96 MOHAMMAD HASHIM KAMALI

(furūq) in this light, and it focuses on distinctions and differences between similar themes and ideas. Occasionally the word qawāʿid is used in reference to what is a ḍābiṭa or even a specific ruling of fiqh. Al-Qarāfī often poses questions as to the differences between two maxims that address similar themes but which involve subtle variations. He also explains the subjects of his enquiry by referring to their opposites, as he believes that this is often a very effective way of highlighting the merits or demerits of particular ideas and maxims. His work is generally regarded as one of the best in the field.³⁸ Al-Zarqāʾ has noted, however, that al-Furūq is not, strictly speaking, confined to legal maxims. This is because the book is dominated by comparisons and contrasts, and engages in the explanation of basic fiqh themes and issues in a way that almost puts the work in the general category of fiqh, rather than the maxims of fiqh, which is a separate branch of fiqh in its own right.³⁹

Examples of the furūq include the distinctions between ijārah and sale, between custody (ḥaḍānah) and guardianship (wilāyah), between testimony (shahāda) and narration (riwāyah), between verbal custom and actual custom (al-ʿurf al-qawlī, al-ʿurf al-fiʿlī) and so forth; these are often expressed in rule-like statements that generally resemble ḍābiṭas, as they apply to specific themes, but named al-furūq, as they usually compare similar themes, and highlight the differences between them. Al-Qarāfī's approach represented a new development in the qawāʿid literature. He has also discussed legal maxims in his other works, namely al-Dhakhīra, but more specifically in al-Iḥkām fi Tamyīz al-Fatāwā ʿan al-Aḥkām. This title itself is, it may be noted, furūq-oriented, as it refers to differences between fatāwā and judicial decisions. Ibn al-Shāṭ Qāsim bin ʿAbd Allāh al-Anṣārī's (d. 723/1323) work, Idrār al-Shurūq ʿalā Anwār al-Furūq is also a work on furūq, and smaller works of similar kind were also written by some Shāfiʿi scholars.⁴⁰

Theories of Fiqh (Naẓariyyāt al-Fiqhiyya) and Encyclopedias

The next development that may briefly be explained is relatively recent, and appears in the modern writings of fiqh under the general designation al-naẓariyyāt al-fiqhiyya, or legal theories of fiqh. Naẓariyya in this context implies a self-contained and comprehensive treatment of an important