Level 3: Legal Theory 1: Linguistic Discussions

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This course aims to critically assess the first section of Muḥammad Riḍā al-Muẓaffar’s Uṣūl al-Fiqh, which deals with linguistic discussions (mabāḥith al-alfāẓ). It will demonstrate how linguistic theories are applied in the interpretation and derivation of laws from their sources by providing practical examples. This course critically engages with popular theories on language adopte din works of legal theory and draws parallels with contemporary developments in the philosophy of language and hermeneutics. It also aims to acquaint and familiarise students with the Arabic language employed in Muslim legal discourse.

 

Lesson 1      Preface (al-madkhal)

Definition of uṣūl al-fiqḥ (taʿrīf ʿilm al-uṣūl)

Norms: actual, apparent; evidences: primary, secondary (al-ḥukm: wāqiʿī wa ẓāhirī wa al-dalīl: ijtihādī wa fiqāhatī)

Subject uṣūl al-fiqḥ (mawḍūʿ ʿilm al-uṣūl)

Benefit of uṣūl al-fiqḥ (fāʾidatuhu)

Divisions of the discussion (taqsīm abḥāthihi)

Lesson 2      Introduction (al-muqaddima)

1.  Reality of postulation (ḥaqīqat al-waḍʿ)

2. Who is the postulator? (man al-wāḍiʿ)

3. Designated and gradual postulation (al-waḍʿ taʿyyīnī wa taʿyyunī)

4. Types of postulation (aqsām al-waḍʿ)

Lesson 3      5. Impossibility of the fourth type (istiḥālat al-qism al-rābiʿ)

6. General postulation and particular reference and the elaboration of the meaning of particles in that regard (wuqūʿ al-waḍʿ al-ʿām wa al-mawḍūʿ lahu al-khāṣṣ wa taḥqīq al-maʿnā al-ḥarfī)

Lesson 4      - Conclusion (al-natīja)

- Invalidity of first two theories (buṭlān al-qawlayn al-awwalayn)

- Further explanation (ziyādat īḍāḥ)

- Postulation of the particle is general, and the reference is particular (al-waḍʿ fī al-ḥurūf ʿāmm wa al-mawḍūʿ lahu khāṣṣ)

7. Metaphorical vs. real usage (al-istiʿmāl ḥaqīqī wa majāzī)

8. Indication depends on will of author (al-dalāla tābiʿa li-l-irāda)

Lesson 5      - Conceptual indication and accentual indication (al-dalāla al-taṣawwuriyya wa al-taṣdīqiyya)

Lesson 6      9. Individuated vs. generic postulation (al-waḍʿ shakhṣi wa nawʿī)

10. Postulation of complex grammatical forms (waḍʿ al-murakkabāt)

11. Signs of metaphorical and real usage (ʿalāmāt al-ḥaqīqa wa al-majāz)

Lesson 7      i. Instant recognition (al-tabādur)

ii. Attribution and negation of the word revealing whether it is real or metaphorical (ʿadam ṣiḥḥat al-salb wa ṣihatihi, wa ṣiḥḥāt al-ḥaml  wa ʿadamihi)

iii. Wide-spread usage (al-iṭrād)

12. Linguistic principles (al-uṣūl al-lafẓiyya)

Lesson 8      i. Principle of real usage (aṣālat al-ḥaqīqa)

                    ii. Principle of generality (aṣālat al-ʿumūm)

iii. Principle of unqualifiedness (aṣālat al-iṭlāq)

iv. Principle of presumption of no missing word (aṣālat ʿadam al-taqdīr)

v. Principle of literal meaning (aṣālat al-ẓuhūr)

- Authoritativeness of linguistic principles (ḥujjiyyat al-uṣul al-lafẓiyya)

Lesson 9      13. Synonymous and polysemic words (al-tarāduf wa al-ishtirāk)

- The usage of the word for more than one meaning (istiʿmāl al-lafẓ fī akthar min maʿnā)

- Two notes (tanbīhān)

Lesson 10    14. Legislative reality of the word (al-ḥaqīqat al-sharʿiyya)

                   - Perfect vs. general (al-ṣaḥīh wa al-aʿmm)

Lesson 11    - Two notes (tanbīhān)

                   Section 1: Linguistic Principles

                   Introduction (tamhīd)

Lesson 12    Chapter 1: Attribution (al-mushtaq)

                   1. What is meant by attribution in these discussions? (mā al-murād min al-mushtaq al-mabḥūth anhu?)

Lesson 13    2. Dispute regarding noun of time (jariyān al-nizāʿ fī ism al-zamān)

                    3. Dispute of attributions from the perspective of the origin of attributes (ikhtilāf al-mushtaqqāt min jihat al-mabādiʾ)

