logic in islamic law: ibn al-qayyim (d. 751/1350) on the variety of legal reasoning (qiyās)

Ever since its introduction to the islamic intellectual discourse, logic (‘ilm al-manṭiq) was always regarded with disapproval and suspicion by the early muslim scholars including al-shāfiʿī and others. it was al-ghazālī (d. 505 / 1111) who elevated the status of logic and made it a requirement for all jurists who wish to exercise ijtihād or issue fatwā to acquire it. in his magnum opus al-mustaṣfā (‘the distillation [of the principles of jurisprudence]’), which incorporates a discussion of logic in its first section, he famously declares that while it is not part of the science of principles [of jurisprudence], logic is necessary in all sciences, so much so that “he who does not comprehend it, his knowledge should be questioned. indeed, no theoretical sciences can dispense with this [logical] prolegomena any more than [the science of] uṣūl al-fiqh does.”by the time ibn al-ṣalāḥ and ibn taymiyyah logic again came under severe attack, being dismissed as satanic and foreign to islam, and belonging as it is to the so-called ‘ancient sciences’ (‘ulūm al-awā’il) that are neither useful for the fools nor needed by the intelligent. this negative attitude notwithstanding, however, later muslim thinkers and scholars continue to use logic in their philosophical, theological and legal works, as evidenced in fakhr al-dīn al-rāzī’s multi-volume kitab al-maḥṣūl fī ‘ilm al-uṣūl.in my presentation i will look into ibn qayyim al-jawziyyah’s use of logic through analysis of his discussion of valid and invalid forms of legal reasoning in his book, i‘lām al-muwaqqi‘īn. as research into the logic and law encounter from the 12th up until the 14th century islam is still scanty, the findings will shed light on the epistemological interaction between the two disciplines in the post-ghazālīan period. i will first provide background to the traditional muslim scholars’ opposition to logic as a ‘foreign’ science, and then briefly consider ibn al-qayyim’s views on greek logic. the main analysis will present ibn al-qayyim’s logical thinking in his discussion of qiyās in the i‘lām.