Sources of Islamic Law — Muslim Law (Family Law II) Notes

Sources of Islamic Law

In 610 A.D., in a cave on Mount Hira near Mecca, the Prophet Muhammad is said to have received the first verses of the Quran. Over the next 23 years those revelations, together with the Prophet’s own sayings and practice, became the bedrock of a legal system that today governs the marriages, divorces, gifts and inheritance of over a billion people. When an Indian judge decides a Muslim’s case, the chain of authority still runs back to that cave.

What are the sources of Muslim law?

Muslim law is not one statute you can pull off a shelf. It is a body of religious personal law, and to answer any question in this subject you must know where its rules come from. The sources fall into two groups.

Primary sources are the four roots (usul) of the law, in descending order of authority:

Quran — the very words of God revealed to the Prophet. It is the first and highest source. Only about 200 of its 6,000-odd verses are strictly legal (ayat-al-ahkam), dealing with marriage, dower, divorce and inheritance, but where the Quran speaks, no lower source may contradict it.
Sunna (or Hadith) — the model behaviour of the Prophet: what he said (qaul), did (fil), and silently approved (taqrir). Where the Quran is silent, the Sunna supplies the rule.
Ijma — the consensus of the learned jurists (mujtahids) of a generation on a point the Quran and Sunna do not settle. The idea rests on the Prophet’s saying that his community “will never agree on an error”.
Qiyas — analogical deduction. A new problem is decided by reasoning from a similar case already settled by the three higher sources. Example: the Quran forbids wine; by analogy (qiyas) all intoxicants are forbidden.

Secondary sources develop and apply the law but cannot override a primary source:

Custom (urf/taamul) — a long-standing usage, valid only if it is reasonable, continuous, and not opposed to the Quran or Sunna.
Judicial precedent — decisions of the courts.
Legislation — statutes such as the Shariat Act 1937 and the Dissolution of Muslim Marriage Act 1939.
Justice, equity and good conscience — the residual source the courts fall back on when no rule is found.

Keep the ladder of authority in mind: Quran → Sunna → Ijma → Qiyas → secondary sources. When two rules clash, the one resting on the higher source wins.

The Quran, on its own authority: “This is the Book; in it is guidance sure, without doubt, to those who fear God” (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:2).

In Simple Terms: The Quran is the supreme law-book; the Prophet’s practice (Sunna) fills its gaps; the jurists’ agreement (Ijma) and reasoning by analogy (Qiyas) extend it; and custom, precedent and legislation apply it — but nothing may contradict the Quran.

🧩 WORKED EXAMPLE — placing a source in the ladder

Facts. A modern question arises: is a particular intoxicant, not named in the Quran, forbidden to a Muslim?

Rule. The Quran expressly forbids khamr (wine). Qiyas allows a settled rule to extend by analogy to a new case sharing the same effective cause (illat) — here, intoxication.

Apply. The illat of the wine-prohibition is intoxication; the new substance also intoxicates; so the prohibition extends to it by qiyas.

Conclusion. The substance is forbidden — but only because a primary source (Quran) supplies the base rule; qiyas cannot invent a prohibition on its own.

flowchart TD
    ROOT["Sources of Muslim Law"]:::root
    ROOT --> P["Primary sources"]:::leaf
    ROOT --> S["Secondary sources"]:::leaf
    P --> P1["Quran"]:::leaf
    P --> P2["Sunna / Hadith"]:::leaf
    P --> P3["Ijma (consensus)"]:::leaf
    P --> P4["Qiyas (analogy)"]:::leaf
    S --> S1["Custom (urf)"]:::leaf
    S --> S2["Precedent"]:::leaf
    S --> S3["Legislation"]:::leaf
    S --> S4["Justice, equity, good conscience"]:::leaf
    classDef root fill:#FFF8DC,stroke:#000,stroke-width:1px,color:#000;
    classDef leaf fill:#E6F3FF,stroke:#1E3A8A,color:#000;
    linkStyle default stroke:#888,stroke-width:1px;

Case Laws

Aga Mahomed Jaffer v Koolsom Beebee (1897) — courts must administer Muslim law from its recognised sources and may not, on grounds of a judge’s own reasoning, refuse to apply a clear rule.
Narantakath v Parakkal (1922) — a genuine profession of the Islamic faith makes a person a Muslim governed by these sources.

📄 Full notes + Question Bank (₹199) — every topic in depth, model answers to all past KSLU questions, in one printable PDF. Get the bundle · 10 Solved Problems · All Muslim Law (Family Law II) topics