Al-Ihkam

Course Overview

This course is a chance to study the book al-Ihkam li ’l-Mujma‘ ‘alayhi min Ahadith al-Ahkam with its author, Shaykh Akram Nadwi. This book is a short compilation of approximately 200 hadith narrations, primarily derived from the Sahihayn, covering key aspects of Islamic law and the key narrations which relate to them. Through studying these ahadith students can gain an insight into the role of hadith in Islamic law (fiqh), with a particular focus on how these narrations were interpreted by the different Sunni schools of law and where differences and similarities arose. The book is heavily influenced by al-Maqdisi’s ‘Umdat al-Ahkam and can be thought of as a summary of it.

The first half of the book covers ritual acts of worship (‘Ibadat) – ritual purification (tahara), prayer (salah), alms (zakat), fasting (siyam) and pilgrimage (hajj). The second half focuses on positive law (Mu‘amalat) in which students will cover family law (nikah, talaq, nafaqa), business law (buyu‘), communal rights (huquq), criminal law (hudud, jinayat, ta‘zir), state law (jihad, imara, qada’), oaths (ayman, nudhur), manumission (‘itq), dietary laws (ta‘am) and clothing (libas).

The focuses primarily on how hadith narrations can be understood in different ways, depending on linguistic analysis and applied hermeneutical principles.

Learning Outcomes:

Upon successful completion of this module students should be able to:

• Become familiar with the various hadith narrations related to different aspects of Islamic law
• Have an understanding of some of the key interpretative mechanisms used by scholars to deduce rules from hadith
• Gain a greater understanding of why there are justified differences in various legal rulings amongst the four schools of Sunni law