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are its limitations and where is it applicable.
Fiqh, in itself predates usul al- fiqh this is so because at the advent of Islam, the Qur'an was revealed to the Prophet (s.a.w.). The Qur'an is a book of guidance and a source of Islamic Law. The Qur'an prescribes, describes and emphasises a particular way of life for mankind. This way of life laid down rules and regulations for mankind in this way the Qur'an is the first and primary source of Islamic Law. The Qur'an was revealed to the Prophet (s.a.w.), the Prophet (s.a.w.) therefore was able to guide the followers of Islam in the matters of Law, since he would indicate to them for example that the Qur'an prescribes daily prayer. After this he would illustrate to them how to perform prayer in other words the Prophet (s.a.w.) by his Sunnah (f)1 would indicate to the people how particular Islamic Laws should be carried out. The Sunnah of Prophet (s.a.w.) is divided into three types:
1 Verbal (Qawli).
2 Actual (Fili).
3 Tacitly approved (Taqriri).
Therefore by his silent approval (Taqriri) he would also indicate the permissibility of an action. The Prophet (s.a.w.) himself by his actual actions (Fili) would be emulated by the Muslims this would act as an indicator of Islamic Law and also his verbal (Qawli) speech would be taken as Islamic Law. (g)2 In this way during the dawn of Islam there was no need for a particular methodology of jurisprudence to be developed.
At the death of the Prophet (s.a.w.) the followers of Islam reached a particular crossroad, this being the division of the ummah in to two groups, the Sunnis and the Shias. The Shias not needing any particular way or methodology to derive Islamic Law since they accepted Imam Ali (a.s) as there legitimate guide and the Twelve succeeding Imams (a.s.).
In this way the Imams (a.s.) did the derivations and interpretation of Islamic Laws, that is the exegesis of the Qur'an and Sunnah of the Prophet (s.a.w.) and thus expounded and explicated what the law is and how to apply it.
The Sunnis however encountered a critical situation at this juncture. The conquest of lands by succeeding Caliphs and the migration of the Companions to distant lands meant that there was an influx of non-Arabs into the folds of Islam, many people who were not versed in Islamic Law were making and declaring Laws without proper evidence and understanding of Qur'anic and Hadith sciences. (h) Therefore as time passed and civilization advanced the Islamic Empire was faced with new and diverging problems. In this way the Sunnis developed Usul or a methodology of deriving Laws to meet the new challenges faced by the Islamic world. (i)
Shias as mentioned before needed not to develop such a methodology. Since after the Prophet there was Imam Ali (a.s.) and the successive Imams till the occultation of the Twelfth Imam. However with the occultation of the Twelfth Imam (a.s.) the Shias faced just as the Sunnis did years before new and diverse problems, how were
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