Practical Mechanisms of the Inductive Method of Imam Al-Shatibi (d. 790 AH) in His Book Al-Muwafaqat

Abstract

Induction is considered a methodology distinct from those upon which the traditional schools of legal theory (Usul al-Fiqh) were founded. However, it was the foundational method of the earliest generation (Al-Sadr al-Awwal) of this Ummah, relied upon for establishing proofs, formulating rules, issuing legal opinions (fatwas), and scholarly composition. This was likewise the methodology of Al-Satzibi, who restored its prominence by substantiating its authority and institutionalizing the arguments of his book Al-Muwafaqat upon it—yet with a novel, creative formulation closely associated with his name: conceptual or thematic induction (al-istiqra' al-ma'nawi).

This is a methodology well-suited to steering the mechanisms of scholarly rigor and Ijtihad toward renewed innovation and creativity, producing authentic, solid, and definitive knowledge that firmly consolidates the scholarly aptitude in general, and the expertise of legal theory in particular.