Suhaib Webb – Usul alFiqh Lesson Two Author’s Introduction, Methods, Supports and Directions
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Welcome back to our discussion on S aloof.
Sayna Imam Al Juwayni Rahimullah, he says,
He opens up the book, he says,
these are just a few pages. The word
hadihi
is fixed on kesra,
This is called bina, when a word's ending
doesn't change, the opposite of 'Yarab. Ya'arab Huatarir
Awakher Kalimi.'
Bina is Adam Tariiri
awakri al kalimi.
We know that a word can be fixed
on kesra,
like hadhemi or amsi.
Right? For either Qalat Hadhemi, Falsad Biqa'ah, fa'in
alqawlamaqalat
Hadhemi a hadhemo.
According to Ahlul Hijaz, Hademi, the name of
this woman, is always going to end in
Kasra.
Also MC,
So he says, aliyamu a'alamu maya jeeubihi.
But
here, msi. So here the word is fixed
on,
kesra.
Also, sometimes it can be fixed on on
on on
yani ba'adu waqabbalu or fatha ahadaasharah
ahadaasharah.
And of course the foundation
of words that are fixed is sukoon.
But anyways, just so you know, hadhihi is
called Ismo Isharah, it means something that's close
to you. Hadha SoHayb Hadhihi Fatima,
Its opposite would be tilka or darik,
so
for example. But
maybe somebody ask like why Zarik? The Quran
is in front of me. Why is it
giving the sense of Zarik which means far
away not close like hada or hadihi.
Because subhanAllah without Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's guidance
and blessing that book would stay far away
from
us.
Allahu
Akbar. So the Sheykh, he says, Hadihi
Waraqaatun
Waraqaat is called Jamru
Mu'anathisalim,
the sound female plural.
Imam ibn Malik, he says in his Alafiya,
The any word at the end is at
at at, muslimat,
umina, twarakat,
this is a sign of a sound female
plural.
That's very important because
in order to understand the language properly,
you need to think about 4 things or
5.
Number 1 is the acquisition of vocabulary.
Especially for those of us who are non
Arabic speakers, I actually believe that we should
start teaching English speakers
Arabic vocabulary
before grammar and morphology
and rhetoric.
Because Allahu Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala,
the first thing he taught Adam was what?
Wa'ala ma'adamalasmaa
aqulaha,
was names.
So the first is mufradat,
vocabulary.
Number 2, tasrifil ethaal is morphology.
Number 3 is grammar.
Morphology, as I heard from Doctor. Fatiha Jazi,
gives us the asrar
of the, of the shekel of the kalima.
Which brings about a meaning, right? Gives us
the secret as to why the form of
the word is a certain way.
Nahu
gives us the meaning of the word.
So, after
vocabulary,
morphology,
and grammar, And then al balaha,
almanu
albayanu albadir,
rhetoric.
And then after that is what I call,
what we call what we studied
and al Azhar al Mu'tala
is read, just read a lot, engage literature
so that you can acquire
a style.
Waraqa'at
brings together
3 of these things.
Number 1, the meaning of Waraka is paper.
It's used in Surte Kaaf.
Waraqa here means like paper, the the money,
right?
The coinage.
2nd is is the the grammar, Uraqa'atun,
it's clear.
And the third is the tasrif, the form
of the word. This is
as I said earlier.
But Jamu Mo'anathisarim
and its counterpart Jamu Mo'zakrisarim,
the sound female plural, mostly metun,
and the sound male plural, mostly mun,
fall under a section in soft called Jamru
alqilla.
Jamru
Alqilla are those words that are plurals, but
mean like between 3 to 9.
One of our teachers, he wrote the
5 types of Jamu Okele that you're gonna
find. 4 of them are from what's called
Jamut Taksir, the broken plural. The other 2
are from
the Sadim Ajama,
right? The male and the female, plural Muslim,
1 Muslimat.
He said,
The sheikh, he mentions the forms of Aljam
Oqila.
Number 1, Efeila.
