The Role of the Schools of Jurisprudence in Preserving Islamic Law Research Paper

The Role of the Schools of Jurisprudence in Preserving Islamic Law - Research Paper Example Prophet Muhammad’s successor had the power of introducing new legislation, but this power seemed to have been occasionally exercised during the Medinan period, thus supplementing the Quran (Alhaddad 31). Although the existing legislation was somehow adequate for the Medina’s Muslim community, the expanding Islamic empire under the first Islam dynasty, the Umayyad caliphate, lacked a legal establishment capable to accommodate a great complexity of cultures and races. Whereas the Caliphate was an Islamic institution, the Umayyads were to a considerable extent secular ruler and they only participated partly in the administration of the religion (Motzki 27). Gradual transformation of the Muslim society to urban culture from nomadic culture established new challenges for the Islamic law. The Quranic or religious elements of the law of the law became hugely submerged in the complex mass of legal materials that had been produced. Even though the Umayyad caliphate was successfu l in building a big and vast empire, they were criticized for the detachment from Islamic principles. During this time, a new authority was necessary so as to bring back and expand the Islamic law to accommodate matters concerning the Muslims. In the late period of the Umayyads, the first delegates acting as Islamic judges were appointed and their jurisdiction solely extended to Muslims. Subsequently, the framework of a new Arab Muslim society was created and a new justice administration emerged known as the Islamic jurisprudence. The work of the Islamic judges became increasingly specialized and gained authority in giving opinions regarding questions of religious importance (Haddad and Barbara 20).... This essay approves that Islamic scholars and jurists studied the Prophet’s life and the Quran and they adopted a detailed and refined methodology which they used in extracting legal verdicts and rulings. Muslim scholars agree that the four main schools of Islamic jurisprudence played and continue to play a fundamental role in preserving not only the Islamic law, but also the tradition of Islamic scholarship. It should be noted that these schools emphasized that the authority of the Muslim jurists were entirely derived from the God’s authority and that there is no authority that is vested in the individual jurists. This report makes a conclusion that human beings have been created by God to serve Him, as well as to create a surrounding or an environment where God’s world is upheld. It is for this reason that each Muslim must be aware of the need to lead his or her life in conformity with the wishes and orders of God. The importance of the schools of Islamic jurisprudence is reflected in the immediately mentioned statements. Schools of jurisprudence provide a basis for Muslims to understand matters of their religion. The Quran and the Hadith addresses the importance and the role of Islamic jurisprudence by demanding that Muslims should continue to study Islamic jurisprudence so that they are able to guide the other members of the society. This position is affirmed in the Hadith where Prophet Muhammad is seen emphasizing on the importance of Islamic jurisprudence by saying that when God intends good for a faithful He will grant him the good understanding of Islamic jurisprudence.