NOTES ON IBN HAZM’S REJECTION OF ANALOGY (QIYAS) IN MATTERS OF RELIGIOUS LAW

Abstract

IntroductionIbn Hazm (994-1064) was no doubt one of the most outstanding intellectualfigures of Muslim Spain in particular and of the whole Muslim worldin general. Though it is beyond the purpose and scope of this paper to givea complete profile of the man and his place in the intellectual history of Islam,it remains necessary to make some introductory remarks that would help inunderstanding the topic under discussion.In Ibn Hazm’s scholarly preparation the second stage was characterized tobe a juridic-theological preparation to which he fully devoted himself followinghis political failure; the year 1031 is usually proposed to be the turning pointin this new orientation of Ibn Hazm’s intellectual life. It was during this secondstage that he wrote profusely on a variety of subjects and distinguishedhimself as a master dialectician and polemicist. His major works on religiousmatters such as Fisal, Ihkam, and Muhalla were the products of this period;in them as well as in many other treatises, Ibn Hazm discusses his religiousideas and doctrine and enthusiastically refutes his adversaries. “As a masterdialectician he insisted on proofs (barnhin), whether arrived at on the basisof the holy texts (nusus), or through logical demonstration, or both.” Hisuse and reliance on analysis of textual material and information was perhapsthe most clear feature of Ibn Hazm’s polemics; this method was always in ...