98 MOHAMMAD HASHIM KAMALI

contributions are widely acknowledged. Ibn Taymiyya effectively departed from the earlier strictures over the nominate contracts, and advanced a convincing discourse, through his own reading of the source evidence, that contracts need not be confined to a particular prototype or number.⁴² The essence of all contracts is manifested in the agreement of the contracting parties, who may create new contracts, within or outside the ones that are already known, provided that they serve a lawful benefit and do not violate public policy and morals. It may be noted, however, that Ibn Taymiyya's contribution to the theory of contract represented rather a late development and a departure, in many ways, from the majority position on this theme, which is why al-Sanhuri's critique may still be considered relevant. Ibn Taymiyya also wrote a book on legal maxims entitled, al-Qawāʿid al-Nūrāniyya, which treats the subject in an interesting way by looking at the legal maxims under the main chapters of fiqh. The book thus devotes sections to cleanliness (al-ṭahāra), prayers, zakah, fasting, the hajj, and then to contracts and financial transactions, followed by sections on matrimony, etc., and discusses the relevant legal maxims under each heading. These are followed in each part by subsidiary rules (ḍawābiṭ) and disagreements, if any, that may exist concerning them, as well as the author's own views and suggested solutions to such disagreements.⁴³

To pursue our discussion of the naẓariyyāt, it may be added that considerable progress has been made, in the sphere of naẓariyyāt literature, not only in al-Sanhuri's writings, but by numerous other scholars, both Arab and non-Arab, who have written widely on contracts and other major themes of fiqh.

Many works in this category are now available on various topics of fiqh, bearing such titles as Naẓariyyat al-Ithbāt fi'l-Fiqh al-Islami (standards of proof, or the theory of proof, in Islamic law), Naẓariyyat al-Milkiyya (theory of ownership), Naẓariyyat al-'Aqd (theory of contract), and so forth. Works of recent origin on the constitutional theory that offer self-contained expositions of the subject bear such alternative titles as Niẓam al-Hukm fi'l-Islam (the Islamic system of government), and Uṣūl al-Hukm fi'l-Islam (principles of government in Islam), which are, in fact, the more recent variations of the genre of literature that appeared under the general heading al-Aḥkām al-Sulṭāniyya. The choice and wording of title usually gives some indication as to the scope and relevance of the work to naẓariyyāt.