Did the Companions رضي الله عنهم Write and Study Jurisprudential Issues?
Written by: Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Ameenpuri
Question:
Did the Companions رضي الله عنهم write and study jurisprudential issues?
Answer:
Islamic jurisprudence (Fiqh) refers to deriving rulings from the Book and the Sunnah. Numerous narrations are reported from the Companions رضي الله عنهم in which they derived rulings from the Qur’an and Sunnah. These rulings themselves were their jurisprudential issues, which the eminent Tābiʿīn transmitted from them, and the scholars of Hadith preserved with chains of narration in their compilations.
Indeed, the Companions رضي الله عنهم used to discuss jurisprudential matters among themselves and would also write them down. Evidence of this is present in the books of Hadith.
✿ Yazīd ibn Sharīk at-Taymī رحمه الله narrates:
خطبنا على بن أبى طالب، فقال : من زعم أن عندنا شيئا نقرؤه إلا كتاب الله وهذه الصحيفة قال : وصحيفة معلقة فى قراب سيفه، فقد كذب، فيها أسنان الإبل، وأشياء من الجراحات.
Sayyidunā ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib رضي الله عنه delivered a sermon and said:
“Whoever thinks that we possess anything to recite other than the Book of Allah and this scroll, is a liar. This scroll was placed in the sheath of his sword; it contained information about the ages of camels (for blood money) and other rulings concerning wounds.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 3179, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 1370)
✿ Sayyidunā Abū Juhayfah رضي الله عنه narrates:
قلت لعلي رضى الله عنه : هل عندكم من رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم شيء سوى القرآن؟ قال : لا والذي فلق الحبة، وبرأ النسمة، إلا أن يرزق الله عبدا فهما فى كتابه وما فى هذه الصحيفة، قال : قلت : وما فى هذه الصحيفة؟ قال : العقل وفكاك الأسير، وأن لا يقتل مسلم بكافر.
“I asked ʿAlī رضي الله عنه: Do you have from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ anything other than the Qur’an?”
He replied: “No, by the One Who split the seed and created the soul! Except understanding granted by Allah of His Book, and what is in this scroll.”
I asked: “And what is in this scroll?”
He said: “Blood money (diyah), the freeing of captives, and that a Muslim must not be killed in retaliation for a disbeliever.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 6915, al-Muntaqā by Ibn al-Jārūd: 794)
✿ Al-ʿAllāmah Abū al-ʿAbbās Ibn Munīr رحمه الله (d. 683H) stated:
فيه دليل على أنه كان عنده أشياء مكتوبة من الفقه المستنبط من كتاب الله .
“This narration is evidence that ʿAlī رضي الله عنه possessed some jurisprudential rulings in written form, which were derived from the Book of Allah.”
(Fatḥ al-Bārī by Ibn Ḥajar: 1/204)
✿ Sayyidunā Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī رضي الله عنه said:
كان أصحاب النبى صلى الله عليه وسلم إذا جلسوا كان حديثهم يعني الفقه إلا أن يقرأ رجل سورة أو يأمروا رجلا أن يقرأ سورة .
“When the Companions of the Prophet ﷺ used to gather, their discussion was about understanding religion (i.e., fiqh), unless a man would recite a Sūrah, or they would instruct someone to recite a Sūrah (which was then explained and understood).”
(al-Mustadrak by al-Ḥākim: 322, al-Madkhal ilā al-Sunan al-Kubrā by al-Bayhaqī: 419, and its chain is authentic)
