The origin and basis of Islamic jurisprudence in the perspective of Orientalists

Islamic jurisprudence is one of the most important issues in the field of Islamic studies. Islamic jurisprudence has been studied by numerous Western scholars. Some of them assumed that Islamic system of law adopted Jewish or Roman system of law and in many cases based on them.The origin of Islamic urisprudence is also one of the controversial issues in this respect. Some western scholars, in accordance with Muslim scholar’s view, believe that Islamic jurisprudence is derived from Quran and Sunna (saying and deed of the prophet) and others claim that Islamic jurisprudence initially is infused by companion’s opinion and later jurists who were influenced by non-Muslim cultures. It is shown some examples of simulation between Islamic law and Jewish or Roman law. Muslim scholars assert that all divine religions guide humans and therefore they have the same principles and same ritual and civil maxims. On the other hand, they also have shown some differences between Islamic injunctions and Jewish or Roman system of law. In some cases such as the dictum of the prophet;”Al-walad li-l-firash wa –li-l’āhir al-hajar”, Muslim scholars have shown the currency of this maxim in pre-Islamic Arab traditions. It means is based on pre-Islamic practice.