Number 2, Efe'al.
Number number 1, efrolin.
Efrolin.
Number 2, efrolin.
Number 3, ef'ilatin.
Number 4, Fae'ilatin.
Efe'ilin
Efe'ilatin.
Wafi'ilatin,
you're an awful Adna min al Adadi.
So, the first 4, what are they?
Efe'ulin,
Efe'alin like, a yam, ma'adudat.
'afailatin,
then fa'ilah.' So those 4.
And the last one, 'sarimuljamaidahaydandahilumaha.'
The
2 sound plurals, female or male. So, warakaat
is jamma'okele.
So what did I do here?
My knowledge of the vocabulary, my understanding of
the form of the word with its grammar
gives me the meaning.
It says these 5, you should know them
well. And don't worry about it, you don't
need to increase anything. So
these are a few pieces of paper
'Tashtemel' means you know like these few pages
contain 'Marifa'
here means 'Elm'
Knowledge
of Fosolin.
Certain
chapters
mean osolifirk.
From osolofirk,
the science of osolofirk.
Now what the sheikh does, and this is
where we stopped last time, he says, watharika
mu'alafun
minjuzayni
mufradayin.
Right. That that Usulofiq
is more alaf,
right, is composed
of
Juzayin, 2 parts mufradayin.
What Imam Al Haramain is alluding to is
a style of introducing a subject through a
very ancient method, which is called Tarif Ildafi.
Tarif Ildafi means I look at the word
osurofik
and I see there's mufradayin,
2 words
And I'm not going to talk about what
Mufrad means here. 2 words,
I'm going to break them apart. I'm going
to define Usul. I'm going to define firk.
Then I'm going to see the Nispah,
the relationship between the two to give me
the meaning of Usur Al Firk.
So this process was called Tarif
Ildafi,
is based on
a process of understanding the Mo'akkab,
the two words.
In fact, there's an axiom, marifa to Mo'akkab
ma'kuf a mutawakifa
ara marifa,
adzei.
Again,
ma'arifatulmurakabi
mutawakkifa
ala ma'arifati
adzayi. Understanding
these two words
is conditioned
on understanding
each part of those two words.
Osul firch. This methodology is called Tarif Il
Dafi.
So, Marif et al Markab,
if I wanna understand this methodology of the
ancient scholars,
then what I'm going to do is, I'm
going to understand Usul and its linguistic meaning,
Usul
and its scientific meaning,
firq in its linguistic meaning, Fiq in its
scientific meaning. What's called 'Itlaqaat'
'Itlaqaat'
'Ilkarimet'
What are the different
applications of these rules, of these words?
And then understand the nispah
bayinahoma,
the relationship between them 2, and this gives
me the meaning of 'osolofilk.'
This is the old way, right? The only
reason I'm introducing this to you now, because
we're going to use the way, which I'll
talk about later,
is so we can appreciate.
Because we are surrounded by some very problematic
furnishings
in a postmodern world that is filled with
a number of assumptions
against religion generally and Islam specifically.
Religion is suspect,
incapable of dealing with the current age,
and Islam is inherently undomesticated
in its ability to function in the modern
world.
We have to be careful of these assumptions,
man.
So one of the things that I may,
you may feel like well we're going like
off on this kind of interesting tangent,
a goal of this course is for us
to appreciate the depth
and precision of scholarship,
Islamic scholarship. Allahu Akbar.
So
And I wrote in my notes,
is really rooted in 3 things.
So, understanding the first word, the second word,
and then the relationship between the 2.
Masha'Allah.
So, what we're going to do now is
do that. Unpack usu, unpack fiqh, and then
see what's the relationship between them
so we can understand the methodology of some
of the early scholars
in introducing sciences
and ideas.
And, of course, this is 1 tenth of
what's called
Al Moberi.
Al Moberi, Al Moberi, Al Ullum are those
10 things that scholars theorize that a student
needs to understand before he or she
jumps into a subject.
