Introduction to Al-Fiqh al-Islami wa Adillatuh and az-Zuhayli

Al-Fiqh al-Islami wa Adillatuh (Islamic Jurisprudence and Its Evidences) by Dr. Wahba az-Zuhayli (1932–2015 CE) is the most comprehensive comparative reference work of Islamic jurisprudence produced in the modern era. A Damascus-born scholar of Syrian origin who studied at Al-Azhar and the University of Damascus, az-Zuhayli combined traditional Islamic legal training with modern academic scholarship to produce a work that is simultaneously a reference for scholars, a textbook for students, and an accessible guide for educated Muslims seeking to understand the legal framework of their faith.

The work, typically published in eight to ten large volumes, covers the full range of Islamic jurisprudence — from taharah to criminal law — with the distinctive approach of presenting the positions of all four Sunni legal schools (Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i, Hanbali), their evidential basis, the sources of their disagreements, and often az-Zuhayli's own comparative assessment. This comparative approach reflects the author's conviction that the richness and variety of the Islamic legal tradition are assets, not problems, and that presenting all four schools' positions equips the reader to understand the tradition in its full breadth.

Al-Fiqh al-Islami wa Adillatuh was first published in the 1980s and has gone through multiple editions, each revised and expanded. It has been translated into several languages and is used as a textbook in Islamic legal education institutions across the Arab world, Southeast Asia, and wherever Islamic studies are taught in Arabic. Its influence on modern Islamic legal education is difficult to overstate.

Az-Zuhayli's approach reflects the tradition of comparative Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh muqaran) that has been an important genre in Islamic legal scholarship since the early period. Early works in this tradition include Bidayat al-Mujtahid by Ibn Rushd the grandson (Averroes) and Al-Mughni by Ibn Qudamah, both of which present the positions of multiple schools with their evidential bases. Az-Zuhayli's contribution is to bring this comparative approach to bear on the full range of Islamic law with the thoroughness and systematic organization that modern scholarship demands.

A key feature of Al-Fiqh al-Islami wa Adillatuh is its attention to the adillah (evidences) — the Quranic verses and hadiths that support each legal position, along with the legal reasoning that connects them to the ruling. This focus on evidence reflects az-Zuhayli's conviction that modern Muslims need to understand not just what the law says but why — what the textual and rational foundations of each ruling are. An educated Muslim who understands the evidences can engage with Islamic law as a living tradition, not merely as a set of inherited rules.

The work also addresses contemporary questions — financial instruments, medical ethics, environmental law, international relations — by applying the classical legal principles to modern contexts. This engagement with contemporary issues makes Al-Fiqh al-Islami wa Adillatuh particularly valuable as a bridge between the classical tradition and the challenges of Muslim life in the modern world.