On the Sources of Islamic Law

The text is devoted to the issue of the sources of Islamic law. It explains the peculiarities of Islamic law as such, emphasizing the absence of dualism, the absence of the division of reality into sacred and profane. There is no dualism in Islamic law between church and state, faith and law. Islamic law means the fulfilment of God’s commandment by deed, responding to God’s will with obedience. There can be no other law beside it, because the source of all law is God. The article describes Fiqh, Islamic jurisprudence, the study and application of divine law. It also analyses the origins and development of the Islamic legal system, the role of the Prophet Muhammad and other prominent Muslim scholars. It focuses on four basic elements – the Qur’an, the Sunnah, the consensus, the Ijma and the analogy, the Qiyas. The first two sources are generally regarded as primary, the others are more likely to be methodological foundations or principles of application, and thus secondary sources of law. It does mention additional sources of Islamic law such as derogation from one rule in favour of another rule, a decision based on public interest, relying on qiyás, istisláh and finally urf, custom. Finally, we assess the importance of knowing these sources and the logic of their use in Islamic law, which divides reality into permissible and impermissible acts, affecting the daily lives of all those who are subject to this law, as well as the coexistence etween members of different religions. We consider that knowledge of the current state of legal scholarship in the field of religious law is a prerequisite for dialogue on peaceful coexistence of communities and its implementation.