Usul al Fiqh is a science in which reason and
revelation come together, where considered opinion is accompanied by received law.
Yet, al Usul
does not rely purely on reason in a way that would be unacceptable to revealed
law, nor is it based simply on the kind of blind acceptance that would not be
supported by reason. Hence, the science of Usul al Fiqh
has been called the "Philosophy of Islam".

This book is an attempt to simplify Usul al Fiqh
and introduce it to specialists in the social sciences and humanities who do
not have the opportunity to study the details of the science considered to be
the most important method of research produced by Muslim thought during its
most creative period.

The International Institute of Islamic Thought
presents this work as the first in a new series of academic research to be made
available to a wide readership of students, educated Muslims, and scholars of
Islamic knowledge.