Which is better: studying Islamic jurisprudence through books of jurisprudence or through books of hadith? And how should the study be conducted?
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The questioner : May Allah preserve you, O Shaykh. Which is better: studying Islamic jurisprudence through books of jurisprudence or through books of hadith? And how should it be conducted? May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : There is no doubt that the original principle is to study Islamic jurisprudence from its two known sources, agreed upon by the consensus of Muslims, which are the Book and the Sunnah. However, this requires two things: either a community whose scholars have inherited correct knowledge from the Book and the Sunnah, and whose community is mentioned alongside the early communities of the first centuries. In that case, it is obligatory for every student to study knowledge from the Book and the Sunnah under these scholars. But, unfortunately, a community that has inherited the study of Islamic jurisprudence from the Book and the Sunnah is almost non-existent in our present time, due to the prevalence of following scholars, let alone those below them in knowledge, and let alone the general public. All of them are predominantly followers of one of the schools of jurisprudence. Therefore, the answer to such a question differs. If one is in the first environment, where scholars have inherited Islamic jurisprudence from the Book and the Sunnah and are teaching it to students, then that is the way to seek this knowledge from the Book and the Sunnah. But if the environment is the other one, which is the norm in many Islamic communities—an environment of following and imitating the four schools of jurisprudence, let alone others—then it is obligatory for every Muslim to seek knowledge within the limits of one of the four followed schools of jurisprudence, after studying something of what is called the principles of jurisprudence (usul al-fiqh) and the principles of hadith. If he is a non-Arab, he must learn the Arabic language, including what is known as grammar, morphology, rhetoric, and the like, so that he becomes qualified. Those who have studied these two foundational disciplines—the principles of hadith and the principles of jurisprudence—will then be able to study traditional jurisprudence and save themselves from the rigidity of school-following by adhering to what they can adhere to from the Book and the Sunnah. This is the path that students of knowledge today must follow. A student of knowledge studying knowledge independently from the beginning, directly from the Book and the Sunnah, without having studied the principles—neither the principles of jurisprudence nor the principles of hadith—will not succeed. Even Arabs today miss much of their knowledge of their Arabic language. Therefore, it is necessary to read books known as books of literature to strengthen the Muslim’s knowledge of the styles, concepts, and implications of the Arabic language. The best way to strengthen Arabic is to study the Book and the Sunnah, and then to study some books of literature from the ancients or the moderns. Otherwise, an Arab cannot reach the point of knowing how to prefer one opinion over another among scholars who have differed, if he has no knowledge of these two foundations and the rules of Arabic. This is what students of knowledge should be upon.
The Shaykh : There is no doubt that the original principle is to study Islamic jurisprudence from its two known sources, agreed upon by the consensus of Muslims, which are the Book and the Sunnah. However, this requires two things: either a community whose scholars have inherited correct knowledge from the Book and the Sunnah, and whose community is mentioned alongside the early communities of the first centuries. In that case, it is obligatory for every student to study knowledge from the Book and the Sunnah under these scholars. But, unfortunately, a community that has inherited the study of Islamic jurisprudence from the Book and the Sunnah is almost non-existent in our present time, due to the prevalence of following scholars, let alone those below them in knowledge, and let alone the general public. All of them are predominantly followers of one of the schools of jurisprudence. Therefore, the answer to such a question differs. If one is in the first environment, where scholars have inherited Islamic jurisprudence from the Book and the Sunnah and are teaching it to students, then that is the way to seek this knowledge from the Book and the Sunnah. But if the environment is the other one, which is the norm in many Islamic communities—an environment of following and imitating the four schools of jurisprudence, let alone others—then it is obligatory for every Muslim to seek knowledge within the limits of one of the four followed schools of jurisprudence, after studying something of what is called the principles of jurisprudence (usul al-fiqh) and the principles of hadith. If he is a non-Arab, he must learn the Arabic language, including what is known as grammar, morphology, rhetoric, and the like, so that he becomes qualified. Those who have studied these two foundational disciplines—the principles of hadith and the principles of jurisprudence—will then be able to study traditional jurisprudence and save themselves from the rigidity of school-following by adhering to what they can adhere to from the Book and the Sunnah. This is the path that students of knowledge today must follow. A student of knowledge studying knowledge independently from the beginning, directly from the Book and the Sunnah, without having studied the principles—neither the principles of jurisprudence nor the principles of hadith—will not succeed. Even Arabs today miss much of their knowledge of their Arabic language. Therefore, it is necessary to read books known as books of literature to strengthen the Muslim’s knowledge of the styles, concepts, and implications of the Arabic language. The best way to strengthen Arabic is to study the Book and the Sunnah, and then to study some books of literature from the ancients or the moderns. Otherwise, an Arab cannot reach the point of knowing how to prefer one opinion over another among scholars who have differed, if he has no knowledge of these two foundations and the rules of Arabic. This is what students of knowledge should be upon.