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Contemporary Jurisprudence

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Contemporary Jurisprudence (Arabic: الفقه المعاصر) is a modern term in Imamiyya jurisprudence that emerged in the twenty-first century. It rests on two main axes: first, addressing contemporary issues (new issues) and second, the contemporary jurisprudential method (fiqāhat) regarding new methods of inference.

Various academic centers, including the Office of Contemporary Jurisprudence of the Seminary and specialized research institutes, have been established in this field. Additionally, numerous works have been produced in emerging fields such as the jurisprudence of the stock market, cryptocurrencies, medical jurisprudence, and artificial intelligence.

Position and Importance

Contemporary Jurisprudence is a new term in Imamiyya jurisprudence that became current in the twenty-first century.[1] Sayyid Ali Husayni Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, emphasized the importance of attention to Contemporary Jurisprudence in a message on the occasion of the one hundredth anniversary of the re-establishment of the Qom Seminary.[2] Muhammad Javad Fadil Lankarani, a Shi'a jurist, also believes that the continuity of jurisprudence requires it to be contemporary.[3] Proponents of this term cite factors such as changes in lifestyle, and the necessity of responding to the needs of the Shi'a community as reasons for engaging in Contemporary Jurisprudence.[4] In contrast, some consider the term ambiguous and inefficient, proposing Jurisprudence of the System (Fiqh al-Niẓām) as a replacement.[5]

Meaning

Jurisprudence of Contemporary Issues

In this sense, the jurist addresses emerging issues using the traditional method of ijtihad.[6] This approach includes examining the rulings of subjects that have arisen as a result of scientific and technological advancements in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, as well as the rulings of new contracts in financial institutions such as banks and the stock market.[7] Proponents of this interpretation consider Contemporary Jurisprudence a continuation of the tradition of addressing new issues (Masāʾil Mustaḥdatha) and do not regard it as a new term.[8]

It has been noted in this context that Shi'a jurists have paid attention to new subjects since the period of the Minor Occultation,[9] and these subjects have been referred to in jurisprudential texts with titles such as Masa'il Mustahdatha[10] and Ḥawadith Waqi'a.[11] Works such as Kharajiyyat by al-Muhaqqiq al-Karaki (d. 940/1533-34), Rasa'il of al-Mirza al-Qummi (d. 1232/1816-17), and Tanbih al-umma by Muhammad Husayn Na'ini (d. 1355/1936) were dedicated to such topics.[12] Also, some jurists, such as al-Sayyid Muhammad Hasan al-Shirazi (d. 1312/1895), dedicated a part of their jurisprudence lessons to new discussions.[13]

Contemporary Jurisprudential Method

In this sense, Contemporary Jurisprudence refers to a change in the method of ijtihad. This approach emphasizes requirements and characteristics that distinguish it from traditional jurisprudence. Abu l-Qasim Alidoust enumerates several differences, including revising the structure of Principles of Jurisprudence (Usul al-Fiqh), paying attention to the social effects of the fatwa, and defining the scopes of ijtihad.[14] In some descriptions, contemporary jurisprudence (fiqahat) is defined as jurisprudence that identifies its mission in each era and acts according to the conditions of the time.[15] In another expression, this approach is concerned with determining the duty of the legally responsible person (mukallaf) in contemporary life.[16]

Difference between New Issues and Contemporary Jurisprudence

Main article: Masa'il Mustahdatha

New Issues (Masāʾil Mustaḥdatha) include subjects that did not exist in the time of the Lawgiver (Shāriʿ)[17] or were unknown,[18] and also encompass new questions regarding old subjects.[19] In contrast, Contemporary Jurisprudence refers to the method and approach of examining such issues. Ja'far Subhani prefers the expression "Jurisprudence of Contemporary Issues",[20] but some consider this expression restrictive and regard Contemporary Jurisprudence as a broader term.[21]

Active Centers

In the fifteenth/twenty-first century, numerous specialized centers focusing on Contemporary Jurisprudence have been formed in the seminaries, such as:

Al-Fiqh al-muʿāṣir by Ḥasan Jawāhirī
  • Office of Contemporary Jurisprudence: Affiliated with the Center for Management of Seminaries of Iran, which has been publishing works in new fields such as cryptocurrencies, the stock market, medicine, and artificial intelligence since 2016 under the supervision of Muhammad Mahdi Shab Zindadar.[22]
  • Research Institute of Contemporary Jurisprudence Studies: Headed by Sayyid Mujtaba Nurmufidi, which is active in holding academic meetings and compiling the Encyclopedia of Contemporary Jurisprudence.[23]
  • Higher Research Center of Contemporary Jurisprudence: Affiliated with the Higher Institute of Jurisprudence and Islamic Sciences, established under the supervision of Sayyid Ali Husayni Khamenei with the aim of training researchers and presenting theories in the field of the jurisprudence of the executive system of Iran.[24]

Monographs

The book al-Fiqh al-muʿāṣir by Hasan Jawahiri explains the nature and characteristics of Contemporary Jurisprudence.[25] Also, a number of works by jurists of the twenty-first century in the field of new issues can be categorized within the framework of Contemporary Jurisprudence.[26]

