On the Emergence of Islamic Legal Theory (Uṣūl al-Fiqh) and the Influence of al-Shāfiʿī’s al-Risāla: A Reconsideration of Wael B. Hallaq’s Periodization

Abstract

Wael B. Hallaq, whose studies of Islamic law have profoundly impacted Western academia and whose cri-tiques have significantly challenged dominant Orientalist theses, rejects the conventional view that al-Shāfiʿī (d. 204/820)  should be considered the founder of uṣūl al-fiqh. In his first article on the subject, published in 1993, Hallaq argued that al-Shāfiʿī could not be considered the “master architect” of this discipline. He mainta-ined that al-Risāla bore little, if any, substantive relation to the works of classical legal theory, and therefore could not properly be classified within this genre. Hallaq’s arguments prompted objections from several scho-lars, and numerous subsequent studies have challenged his thesis from different perspectives. In 2019, Hallaq published another article reaffirming his position on al-Risāla and responding to criticisms of his earlier arguments. This research note examines Hallaq’s thesis concerning the historical development of uṣūl al-fiqh, focusing on his arguments that remove al-Shāfiʿī’s al-Risāla from its status as a foundational text, instead situating the formation of systematic legal theory in the fourth and fifth Islamic centuries. The note primarily argues that there is substantial theoretical and thematic continuity between early legal-theoretical texts and later, fully developed uṣūl al-fiqh works, and that al-Risāla occupies a central position in the historical deve-lopment of Islamic legal methodology.