It's very important, man,
to understand that you can't I can't just
jump into a subject, man. Like, I can't
just jump into an issue without having some
kind of
prerequisite
knowledge.
In fact, I I have,
Masha'Allah,
here somewhere
a poem that talks about these al moberi,
but I want you to understand the moberi,
or like, if you moved into a neighborhood,
right?
Say you moved into Brooklyn,
and I knew that you were new in
the neighborhood and I wanted to help you
out, and I would say to you, like,
hey, here are the 10 things, like, you
need to know about, man.
So, like, there's the post office,
there is the,
you know, the barbershop,
here's the halal restaurant,
you know, here's here's the, the grocery store,
here's the masjid,
right? So I'm introducing you to these 10
things in the neighborhood that I think are
most important for you to know, but you
don't know the details of what's in there
yet. But those ten things are going to
help you make what's called tasawur,
conceptualize
the neighborhood.
Our scholars were so amazing, mashallah,
that they created what's called al Mubari al-'ulom.
Al Mubari al-'ashara.
These ten things that you need to know
before you even start a subject.
This is good for Islamic Studies teachers, right?
So, you can make sure that you're introducing
something thoroughly before you just jump into it
And also it's good for you to evaluate
any classes or lessons that you study, how
much of the al mubari have you learned.
So, Masha'Allah,
you know, Al Makari and Ildaatul Dujnan, we
teach this book at Swiss in the 3rd
year or 4th year in theology. He says,
right? He talks about them in this poem,
whoever wants to master a subject should know
these things. Then he goes into the tin.
But here, Masha'Allah, I'm going to read something
to you that this Lam taradu Hashem's,
this has not seen the light of day.
This is from a machtota,
which talks about these 10 things you need
to know before you go into a subject.
Why am I talking about that? Because Imam
Al Haramain, he does it flawlessly. He does
it without even telling you.
So, he begins by introducing the meaning of
a word and this is one of the
10,
one of the 10 from the word Bara'a
to begin. So, where do you begin from?
So, you can think about this before you
just jump into a subject.
Excuse me, how many of these 10 do
you actually know?
This is very important as we face an
age of disorganization
and decentralization
that we center the knowledge on systems.
It's very important.
So he says,
Allahuhamu,
and this is a Sheikh Ibnu
Zikri,
he says, fa'alawalu
avwabifilmobedi.
Now, the first
things that you need to think about as
you engage
the starting points of knowledge.
And these are the 10 for someone who
is seeking knowledge.
Al haddu, Al hadd is from the word
Hudud.
Right? The Hudud of a country is its
borders.
So here it's used metaphorically to mean,
what you're going to make
in your mind, you're going to border it
till that's the only thing you have in
your mind. In other words, the definition. So
you're not sloppy.
So, al hadiuhadidul
afkar.
It limits, it disciplines. What it means here
is the definition, a tari if yani.
Walmawdua
is the second, is the subject matter.
Thummalwader
is the one who organized the subject, so
in this case it's Imam Shafi'i.
Walissmu, then its name.
It's name comes after it's definition because people
argue over the names of things.
Right?
So the concern is more for the meaning
than the name. So you start with the
definition because that gives you the guts of
the idea and then you put the wrapping
paper around it, that's the name. How many
people argue revert, convert? How many times we
see Muslims fighting and arguing over terminology?
We don't argue over terms.
Concern is for the meaning, not the name.
So here the sheikh is teaching edab.
Al Mubari that teaches etiquette.
So he says Rahimullah al Haddu
Definition. Walmawdur or the subject matter. Thumalwada is
imam Shafi'in Usulafak.
What is its name? What is timdad? What
are the prerequisites that you need before you
can jump into the subject?
Hur Mosheray. What's the ruling? What's the Sharay
ruling
on this issue?
So that you can prioritize it. Is it
Farda'in or not? Is it Farda'kithaya
or not? Is it Makru, Haram?
How do I lay out what's really important
for me? For example, the hadith of Jibreel,
everything there, Islam, iman and ihsanfardayin.
