Ja？？ā？’s Criticisms Of Shāfi？ī’s Concept Of The Bayān

In this article, al-Ja？？ā？’ critiques of al- Shāfi？ī’s bayān concept are examined and analyzed. Al- Shāfi？ī, the disciple of both Imam Muhammad and Imam Mālik , developed a new conception of legal thought (u？ūl) because he did not satisfy the understanding of his time. Although there is no dispute between the Islamic legal schools (madhhabs) over the legislative authoritativeness of the Qur'an, their approach to the Sunnah differs. Both Hanafi scholars and al-Mālik would not rely on khabar al-ahad because of a disconnection in meaning (al-inqita al-manawi) in it and its contradiction to the Practice of the People of Madina (amal ahl al-Madinah) respectively. In addition, Hanafi scholars stated that the Qur’anic general words (‘amm) express certainty and that the Qur’anic verses cannot be allocated with the reports (khabar) expressing suspicion (zann). Al-Shāfi？ī gives central importance to the Sunnah in his concept of the bayān not because he disputed the attitudes of the present legal schools towards the Qur’an, but because he disapproved their approaches to the Sunnah represented by al-akhbar al-ahad. Thus, it is possible to say that al-Shāfi？ī developed his legal though (u？ūl) through the bayān concept, and the bayān concept through the Sunnah. According to Al-Shāfi？ī, since in various verses in the Qur’an God has imposed the obligation on people to obey the Prophet; then, accordingly khabar al-ahad has a great intense significance as well and they are no different from the Qur’an in terms of legislation. Al-Shāfi？ī is the first person to take the bayān out of its literal meaning and use it as a term. The term bayān is, al-Shāfi？ī tells us, a noun comprising several convergent basic meanings which are, however, divergent in their details. After defining the term, he subjected the bayān to a five-part classification as follows: (1) Qur’an by its own; (2) Qur’an and Sunnah together, each expressing the same rule; (3) Qur’an and Sunnah together, whereby the Sunnah explains what is in the Qur’an; (4) Sunnah by its own; and (5) neither, in which case one engages in legal interpretation (ijtihad). Al-Shāfi？ī puts all of his bayān modes around the Qur’an, and he argues that the Qur’anic statements could be accurately understood by mastering the Arabic language. A Hanafi jurist al- Ja？？ā？, criticized al-Shāfi？ī on the grounds that he had inconsistencies in his definition and classification of the bayān theory, and not because he developed that particular theory. Al-Ja？？ā？ argued that al- Shāfi？ī’s definition does not clearly state its purpose, and it