derive a fiqh ruling from a principle of Usool Al-Fiqh directly. There must be a detailed evidence (daleel tafseeliy). For instance, the principle "Al-Amr Yufeed Al-Wujuub" can not be used to mean that all actions are compulsory unless we add a daleel tafseeliy such as "Aqeemus Salaah" which means And establish Salah" Whereas a fiqh ruling can be easily derived from a fiqh principle.
3. The Qawaaid Usooliyyah are more comprehensive and general than the Qawaaid Fiqhiyyah which are subject to exceptions while this is not applicable to the Qawaaid Usooliyyah.
4. Researchers in Qawaaid Fiqhiyyah are of the opinion that it is not correct to rely on Qawaaid Fiqhiyyah alone in the understanding of a shari ruling except for those Qawaaid whose sources are directly from the Quran and Sunnah.
This article was culled from the publications of Deen Communication Limited