Have I taken the time to learn those
three core subjects
or am I Allah over the place?
To
conceptualize
what are the questions that this knowledge answers.'
alfardila
wanisbetun,
what is the genus,
what faculty does the science belong to?
Faidatunjarilah,
and then what is its virtue, you know,
like in the hereafter. And I I I
I believe also,
sorry. So after understanding the issues it addresses
is El Fardila. Faldila means what are the
out, you know, like can I get a
good job with this? Like what are the
outcomes, inadvertent outcomes of studying the science? So
like, you know, if you study to be
a Qari, you know, maybe you get a
good job somewhere as an imam. That shouldn't
be the reason you do it, but that
may be an outcome.
What is Bethun then its faculty?
What is its blessings in the hereafter?
This is the right upon any student of
knowledge who hopes to encompass.
Bifahmizilashrati
mezua yanit.
Right? That he or she should understand
and encapsulate these 10 things well.
And that they work hard to understand these
10 things before they actually start the subject.
And then they'll have like insight and understanding
and perception
towards what they're trying to study and what
they're seeking. So again, let me just mention
the 10, Al Mubadhi. Again, Al Mubadhi.
The sheikh, he says, Al Haddu Walmoduruthumalwada.
Right? Definition,
the subject, the person who organized it first
in a pedagogical framework.
Walismu, its name.
Istemdaro, its prerequisites.
Hukmushareh.
Al Masayil, the issues that it deals with
and addresses.
Al Fardila,
its
implicit
professional
outcomes.
1isbetun,
its genus.
Faidatunjamila,
its blessings in the hereafter.
And those are the 10, mashAllah.
Imam Al Haramainu Rahimuallahu
ta'ala. What he does now is he introduces
1.
You know,
you don't have to do all 10. Right?
You don't have to do all 10, especially
now this is a beginner's class, right? So,
I'm not trying to like, make it too
hard for you guys,
but understand those 10 things are out there.
So we're gonna do now, Insha'Allah, we're going
to go through the process of
tareef
al usool
tareef idafi.
Right? Breaking down each word
and then seeing the relationship between the 2.
This is the linguistic meaning.
Talif Lughatan.
In fact the 'olamas said, you know
that it has a number of 'etlaqaat.'
Itlakatuh,
meaning
how it is,
the meanings it, it frees, right? The meanings
that it expresses.
That which other things are built on or
based on.
The other meaning,
something that like births something else.
Something that gives rise to something else. So
we see now here 2 meanings in the
language.
That's the linguistic meaning.
In
in in Islamic studies and in in the
religious epistemology,
the word 'usul has a number of itlaqaat,
a number of applications.
The first is adalil.
Adalil.
So we say, al Aslu
fee,
Hurummatalkhamr
The second is Arrajah.
So you may have 2 issues,
and the one which is considered the correct
between the two is the Arrajah.
It's called Arrajah.
You say Al Aslu.
The third, Al Muqisa Alai.
When you wanna make a pious, analogy between
two things, you say
That you know, there's a certain drink called
nabi'v which is fermented
100 of years ago. Or you can say,
right,
that the asl,
the qiyas for alcohol being forbidden is alcohol.
For marijuana being forbidden is alcohol. So, al
muqis'ali.
The other meaning, the 4th
So, Al Asafar Ashaibaha,
right, the foundation of all things is permissibility
unless there is evidence
to show otherwise.
So here we see different itlaqaat of the
word Usul.
And when it's used by Sayyidina Imam Al
Haramain here when he says, you know osu'lofirk,
he means adilda.
Adilda to firk.
The evidence is a firk.
Talk about that, Insha'Allah, in the future.
So adilatulfilk.
Remember, this is not the definition that we're
going to go with long term,
but just to understand the methodology of some
of the early scholars and to appreciate
the precision and investment, mashallah.
And, this is just like a drop, man.
This is nothing. I'm reading from a very
simple book with just a few notes. SubhanAllah
there.
