The epistle on legal theory: a translation of al-Shāfiʿī's "Risālah"

The Epistle on Legal Theory -- Frontmatter -- Letter from the General Editor -- About this Paperback -- Contents -- Foreword -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- A Note on the Text -- Notes to the Introduction -- The Epistle on Legal Theory -- Chapter on the Modalities of Legislative Statements -- Chapter on the First Kind of Legislative Statement -- Chapter on the Second Kind of Legislative Statement -- Chapter on the Third Kind of Legislative Statement -- Chapter on the Fourth Kind of Legislative Statement -- Chapter on the Fifth Kind of Legislative Statement -- Chapter Explaining What Is Revealed in the Book as Unrestricted, and Intended as Unrestricted, but Also Partly Restricted -- Chapter Explaining What Is Revealed in the Book, the Apparent Meaning of Which Is Unrestricted but Which Combines the Unrestricted and the Restricted -- Chapter Explaining What Is Revealed in the Book, the Apparent Meaning of Which Is Unrestricted but Which Is Intended in Its Entirety as Restricted -- Chapter on the Category of Statements in Which Context Indicates the Meaning -- The Category in Which the Wording Indicates the True Meaning Rather Than the Apparent Meaning -- Chapter on What Is Revealed as Unrestricted and Which Prophetic Practice in Particular Indicated Is Intended as Restricted -- Explanation of God's Imposition in His Book of the Obligation to Follow the Practice of His Prophet -- The Obligation from God to Obey the Prophet, Paired with Obedience to God and Mentioned Separately -- Chapter on God's Command to Obey God's Emissary -- Chapter on God's Statement to His Creation Concerning Having Obliged His Emissary to Follow What Was Revealed to Him; The Evidence He Gave Concerning His Emissary's Following What He Was Commanded to Do, His Emissary's Being Guided, and His Emissary's Guidance of Those Who Follow Him -- The Beginning of Abrogation -- Abrogation Indicated Partly by the Book and Partly by Prophetic Practice -- Chapter on the Obligation to Pray That the Book and Then Prophetic Practice Indicate to Be Obviated by Reason of an Excuse; and Concerning Him Whose Prayer Is Not Counted as Disobedience -- Abrogation Indicated by Prophetic Practice and Consensus -- Chapter on Obligations That God Revealed in the Form of Explicit Texts -- Obligations Established by Explicit Texts and in Regard to Which God's Emissary Provided a Parallel Practice -- Obligations Established by Explicit Texts in Regard to Which Prophetic Practice Indicates That He Intended Something Restrictive -- Obligations Expressed in General Terms -- Concerning Alms -- Concerning the Pilgrimage -- Concerning Waiting Periods -- Concerning Women Unlawful to Marry -- Concerning Unlawful Kinds of Food -- Concerning That from Which Widows Must Abstain during the Waiting Period -- Chapter on Problems Affecting Hadith-Reports -- Another Instance of Abrogation -- Another Instance -- Another Instance -- Another Instance of Legal Disagreement -- Inconsistency in Narration in a Way That Differs from What Preceded -- Another Instance Considered Contradictory, but Not by Us -- Another Instance Considered a Case of Legal Disagreement -- Another Instance of Legal Disagreement -- Concerning the Major Washing for Friday Prayer -- Prohibition for a Reason Indicated by a Reason Given in Another Hadith-Report -- Prohibition for a Reason That Is Clearer Than That in the Preceding Discussion -- Prohibition for a Reason Resembling the Preceding Discussion in One Way, and Differing from It in Another -- Another Chapter -- An Instance That Resembles the Preceding Point -- Description of God's and His Emissary's Prohibitions -- Chapter on Knowledge -- Chapter on the Uncorroborated Report -- Authority Confirming the Uncorroborated Report -- Chapter on Consensus -- Chapter on the Confirmation of Analogical Reasoning and Legal Interpretation; When Analogizing Is Necessary and When Not; Who May Perform Analogies -- Chapter on Legal Interpretation -- Chapter on Subjective Reasoning -- Chapter on Legal Disagreement -- Chapter on Inheritance Shares -- Chapter on the Disagreement over the Grandfather -- Opinions of the Companions -- The Status of Consensus and Analogy -- Notes -- Glossary of Names and Terms -- Bibliography -- Further Reading -- Index of Qurʾan Passages -- Index -- About the NYU Abu Dhabi Institute -- About the Translator -- The Library of Arabic Literature

Cover -- Contents -- Letter from the General Editor -- About this Paperback -- Foreword -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- A Note on the Text -- Notes to the Introduction -- THE EPISTLE ON LEGAL THEORY -- Chapter on the Modalities of Legislative Statements -- Chapter on the First Kind of Legislative Statement -- Chapter on the Second Kind of Legislative Statement -- Chapter on the Third Kind of Legislative Statement -- Chapter on the Fourth Kind of Legislative Statement -- Chapter on the Fifth Kind of Legislative Statement -- Chapter Explaining What Is Revealed in the Book as Unrestricted, and Intended as Unrestricted, but Also Partly Restricted -- Chapter Explaining What Is Revealed in the Book, the Apparent Meaning of Which Is Unrestricted but Which Combines the Unrestricted and the Restricted -- Chapter Explaining What Is Revealed in the Book, the Apparent Meaning of Which Is Unrestricted but Which Is Intended in Its Entirety as Restricted -- Chapter on the Category of Statements in Which Context Indicates the Meaning -- The Category in Which the Wording Indicates the True Meaning Rather Than the Apparent Meaning -- Chapter on What Is Revealed as Unrestricted and Which Prophetic Practice in Particular Indicated Is Intended as Restricted -- Explanation of God's Imposition in His Book of the Obligation to Follow the Practice of His Prophet -- The Obligation from God to Obey the Prophet, Paired with Obedience to God and Mentioned Separately -- Chapter on God's Command to Obey God's Emissary -- Chapter on God's Statement to His Creation Concerning Having Obliged His Emissary to Follow What Was Revealed to Him -- The Evidence He Gave Concerning His Emissary's Following What He Was Commanded to Do, His Emissary's Being Guided, and His Emissary's Guidance of Those Who Follow Him -- The Beginning of Abrogation.