                    4. (istiʿmāl al-mushtaq bi-liḥāẓ ḥāl al-talabus ḥaqīqa)

                    Chapter 2: Commands (al-awāmir)

                    1. Content of ‘command’ (mādat al-amr)

                    i. Meaning of the word ‘command’ (maʿnā kalimat al-amr)

                    ii. The condition of superiority in the meaning of ‘command’ (iʿtibār al-ʿul fī maʿnā al-amr)

                    iii. Indication of the term ‘command’ upon obligation (dalāla lafẓ al-amr ʿalā al-wujūb)

Lesson 14    2. Linguistic form of ‘command’ (ṣīghat al-amr)

                    i. Meaning of the form ‘command’ (maʿnā ṣīghat al-amr)

                    ii. Apparent meaning of the form to indicate obligation (ẓuhūr al-ṣīgha fī al-wujūb)

- Two notes (tanbīhān)

Lesson 15    iii. Following commands as a means of devotion or as a means of reaching (al-taʿʿabudī wa al-tawaṣṣulī)

                    (a) Origin of the dispute and its clarification (manshaʾ al-khilāf wa taḥrīruhu)

                    (b) Point of the dispute when talking about the intention of nearness (maḥal al-khilāf min wujuh qaṣd al-qurba)

Lesson 16    (c) Non-restriction and restriction in the first divisions for the obligation (al-iṭlāq wa al-taqyīd fī al-taqsīmāt al-awwaliyya li-l-wājib)

                    (d) Non-possibility of non-restriction and restriction in the second divisions for the obligation (ʿadam imkān al-iṭlāq wa al-taqyīd fī al-taqsīmāt al-thānawiyya li-l-wājib)

                    - Conclusion

                    4. Individual obligation and the non-restriction of the form of the command (al-wājib al-ʿaynī wa iṭlāq ṣīgha)

                    5. Specific obligation and the non-restriction of the form of the command (al-wājib al-taʿyīnī wa iṭlāq ṣīgha)

                    6. An obligation in-itself and non-restriction of the form of the command (al-wājib al-nafsī wa iṭlāq ṣīgha)

7. Immediate and delayed command (al-fawr wa al-tarākhī)

                    (Pages 1:63-70)

Lesson 17    8. Obeying the obligation once or repeatedly (al-marra wa al-tikrār)

                    9. Does abrogation of an obligation indicate permissiveness of that obligation? (hal yadul naskh al-wujūb ʿalā al-jawāz)

                   10. Command of doing a thing twice (al-amr b-shayʾ marratayn)

                    11. Indication of a command to command an obligation (dalālat al-amr bi-l-amir ʿalā al-wujūb)

Lesson 18    Conclusion: On the Divisions of Obligation (al-khātima: fī taqsīmāt al-wājib)

                    1. Unconditional and conditional (al-muṭlaq wa al-mashrūṭ)

                    2. Pending and settled (al-muʿallaq wa al-munajjaz)

                    3. Main and dependent (al-aṣlī wa al-ṭabaʿī)

                    4. Alternative and individual (al-takhyīrī wa al-taʿyīnī)

                    5. Individual and collective (al-ʿaynī wa al-kifāʾī)

Lesson 19    5. Individual and collective (al-ʿaynī wa al-kifāʾī) (continued)

                   6. Flexible and inflexible (al-muwassʿ wa al-muḍayyaq)

                  - Is the obligation of performing an obligation outside of its designated time a result of the original command? (hal yatabiʿ al-qaḍāʾ al-adāʾ?)

Lesson 20    - Is the obligation of performing an obligation outside of its designated time a result of the original command? (hal yatabiʿ al-qaḍāʾ al-adāʾ?) (continued)

                   Chapter 3: Prohibitions (al-nawāhī)

                   1. Content of the prohibition (mādat al-nahī)

                   2. Form of the prohibition (ṣīghat al-nahī)

                   3. The apparent meaning of the form of a prohibition upon illicitness (ẓuhūr ṣīghat al-nahī fī taḥrīm)

                   4. What is meant by a prohibition? (mā al-maṭlūb fī al-nahī?)

                   5. Indication of the form of the prohibition upon perpetuity and repetition (dalāla ṣīghat al-nahī ʿalā al-dawām wa al-tikrār)

                   - Note (tanbīh)

Lesson 21    Chapter 4: Implicit Indications (al-mafāhīm)

                    Introduction (al-tamhīd)

1. Meaning of the word ‘implicit indication’ (maʿnā kalimat al-mafhūm)

2. Dispute regarding the authoritativeness of the implicit indication (al-nizāʿ fī ḥujjiyyat al-mafhūm)

3. Divisions of the implicit indication (aqsām al-mafhūm)

i. Conditional implicit indication (mafhūm al-sharṭ)

