Explanation of the principles of the fundamentals by Ibn Badis Al-Maliki

Compilation / Ibrahim Hassan Suleiman Al Balushi Explanation of the Principles of Jurisprudence for Ibn Badiis Al Maliki | Ibrahim bin Hassan bin Suleiman Al Balushi The benefits for the student to acquire a legal and intellectual skill that corrects his idea, and paves the way for him for proper deduction, understanding, and partial comprehension; so that he becomes able to understand the evidence and derive rulings from them, and proficient in understanding the aims of the details of jurisprudence; for branches are only understood through their roots, and truths are only known after acquiring knowledge of their prerequisites; so whoever masters this knowledge and relies on its correct rules can reach the soundness of judgment in the most eloquent way with a touch of the fundamentals of religion; with the aim of practicing Islamic judgment; because the knowledge of the original principles of jurisprudence is only sought to understand the words of Allah and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah as intended. Sheikh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah — may Allah have mercy on him — after addressing the connotations of the words: "And for this, it is a criterion from the principles of jurisprudence that one understands the intent of Allah and His Messenger through the Book and the Sunnah." The author divided his message into four chapters strictly based on the definition he provided for the science of the principles of jurisprudence: - First chapter: dealing with the actions of the accountable, and its reality: it is a report on the subject of judgment, which is the action of the accountable that follows the requirements of the ruling. - Second chapter: it dealt with the attribution of Allah, and included the comprehensive judgment of the legislative and administrative rulings, and established the remaining differences, then addressed the implications of the judgment explaining: the judge, the subject of judgment, and the judged upon, which is the responsible and the one addressed with the rulings. - Third chapter: it covered the evidence of the Book, clarifying that it is the foundation of the evidence, the main pillar of the Shariah, and the primary legal sources, all of which refer back to it. Then it explained the second evidence: the Sunnah, considering it as such, then considering its connection to the Quran, dividing it into clarifying and independent Sunnah, and postponed the evidence of the Sunnah regarding its authenticity to the end of the message in a second alert. Then it mentioned the third evidence: consensus, and clarified its authority, dividing it into practical consensus and theoretical, and found it impossible with its possibility; due to the dispersion of scholars across the horizons and their large number, except for the consensus of the companions. - Fourth chapter: it covered the teachings of the Usul (principles), dividing the evidence into detailed ones, which are the verses and hadiths of rulings, and their reference is the Book and the Sunnah, and general evidences, which are known as Usul, and their reference is the books of the principles. Then it provided guidance regarding the texts of the verbal texts from the Book and the Sunnah, addressing the following information: the carrying of the word, command, prohibition, taking what is commanded, the understood and the explicit, explaining that it reaches two categories: agreement and disagreement, and divided the understanding of agreement into equal and priority understanding, and explained its types. The understanding of disagreement and its conditions for application. Then it addressed the rule: the text, the apparent, the metaphorical, the clarified, the general, and the explicit, because it was established with the absolute and the restricted, and the rule of carrying the absolute on the restricted, then the sound and the abrogated and abrogation, then the aspects of the Book and its sections, with an explanation of its context and when the abrogation is judged. Finally: it discussed the rules concerning the actions of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and his confirmation, which is his message, concluding with the emphasis on ijtihad, imitation, and following. Among the notable features of the message: he mostly limited himself to definitions without defining the evidence of the establishment of these teachings except rarely, and his choices aligned with the principles agreed upon by the majority, including the Maliki school, except in the matter of knowing consensus, where he disagreed with the majority. The author did not address many Usul issues: such as evidences differing, generality, parts, customary, and others. Most of his work is borrowed from "Miftah al-Wusul ila Bina’ al-Aqsaam ‘ala al-Usul" by Abu Abdullah Muhammad bin Ahmad Al Sharif Al Talmisani, who died in 771 AH, and other sources which we have commented on in the margin, which need much correction. Allah refuses infallibility for any book other than His own.