Notes

  1. ↑ Jawāhirī, Buḥūth fī l-fiqh al-muʿāṣir; Ḥubb Allāh, Dirāsāt fī l-fiqh al-Islāmī al-muʿāṣir, 1432/2010-11; Jawāhirī, Al-Fiqh al-muʿāṣir, 1391 Sh/2012-13.
  2. ↑ "Ḥawza-yi pīshraw wa sarāmad", Daftar-i Ḥifẓ wa Nashr-i Āthār-i Āyatullāh Khāmeneʾī.
  3. ↑ "Fiqh agar bakhwāhad ḥayāt dāshta bāshad bāyad muʿāṣir bāshad", Pizhūhishgāh-i Muṭālaʿāt-i Fiqh-i Muʿāṣir.
  4. ↑ Shahriyārī, "Fiqh-i muʿāṣir", Rahnāma-yi Pizhūhish.
  5. ↑ "Fiqh-i niẓām pāsughgū-yi niyāz-i jāmiʿa ast na fiqh-i muʿāṣir", Ijtihād.
  6. ↑ ʿAlīdūst, "Rawish-shināsī-yi fiqh-i muʿāṣir wa ʿanāṣir-i maghfūl dar fiqāhat-i sunnatī", Ijtihād.
  7. ↑ Jawāhirī, Al-Fiqh al-muʿāṣir, 1391 Sh/2012-13, p. 7.
  8. ↑ Mishkānī, "Fiqh-i muʿāṣir yā fiqh dar dawrān-i muʿāṣir", Ijtihād.
  9. ↑ Kalāntar, Muqaddima-yi al-Rawḍa al-bahiyya, 1410/1989-90, vol. 1, p. 71.
  10. ↑ Karakī, Jāmiʿ al-maqāṣid, 1414/1993-94, vol. 3, p. 51.
  11. ↑ Imam Khomeini, Kashf al-asrār, p. 195.
  12. ↑ Raḍawī & Mazīnānī, "Masāʾil-i mustaḥdatha", Dānishnāma-yi Imām Khumaynī, 1400 Sh/2021-22, vol. 9, pp. 265-274.
  13. ↑ Ḥirz al-Dīn, Maʿārif al-rijāl, 1405/1984-85, vol. 2, p. 237.
  14. ↑ ʿAlīdūst, "Rawish-shināsī-yi fiqh-i muʿāṣir wa ʿanāṣir-i maghfūl dar fiqāhat-i sunnatī", Ijtihād.
  15. ↑ Muḥammadī, "Ham-andīshī-yi chīstī-yi fiqh-i muʿāṣir", Pizhūhishgāh-i Muṭālaʿāt-i Fiqh-i Muʿāṣir.
  16. ↑ Wāsiṭī, "Fiqh-i muʿāṣir wa iqtiḍāʾāt-i ān", Rahnāma-yi Pizhūhish.
  17. ↑ Ḥillī, Buḥūth fiqhiyya, 1415/1994-95, p. 23; Khūʾī, Mawsūʿat al-Imām al-Khūʾī, 1418/1997-98, vol. 1, p. 137; Makārim Shīrāzī, Buḥūth fiqhiyya hāmma, 1422/2001-02, p. 36.
  18. ↑ Kāshif al-Ghaṭāʾ, Al-Nūr al-sāṭiʿ fī l-fiqh al-nāfiʿ, 1381/1961-62, vol. 2, p. 350.
  19. ↑ Imam Khomeini, Ṣaḥīfa-yi Nūr, 1389 Sh/2010-11, vol. 21, p. 289.
  20. ↑ "Mā fiqh-i muʿāṣir nadārīm, taʿbīr rā ba fiqh-i masāʾil-i muʿāṣir ʿawaḍ kunīd", Ijtihād.
  21. ↑ "Kasī ki kūtah-andīsh ast rā namī-tawānīm mujtahid bināmīm", Ijtihād.
  22. ↑ "Dar-bāra-yi faʿāliyyat-hā wa barnāma-hā-yi Daftar-i Fiqh-i Muʿāṣir", Pāygāh-i Iṭṭilāʿ-rasānī-yi Ḥawzah; "Barguzārī-yi 110 dars-i khārij-i fiqh bā mawḍūʿāt-i rūz", Shabestān.
  23. ↑ "Sayyid Mujtabā Nūrmufīdī: Pizhūhishgāh-i fiqh-i muʿāṣir...", Andīsha-yi Mā.
  24. ↑ "Markaz-i ʿĀlī-yi Pizhūhishī wa Pizhūhishgāh-i Fiqh-i Muʿāṣir".
  25. ↑ Jawāhirī, Al-Fiqh al-muʿāṣir, 1391 Sh/2012-13, p. 7.
  26. ↑ E.g., Subḥānī, Masāʾil fiqhiyya muhimma fī ḥayātinā al-muʿāṣira; Hāshimī Shāhrūdī, Qirāʾāt fiqhiyya muʿāṣira; Rūḥānī, Fiqh al-masāʾil al-mustaḥdatha.

References

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