- Clarification of the point of dispute (taḥrīr maḥal al-nizāʿ)

Lesson 22    - Criteria for the conditional implicit indication (al-manāṭ fī mafhūm al-sharṭ)

- When there is a number of conditions but only one consequent (idhā taʿdad al-sharṭ wa ittaḥada al-jazāʾ)

Lesson 23    - Two notes (tanbīhān)

                    (a) Overlapping consequences (tadākhul al-musabbabāt)

                    (b) The practical principle in the two situations (al-aṣl al-ʿamalī fī al-masʾalatayn)

                    ii. Implicit indication by attribution (mafhūm al-waṣf)

                   - Subject of the discussion (mawḍūʿ al-baḥth)

                   - Different views on the matter and the correct position (al-aqwāl fī al-masʾala wa al-ḥaqq fīhā)

Lesson 24    - Different views on the matter and the correct position (al-aqwāl fī al-masʾala wa al-ḥaqq fīhā) (continued)

                    iii. Implicit indication by a limit (mafhūm al-ghāya)

                    iv. Implicit indication by exclusivity (mafhūm al-ḥaṣr)

- That exclusivity has two meanings (al-ḥasr lahu maʿniyan)

- Differences over the implicit indication by exclusivity based on the different tools of exclusivity (ikhtilāf mafhūm al-ḥaṣr bi-ikhtilāf adawātihi)

Lesson 25    - Differences over the implicit indication by exclusivity based on the different tools of exclusivity (ikhtilāf mafhūm al-ḥaṣr bi-ikhtilāf adawātihi) (continued)

                    v. Implicit indication by numbers (mafhūm al-ʿadad)

Lesson 26    vi. Implicit indication by a title (madhūm al-laqab)

                    Conclusion: On the indication of requiring, notifying, and hinting (al-khātima fī dalālat al-iqtiḍāʾ wa al-tanbīh wa al-ishāra)

                    1. The occurrences of the three indications (mawāqiʿ al-dalālāt al-thalāth)

                    i. Requiring indication (dalālat al-iqtiḍāʾ)

                    ii. Notifying indication (dalālat al-tanbīh)

Lesson 27    iii. Hinting indication (dalālat al-ishāra)

                    2. The authoritativeness of these indications (ḥujjiyyat hādhihi al-dalālāt)

                    Chapter 5: General and Specific (al-ʿāmm wa al-khāṣṣ)

                    - Introduction

                    - Divisions of the general (aqsām al-ʿāmm)

                    1. Words of generality (alfāẓ al-ʿāmm)

                    2. Attached and detached specifier (al-mukhaṣṣiṣ al-mutaṣṣil wa al-munfaṣil)

Lesson 28    3. Is usage of the general in a specific notion a metaphor? (hal istiʿmāl al-ʿāmm fī al-mukhaṣṣāṣ majāz?)

                    4. Authoritativeness of the specified general in the remainder (ḥujjiyyat al-ʿāmm al-mukhaṣṣaṣ fī al-bāqī)

                    5. Does ambiguity affect the specifier of the general? (hal yasrī ijmāl al-mukhaṣṣaṣ ilā al-ʿāmm?)

Lesson 29    (a) Subjective doubt (al-shubha al-mafhūmiyya)

                    (b) Referential doubt (al-shubha al-miṣdāqiyya)

Lesson 30    - Note (tanbīh)

                    6. It is not permitted to act on a general prior to searching for a specifier (lā yajūz al-ʿamal bi-l-ʿāmm qabl al-faḥṣ ʿan al-mukhaṣṣiṣ)

                    7. A general preceding a pronoun referring to some instances of the general (taʿqīb al-ʿāmm bi-ḍamīr yarjaʿ ilā baʿḍ afrādihi)

Lesson 31    7. A general preceding a pronoun referring to some instances of the general (taʿqīb al-ʿāmm bi-ḍamīr yarjaʿ ilā baʿḍ afrādihi) (continued)

                    8. An exception following several sentences (taʿqīb al-istithnāʾ li-jumal mutaʿaddada)

                    9. Specification of the general by an implicit indication (takhṣīs al-ʿāmm bi-l-mafhūm)

                   10. Specification of the Glorious Book by isolated traditions (takhṣīṣ al-kitāb al-ʿāzīz b-khabar al-wāḥid)

Lesson 32    Circularity between specification and abrogation (al-dawarān bayn al-takhṣīṣ wa al-naskh)

                    - First option (al-ṣūrat al-ūlā)

                    - Second option (al-ṣūrat al-thāniyya)

                    - Third option (al-ṣūrat al-thālitha)

- Options four and five (al-ṣūratān al-rābiʿa wa al-khāmisa)

