A Study of the Role of Some Rational Sciences in Jurisprudential Ijtihad

Considering the special place of reason in religious knowledge and jurisprudence, as well as the necessity of paying attention to rational sciences in the fields of religious sciences, this study seeks to investigate the effect of rational sciences on three main areas of study such as "logic", "philosophy" and "theology", albeit with reference to related sources. Given that some of these branches of knowledge including logic, Usul-e Fiqh and logic of Fiqh deal with the appropriate method of inference and correct argumentation, the article considers them instruments which a jurist must use to derive legal rulings from the most authoritative sources such as the Quran and prophetic tradition. Philosophy too plays a special direct or indirect role in jurisprudential ijtihad since it helps identify and introduce the ontological and deontological foundations of metaphysics, anthropology, cosmology and so forth. A jurist who benefits from philosophy better understands legal theories which he, then, applies to linguistic and analytical issues. Depending on the jurisprudent's outlook and understanding of religion, Shari'ah and the lawgiver, his inferences and deductions also become varied. Therefore, a lack of attention to the rational sciences sometimes leads to misgivings and deviation in the path of deduction causing some juridical issues and problems to remain unanswered as well as the jurisprudence to be rendered inefficient.