Theory of Law and Hermeneutics of Imam Al-Shatibi

Abstract

The paper deals with notions of Imam al- Shatibi on the sources and development of Islamic law, as they are set out in his main treatise al- Muwafaqat. Al- Shatibi’s approach involved combining the usul method with maqasid al-shari‘a, which was used in order to improve the usul method itself. The author demonstrates the successive development of alShatibi’s thought in relation to the ideas of al- Ghazali and the influence of al- Shatibi on the further development of Islamic legal theory. For instance, an important concept maslahah was to a large extent derived from the ideas of al- Shatibi; later the theory of maslaha became one of the most important elements of modernism. Moreover, the paper traces back the connection of al- Shatibi’s approach in the field of law to the principles of studying the text of the Qur’an. Imam al- Shatibi contributed to the convergence of the Islamic legal theory and the interpretation of Qur’an and therefore set the framework for thematic interpretation. Al- Shatibi can be considered as a precursor to what has become known since the late 1960s as al- Tafsir alMawdu‘i, that is, an interpretation based on the consideration of a specific topic either in a single Surah or throughout the entire text of the Qur’an. One of the main advantages of the hermeneutics of al- Shatibi is that it helps to overcome the “atomism” of some studies undertaken by jurists and interpreters who mainly dealt only with certain passages of the Qur’an, but in no way with its whole content.