According to
Islamic terminology,
This is from,
Khwata,
Adillah,
That Al Aslu is that thing by which
an evidence
is used from it,
right?
Which is supported by an evidence
used to extract a ruling.
And that ruling is gonna clarify a number
of things we'll talk about in the future.
According to say the Imam Al Haramain when
he says
Talk about that in the future, Insha'Allah.
So now you can see, subhanAllah man, this
stuff is, this stuff is very interesting
and be patient.
Don't
don't look for entertainment.
Push yourself a little.
SubhanAllah.
That's why Imam Al Razi says in Al,
Al Masul
But this is going to differ and next
time we'll go through the definition of the
others who define all Sur of Alkanat from
Tarif, Ildafi, but what's called Tarif,
Laqabi. And this is the way of the
majority of scholars.
The next word that he defines is Al
Farah.
Because the Farah is the opposite of Uzzol,
and the idea is if you look at
2 opposites, then you understand things
completely.
Right, the fara is what is based on
something else.
The next word is fiqh.
The word fiqh
in Arabi,
there are 3 opinions
amongst the Usuli'in,
It's very important also at this point.
In Uls Sollofek we have 2 Medhebs, the
Medheb of Al Jomor,
which is the Marikia, the Shefa'i and the
Hanabila, they're called Al Muthe Kalimin because a
lot of debate and discussion.
And then the Madhab of the Uhanaf is
called the Madhab Al Fuqaha.
Because they start with the Fiqhishu and then
go back to the Usul.
The other 3, they start with the Usul
and get to the answer.
So according to scholars, the word 'fiq' linguistically
has three meanings. Number 1, mutlaqulfhem
is to completely understand something.
What it means is here is like to
understand something important, something not important, something big,
something minuscule.
I understand the
sky is above me
I see you in front of me.
Whether it demands incredible
intellectual output or not, I love what firk.
The second is that firk
is to understand something fehmandakikan.
The word firk means to understand something which
is subtle and difficult to grasp.
This is the definition of a few of
the scholars like Sheikha al Murozi
Rahim The third is that fiqh is fehm.
Ghard al muta kalimin kalemi.
Is to understand what someone is saying. This
is the, the definition of Sayyidna Imam Al
Razi. And Imam Al Razi in Ousole Firkh
is called Al Imam.
Al Imam
Rahimu Allah. However the majority of the ulama,
they differed from those last two opinions. They
said
to understand something like whether big or great.
The evidences for this is the statement in
the Quran,
right? The people of Shu'aib, they said you
know, we do understand a lot of what
you say.
Also in the Quran, and what he said
is like you know,
they said manaf kahumu we didn't understand
the meaning of what you're saying. But they
used the word firk.
And also what he said isn't overly difficult,
but they didn't understand it, but it's still
called firk.
Also, like what's wrong with these people? They
can't even understand one word? Sayyidina
Musa
hadith of the prophet, Ifaqi hufidin.
So all these evidences show that fiqh
has this itlaq
which is general.
Something big, something small, something difficult to understand,
something easy,
to understand.
Insha Allah, we're gonna stop here because it's
a lot of information. Next time we'll continue
to the
religious definition of fiqh.
What do we take today? Masha Allah, we
talked about warakat, we talked about gemma'okele, the
forms of gemma'okele,
the the 5 forms of gemma'okele,
Ismoo isharah, we talked about mabni,
right? And then we went into usol o
fech and we talked about the two ways
in which God has defined something, either tarif
idaf or tarif lakabbi. Tarif idafi means that
we break both words down
because
Right, understanding of something which is a compound
phrase means you have to understand each part
of the compound phrase. Then we went through
Ulsul linguistically,
then we went through Ulsul
theologically. Then we went through the meaning as
it is used by Sayna Imam Al Haramain
Adillah.
Then we talked about fiqh and we gave
the three
opinions about the meaning of according to the
language. Next time we'll pick up and continue
that part because that remaining
aspect
on certain
issues.