Sources Of Shariah

As stated before, Shariah lays down the guidelines for individuals and society, covering all aspects of human life. There are two types of sources of Shariah. The first called the primary sources which are taken from the Quran and Sunnah.

The Quran is a revelation from the Almighty Allah to Prophet Muhammad and his ummah through Jibrail. Recitation of the Quran is considered as a form of worship(ibadah).

While the Quran is the revelation of the Almighty Allah S.W.T Himself, the Sunnah are words, actions and approvals of the Prophet Muhammad S.A.W.
The Sunnah complements the Quran in 3 ways, these are it repeats what is mentioned in the Quran, it explain in more detail what is not mention specifically in the Quran, and it mentions what is not mentioned explicitly by the Quran but is in accordance to its principles.

Various types of Islamic law(Ijtihad) such as Al-Ijma', Al-Qias, Al-Istihsah, Masalih al-mursalah, Sad Al-Dzarai', and Al-'Uruf falls under the secondary sources of Shariah. Al-Ijma is a concensus of scholars(ulama') at a certain times after the demise of the Prophet Muhammad S.A.W. Al-Ijma' is also considered as the third fundamental source of Shariah. There are two kinds of Ijma' these are sarikh-where all the scholars agreed upon a matter and Sukuti- where only half of the concensus agreed upon the matter. Analogical reasoning or in its Arabic term, Al-Qiyas, is an anology of a matter that does not have an explanation but have an explanation with another matter because of its similarity in the matter. Al-Istihsan is an arabic term for Juristic preference. Muslim scholars(ulama') may takes a stronger or preferred jurisdiction or explanation on matters that can be related to more than one explanation. Masalih Al-Mursalah are matters of the public interest that are not directly mention by the Quran and Sunnah and it does not contradict with the teachings of Islam. Other sources of Shariah include Sad Al-Dzarai' which is a prevention of ways that lead to evil and the last one is Al-Uruf which is local custom of a society that are pratice and does not contradict with Islamic teachings.

The 4 major Mazhab considered The Quran, Sunnah, Al-Ijma', and Al-Qiyas as a major sources of shariah. Other sources of Shariah are accepted by some and rejected by others.