An Introduction to the Relation between Jurisprudence and Law

Document Type : Research Article

Author

• Husayn Naseri

Ferdowsi University of Mashhad

10.22067/jfiqh.2020.60945.0

Abstract

urisprudence (fiqh) and law are two homogeneous disciplines both belonging to behavioral and normative knowledge, and in many aspects like some parts of their goals, problems, methodology, sources, etc., are convergent and analogous.
However, their discrepancies are quite a few. Jurisprudence enjoys a celestial sanctuary and law holds an earthly threshold. Jurisprudence demands both immediate happiness and the one yet to come; while law is content with immediate prosperity. The former relies on scriptures and religious texts and highlights authority in reference to God, and the latter insists on rules of actions and conventions.
These two old companions have, in the past, enjoyed many interactions that have been very influential in their evolution and development. But what should be done today that law and its many dense branches have spread all over our lives, and the Islamic jurisprudence has been seriously challenged? Should jurisprudence begin to wane in its encounter with law? Or, should conventional law turn pale in its challenge with jurisprudence? Or, is it possible to systematize the Islamic jurisprudence – at least in some of its significant parts? The present paper reviews the fundamentals and the presuppositions of this subject of discourse to pave the way for prospective researches.

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