---
title: "What is Usul al-fiqh (principles of jurisprudence)? | IslamicOpenFinance™"
description: "The discipline that studies the sources of Shariah and the methods for deriving rulings from them."
url: https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/usul-al-fiqh/
lang: en-GB
source: "IslamicOpenFinance"
---

[Glossary](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/) / [Shariah fundamentals](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/#fundamentals)

Shariah fundamentals

# Usul al-fiqh (principles of jurisprudence)

The discipline that studies the sources of Shariah and the methods for deriving rulings from them.

Usul al-fiqh is the discipline of legal theory: it studies the sources of Shariah and the methods by which rulings are derived from them, such as the texts, consensus, analogy, juristic preference and public interest. AAOIFI's standard on fatwa follows this order when it describes the bases on which a fatwa should be founded. The IFSB's corporate governance guidance says that members of an audit committee overseeing Shariah audit should preferably be well versed in fiqh al-muamalat and usul al-fiqh, which shows how the discipline reaches governance roles.

## Sources

- [IFSB-30 Revised Guiding Principles on Corporate Governance for IIFS (Banking Segment), 2023: audit committee composition, knowledge of fiqh al-muamalat and usul al-fiqh](https://www.ifsb.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/IFSB-30-Revised-Guiding-Principles-on-Corporate-Governance-for-IIFS.pdf)

This entry explains a term; it is not a Shariah ruling. Approving a product is for each institution's own Shariah board and regulator.

## Related terms

[**Fiqh al-muamalat** The branch of Islamic jurisprudence that governs commercial and financial dealings between people.](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/fiqh-al-muamalat/) [**Ijma (consensus of jurists)** The consensus of qualified jurists on a ruling, treated as a source of Shariah after the Quran and the Sunnah.](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/ijma/) [**Qiyas (analogical reasoning)** Extending a ruling from a case covered by the texts to a new case that shares the same underlying cause.](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/qiyas/) [**Ijtihad (independent juristic reasoning)** The effort of a qualified jurist to derive a ruling on a question the texts do not settle directly.](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/ijtihad/) [**Maslaha (public interest)** Benefit or public interest, considered in reaching rulings where the texts are silent, within the principles of Shariah.](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/maslaha/)

**Shariah fundamentals**

1. [Riba](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/riba/)
2. [Gharar](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/gharar/)
3. [Maysir](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/maysir/)
4. [Shariah](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/shariah/)
5. [Fiqh al-muamalat](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/fiqh-al-muamalat/)
6. [Maqasid al-Shariah](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/maqasid-al-shariah/)
7. [Riba al-nasiah](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/riba-al-nasiah/)
8. [Riba al-fadl](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/riba-al-fadl/)

[All 221 terms](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/)