The History of the Shari’ah: Details and Chronology of Islamic Law

Ustadh Farid Dingle

As an introduction to the historical development of Islamic Law, this course is a must for all who wish to study Islam on anything other than the most superficial level.

Course Goals

• Understand where Islamic Law is today, and how it got there
• Understand the stages of its development
• Understand where the Four Madhhabs came from and what they are
• Appreciate how nuanced Islamic Law is, and how differences within one tradition can exist

Syllabus

Less One:

• What is the pure Prophetic Islamic Law?
• Legal Deduction in the Prophetic era
• Legal Deduction in the era of the righteously guided caliphs

Lesson Two:

• What was there before the madhhabs?
• Fiqh of Era of Early Muslims (Proto-madhhabs)

Lesson Three:

• What did the Imams of the madhhabs bring new?
• The Birth of the Madhhabs

Lesson Four:

• Was ijtihad buried forever?
• The development of the legal schools

Lesson Five:

• How does a madhhab work today? What is the point of a madhhab?
• Answering common questions