The Disagreement between the Scholars of Fundamentals of Jurisprudence (Uṣūl Al-Fiqh) on the Definition of “AL-AṢL”: A Fundamental Study of the Term

Abstract

This paper addressed the explanation of the causes for the disagreement on the various definitions of the scholars of Islamic law on the term “Uṣūl”, as this is deemed among the very intricate issues among the specialists on the science of “Uṣūl al-Fiqh” (Fundamentals of Islamic Jurisprudence). In the first topic, the term “al-Aṣl” was defined from the lexical and the technical perspectives, in addition to the explication of the connotation of term “cause for the Uṣūlī disagreement”, according to the scholars, and in the second topic the causes for the argument on the several definitions was discussed, and the conclusion was regarding the influence of the Arabic language and the maxims of the science of Uṣūl on the disagreements regarding issues of Uṣūl.