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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books A Short History of Ilm ul Usul The Main Sources of Proving Validity in ‘Ilm’ul Usul We have come to know that the process of deduction consists of common as well as particular elements, and that ‘Ilm’ul Usul is the science, which deals with the common elements in which elements are studied, defined and systematized.

Since ‘Ilm’ul Usul is the science responsible for the study of these common elements, the basic question naturally arises: What are the sources which ‘Ilm’ul Usul utilizes to prove the validity of al-Khabar or al-Zuhurul'Urfi etc., as proofs, from the common elements in the process of deduction ? A similar type of question is faced in every branch of knowledge.

For instance, in relation to the natural sciences we ask: What are the means of proof which these sciences utilize to discover and establish natural laws? The answer is that the chief source of proof in the natural sciences is experimentation. Or in relation to grammar we ask: What are the means of proof utilized by the grammarian to discover the laws relating to the inflection of a word and to define the conditions in which it is placed in the nominative or the accusative case?

The answer is that in grammar the main sources of proof are the quotations from the basic sources of the language and the words originally used. Thus ‘Ilm’ul Usul has necessarily to face this question and to lay down, at the very beginning, the sources of proof, which, it has to utilize to establish and define the common elements.

In this connection we can say that the main methods of proof (or proving validity) which ‘Ilm’ul Usul has to utilize, can be reduced to two categories, viz., al-Bayan al-Shar'i (The text of Qur'an or the Sunnah). al-Idrak al-'Aqli (Intellectual discernment). Thus no proposition acquires the mark of a common element in the process of deduction, nor is it permissible to utilize it in this process unless it can be proved by one of these two main methods.

Therefore, if the specialist in ‘Ilm’ul Usul is endeavoring to study, for instance, the validity of al-Khabar (report) as a proof, so that he may utilize it in the process of deduction, if it happens to be valid, he will ask himself these two questions: (a) Is there any al-Bayan al-Shar'i (i.e. text of the Qur'an or the Sunnah) which indicates the validity of al-Khabar as a proof? (b) Do we discern with our intellects or not that it is a valid proof that has to be followed?