Chapter 6: Unrestricted and Restricted (al-muṭlaq wa al-muqayyad)       

1. The meaning of restricted and unrestricted (maʿnā al-muṭlaq wa al-muqayyad)

Lesson 33    2. That non-restriction and restriction are Correlatives (al-iṭlāq wa al-taqyīd mutalāzimān)

                    3. Non-restriction in summary (al-iṭlāq fī al-jumal)

                    4. Is non-restriction by postulation? (hal al-iṭlāq bi-l-waḍʿ?)

                    i. Consideration of the entity (iʿtibārāt al-māhiyya)

Lesson 34    Recap of Chapter 6: Unrestricted and Restricted (al-muṭlaq wa al-muqayyad) so far

Lesson 35    Recap of Chapter 6: Unrestricted and Restricted (al-muṭlaq wa al-muqayyad) so far (continued)

                     Consideration of the entity when it is being judged (iʿtibār al-māhiyya ʿind al-ḥukm ʿalayhā)

Lesson 36    Consideration of the entity when it is being judged (iʿtibār al-māhiyya ʿind al-ḥukm ʿalayhā) (continued)

The different views on this issue (al-aqwāl fī al-masʾala)

Lesson 37    The different views on this issue (al-aqwāl fī al-masʾala) (continued)

                    5. Prerequisites of wisdom (muqaddimāt al-ḥikma)

Lesson 38    5. Prerequisites of wisdom (muqaddimāt al-ḥikma) (continued)

                    Two notes (tanbīhān)

                    The extent of surety in the position of declaration (al-qadr al-mutayaqin fī maqām al-takhāṭub)

Lesson 39    The extent of surety in the position of declaration (al-qadr al-mutayaqin fī maqām al-takhāṭub) (continued)

                    Inṣirāf

Lesson 40    6. That the unrestricted and restricted do not cancel each other out (al-muṭlaq wa al-muqayyad al-mutanāfiyān)

                    Chapter 7: Ambiguous and Unambiguous (al-mujmal wa al-mubayyin)

                   1. The meaning of ambiguous and unambiguous (maʿnā al-mujmal wa al-mubayyin)

Lesson 41    1. The meaning of ambiguous and unambiguous (maʿnā al-mujmal wa al-mubayyin) (continued)

                     2. The instances in which doubt appears in their occurrences (al-mawāḍiʿ allatī waqaʿ al-shakk fī ijmālihā)

 

Lesson 42    A note and clarification (tanbīh wa taḥqīq)

 

Prerequisites

Please note that level three courses are only available to those who have completed all courses in levels one and two. This is because the topics covered in level three require the historical and conceptual foundations which are built in levels one and two.

 

Hours of Study

110 hours

 

Assessment Method

Essay (100%)

 

Course Instructor

Professor Seyed Mohammad Seyed Ghari Fatemi

Professor Seyed Mohammad Seyed Ghari Fatemi spent thirteen years studying in the Ḥawza ʿIlmiyya of Qom between 1981 and 1994, completing his advanced studies (dars al-khārij) in Arabic literature, legal theory, jurisprudence, philosophy, and Islamic theosophy under prominent scholars such as Ayatollah Ḥusayn ʿAlī Muntaẓarī, Ayatollah Sayyid Muḥammad Rūhānī, and Ayatollah ʿAbd Allāh Javādī Āmulī. Alongside his seminary studies, he also completed an LLB (1984) and LLM (1991) in Public Law at the University of Tehran. He received his PhD from the Faculty of Law at the University of Manchester in 1999.

He has been working with AMI since 1995 and currently lectures on Islamic legal theory. He is a Professor of Comparative Human Rights, Islamic Hermeneutics and Legal theory, and Philosophy in the Faculty of Law at Shahid Beheshti University (Tehran) where he supervises masters and doctoral students researching a range of topics. Seyed Fatemi is also a full member of the Academy of Sciences of Iran and a member of the Department of Biomedical Ethics at the Iranian Academy of Medical Sciences. He has previously taught in the Ḥawza ʿIlmiyya of Qom, at Mofid University (Qom), the University of Birmingham, and was a Visiting Associate Professor at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies at the University of Exeter.

He has numerous publications to his name in Persian and English and has organised and presented at dozens of conferences in the fields of law, Islamic studies, and bioethics. He is the author of Human Rights in the Contemporary World (Ḥuqūq-i bashr dar jahān-i muʿāṣir). The first volume of this work (An Introduction to Theoretical Issues: Concepts, Foundations, Scope and Sources) was first published by the UNESCO Chair for Human Rights and Shahid Beheshti University and is now in its eighth edition. The second volume (Analytical Essays on Right and Liberties) is in its fifth edition, and a third volume (Islam and Human Rights) is forthcoming.