ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Fixed and Variable Aspects of Islamic Legislation Legislation and Legal Formulation We now know that the rule or the legal principle is comprised of a subject matter and form, and we know the meanings of these terms. We also know that to legislate is to 'assign' (ja'al) or enact rules. The jurists define legislation as a declaration, by a specific authority, of legal principles, through the means of specific expressions.

It is also an established fact of Islamic ideology that legislation belongs exclusively to Allah, the Glorious. And to Him belong the creation, the command, the kingdom, power and authority. We also understand that the government, in whose hands are the affairs of the community, Ummah, enjoys a degree of legislative competence derived from the divine law which takes knowledge, justice, the doing of good and wisdom as its fundamental principles.

Indeed, the All-Knowing, All-Wise Legislat-or has taken into consideration the nature and conditions of mankind as regards to his creation, psychological, intellectual, material and social life in designing a code of living for him. It is pertinent, here, to explain that the method of formulating the legislative content of rules and the Islamic legal principle has passed through two main stages.

They are: The Qur'anic formulation, which the divine expression of rules via Qur'anic verses and the Prophetic formulation is encountered in the traditions (hadith) and sayings. The Imams of the Prophet's household followed the latter method in ellucidating the rules. The acts and confirmations (taqrir) of the Messenger (s.a.w.) and the Imams of the Prophet's household, just like their sayings, represent another way of expressing the rules and legal principles in Islam.

Thus, the early methods of expressing the Islamic rules and legal principles are as follows: 1- Verbal expression emanating from Allah, the Most High, or from the Messenger (s.a.w.) and the Imams (a.s.) via the two known methods of formulation used in the Qur'an and the pure Sunna (tradition of the Prophet or Imams). 2- Acts and confirmations by the Prophet (s.a.w.) and the Imams (a.s.).

Thereafter, studies on legislation evolved producing the science of jurisprudence and its technical terms, the result of which is the emergence of a new method of formulating Islamic laws and rules by Islamic jurists and theoreticians.