THE GOLDEN AND THE DARK AGES OF ISLAMIC JURISPRUDENCE: ANALYZING THE ORIENTALIST THOUGHT

Abstract

Abstract: The evolution of Islamic jurisprudence during the third to the fifth century of Hijra demonstrated different phases of events and political transition that had an impact on the growth of Islamic law. Hence, by the third century of Hijra, various methodologies of legal reasoning began to emerge and implemented by Muslim scholars as a secondary source after the Quran and Sunnah. Oriental scholars, Joseph Schacht and Wael Hallaq have classified the third century of Hijra as The Golden Age of Islamic Jurisprudence. Whereas through the fourth century of Hijra, the practice of Taqlid and the fanaticism towards the Imam Mazhab contributed to The Dark Age of Islamic Jurisprudence. This article aims at analyzing the views of Joseph Schacht and Wael Hallaq on the development of usul fiqh during the third to the fifth century of Hijra by using the methodologies of qualitative and comparative. This article concludes the validity of Schacht and Hallaq’s facts on the importance of ijtihad in the zenith of usul fiqh. This article proves that Schacht prejudicially asserting that the practice of Taqlid meant the decline of intellectual growth and the backwardness of legal reasoning. While Hallaq believed in Taqlid as a medium to enhance the growth of legal reasoning among Muslim Scholars.