Proportion and Relation of Jurisprudence to Ethics from the Perspective of Fayd Kāshānī

Subject Areas : All jurisprudential issues

Seyd Abolghasem Naghibi ¹

1 - دانشیار گروه الهیات و معارف اسلامی، دانشگاه شهید مطهری، تهران، ایران

Received: 2014-10-15 Accepted : 2014-10-15 Published : 2008-09-22

Keywords: Jurisprudence, Ethics, Islamic Sciences, Fayd Kāshānī, Proportion, Relation,

Abstract :

Fayd kāshānī, the outstanding Muslim scholar, who has written significantworks on jurisprudence and ethics. He defines ethics as the disciplinediscussing various states of the heart including its praiseworthy andblameworthy qualities. He also defines jurisprudence as the discipline ofstudying the quality of legal devotional acts and that of knowing definiteregulations concerning the lawful and forbidden in all businesses andtransactions. Unlike GhazālÐ who counts jurisprudence as a worldlydiscipline, Fayd considers it a divine one next to ethics serving one'shereafter interests. He emphasizes the firm link between these twodisciplines in subject, goal, and the method of perception of teachingsfrom the Quran and the Sunna. Identifying the ethical, spiritual, andmystical secrets or wisdoms of legal regulations, Fayd presents them inhis jurisprudential writings. Thus, ethical approach towards jurisprudentialpropositions is considered one of the most significant qualities of some ofhis jurisprudential works. Fayd holds that jurisprudence gives the fullycapable of religious obligations the perception of act of obedience fromthat of disobedience practicing which would cherish moral virtues andaccess to realities. On the other hand, ethics also helps the fully capable ofreligious obligations with finding the purpose of institution of legalregulations, and with reaching the inward of legal rules after perceivingthe outward