An Analysis of the Methodology of Deriving Uṣūlī Principles among the Hanafīs

Qaderi, Sara; Jamali, Mohammad; Zolfaghartalab, Mostafa

doi:10.22034/mfu.2026.145118.1651

An Analysis of the Methodology of Deriving Uṣūlī Principles among the Hanafīs

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Department of Shafi‘i Jurisprudence, Faculty of Theology and Islamic Studies, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

² Assistant Professor, Shafi&#039;i Jurisprudence Department, Faculty of Theology and Islamic Studies, University of Tehran

³ “Associate Professor in the Department of Shafi‘i Jurisprudence, Faculty of Theology and Islamic Studies, University of Tehran.Tehran.Iran

10.22034/mfu.2026.145118.1651

Abstract

The methods of deriving and formulating legal-theoretical principles within the Ḥanafī school have long been the subject of diverse interpretations. This study aims to provide a precise account of the methods employed by Ḥanafī jurists in the derivation and establishment of uṣūlī principles and to clarify the actual relationship between legal theory (uṣūl) and substantive legal rulings (furūʿ) within this school. The central question of the research is whether the Ḥanafī uṣūlī methodology is founded solely upon the inductive examination of subsidiary legal rulings or whether it utilizes a broader range of inferential methods; and, if multiple methods are indeed employed, how the role of each may be explained within the overall structure of this methodology. Using a descriptive-analytical approach and based on a comprehensive examination of primary Ḥanafī legal-theoretical and juristic sources, this study investigates the methods through which uṣūlī principles are derived in the Ḥanafī tradition. In this regard, the principal modes of derivation are examined and analyzed, including the induction of subsidiary legal rulings, the induction of revealed legal texts (istiqrāʾ al-nuṣūṣ al-sharʿiyyah), direct inference from textual evidence (istinbāṭ mubāshir min al-naṣṣ), the examination of the statements of the Companions (istiqrāʾ aqwāl al-ṣaḥābah), and the utilization of rational proofs (adillah ʿaqliyyah) and linguistic indicators (qarāʾin lughawiyyah). The findings demonstrate that although the Ḥanafī uṣūlī methodology exhibits methodological diversity, the induction of subsidiary legal rulings occupies a central, foundational, and determinative position in the formation of its legal-theoretical principles. Ḥanafī legal theorists generally extracted uṣūlī principles through extensive examination of juristic rulings transmitted from the leading authorities of the school, thereby establishing a close connection between legal theory and the practical experience of ijtihād.

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