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

Abstract

Introduction
Ibn Hazm (994-1064) was no doubt one of the most outstanding intellectual
figures of Muslim Spain in particular and of the whole Muslim world
in general. Though it is beyond the purpose and scope of this paper to give
a 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 in
understanding the topic under discussion.
In Ibn Hazm’s scholarly preparation the second stage was characterized to
be a juridic-theological preparation to which he fully devoted himself following
his political failure; the year 1031 is usually proposed to be the turning point
in this new orientation of Ibn Hazm’s intellectual life. It was during this second
stage that he wrote profusely on a variety of subjects and distinguished
himself as a master dialectician and polemicist. His major works on religious
matters 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 religious
ideas and doctrine and enthusiastically refutes his adversaries. “As a master
dialectician he insisted on proofs (barnhin), whether arrived at on the basis
of the holy texts (nusus), or through logical demonstration, or both.” His
use and reliance on analysis of textual material and information was perhaps
the most clear feature of Ibn Hazm’s polemics; this method was always in ...