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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books A Short History of Ilm ul Usul The History of ‘Ilm’ul Usul ‘Ilm’ul Usul developed in the lap of ‘Ilm’ul Fiqh just as the latter developed in the lap of ‘Ilm’ul Hadith (the science of traditions) as a result of the various stages through which 'Ilmush Shari’ah passed. By 'Ilmush Shari’ah we mean the science that endeavors to come to know the laws which Islam has brought from Allah the Most High.

The beginning of this science in Islam is represented by the campaign of a large number of narrators to preserve and collect the traditions (al-A Hadith ) that appear in the laws of the Shari’ah . Thus in the first stage 'Ilmush Shari’ah was at the level of ‘Ilm’ul Hadith . At that time the basic task seems to have been confined to collecting the traditions and preserving their texts.

However as for the method of understanding the laws embodied in those texts and traditions, it was not so important at that stage, because it then consisted of nothing more than the simple method by which people understood the words of each other in their everyday conversation.

Gradually the method of understanding the laws of the Shari’ah from the texts became more and more complex, until the derivation of laws from their legal sources became abstruse demanding profound and comprehensive knowledge. Increasing and exhaustive efforts were made to acquire that profundity which the understanding of the laws of the Shari’ah from the texts and their derivation from their sources demanded. Thus the seedlings of academic legal thought developed and ‘Ilm’ul Fiqh was born.

Then ‘Ilm’ul Shari’ah ascended from the level of ‘Ilm’ul Hadith (science of traditions) to that of deduction and of Istidlal (setting out proofs and reasoned arguments) which is abstruse.

During that growth and development of ‘Ilm’ul Fiqh and of legal thinking and the embarkation of the scholars of the Shari’ah upon carrying out the process of deduction and understanding the laws of the Shari’ah with the degree of profundity and depth demanded by the situation, the common threads (the common elements) of the process of deduction began to appear and to reveal themselves.

This was how the birth of ‘Ilm’ul Usul took place and how the legal thinking of the outlook of ‘Ilm’ul Usul was adopted. Hence we can say that the science of the principles of jurisprudence was born in the lap of ‘Ilm’ul Fiqh .