A Comparative Study of Imam al-Abiyari’s Critiques in Al-Tahqiq wa al-Bayan fi Sharh al-Burhan on the Chapter of Abrogation in al-Ghazali’s Work

This study is concerned with evaluating the usul al-fiqh citations and transmissions between Imam al-Ghazali and Imam al-Ubayyari through a comparative critical study of Al-Tahqiq wa al-Bayan, Imam al-Ubayyari’s commentary on Al-Burhan by Imam al-Juwayni, one of the most prominent works in Islamic legal theory. The research problem lies in determining the accuracy of the citations that al-Ubayyari attributed to al-Ghazali and identifying the issues in which al-Ubayyari disagreed with al-Ghazali concerning the doctrine of abrogation (naskh). The study aims to document these issues and compare the relevant theoretical positions by defining the precise point of disagreement, presenting the various views and their evidences, and then determining the stronger position while clarifying the practical implications of the disagreement, where applicable. The research adopts an analytical-comparative methodology based on collecting the divergent citations, comparing them with al-Ghazali’s original texts, and critically verifying them in accordance with the principles of induction and scholarly documentation established in studies of Islamic legal theory. The study concludes that al-Ubayyari disagreed with Imam al-Ghazali on two issues concerning naskh: the definition of abrogation and the permissibility of abrogating the Qur’an and mass-transmitted Sunnah (mutawatir) by solitary reports (ahad). Moreover, al-Ubayyari was not the only scholar to object to al-Ghazali’s definition of abrogation; other scholars of Islamic legal theory also raised objections to it