1. Kitab-kitab Fiqh yang awal biasanya merupakan campuran hukum-hukum syariat, Hadis-hadis, pendapat-pendapat para Sahabat dan pendapat murid-murid para Sahabat. Al-Muwatta' karya Imam Malik ialah contoh klasik bagi peringkat ini.

1. The early books of Fiqh were usually a mixture of legal rulings, Hadeeths, opinions of the Sahaabah and of students of the Sahaabah. Al-Muwatta’ of Imaam Maalik is a classical example of this stage.

2. Sebahagian kitab Fiqh ditulis mengenai asas-asas utama Fiqh, dengan hadis hanya disebut untuk membuktikan kebenaran kesimpulan para penulis. Kitaab al-Kharaaj karya Imaam Abu Yoosuf116 dan al-Umm karya Imaam ash-Shaafi'ee ialah contoh yang baik bagi jenis penulisan ini.

2. Some books of Fiqh were written about the basic principles of Fiqh, Hadeeths being mentioned only in order to prove the correctness of the authors’ deductions. Kitaab al-Kharaaj by Imaam Abu Yoosuf116 and al-umm by Imaam ash-Shaafi’ee are both good examples of this type of writing.

3. Kitab-kitab Fiqh lain yang memberi tumpuan kepada penerapan kaedah-kaedah Fiqh dengan sedikit rujukan kepada Hadith. Kitab-kitab ini disusun dalam bab-bab mengikut isu-isu yang dibincangkan. Enam kitab karya Imam Muhammad ibn al-Hasan117

3. Other books of Fiqh concentrated of the application of Fiqh principles with but little reference to Hadeeths. These books were arranged in chapters according to the issues under discussion. The six books of Imaam Muhammad ibn al-Hasan117

dan al-Mudawwanah karya Imam Ibn al-Qasim118 adalah contoh dari jenis penulisan ini.

and al-Mudawwanah by Imaam Ibn al-Qaasim118 are examples of this type of writing.

Pada mulanya, penyusunan dalil bagi setiap hukum fiqh dalam pelbagai isu mengandungi teks-teks Hadith beserta rantaian perawinya. Lama-kelamaan, perhatian terhadap rantaian periwayatan semakin berkurang, dan para ulama hanya memetik teks Hadith yang berkenaan beserta rujukan kepada kitab-kitab Hadith tempat ia boleh didapati.

At first, the compilation of proofs for each legal ruling on various issues included the texts of Hadeeths along with their chains of narrators. Gradually concern for the chains of narration decreased, and scholars merely quoted the text of the appropriate Hadeeth along with a reference to the books of Hadeeth in which it could be found.

Dengan terabainya kepentingan hadis, atau dengan kegagalan menyebut sumber-sumbernya serta tahap keotentikannya, pendirian mazhab-mazhab menjadi pertimbangan yang paling utama. Maka, pendapat mazhab-mazhab itu secara beransur-ansur diberi keutamaan melebihi salah satu sumber utama hukum Islam, iaitu Sunnah. Dalam perkembangan inilah bermulanya sikap kaku yang kemudian menjadi ciri khas mazhab-mazhab tersebut.

Pada tempoh ini juga terdapat perbahasan di mahkamah yang diadakan demi kepentingan dan hiburan para khalifah serta ahli istana. Sebahagian ulama, seperti ahli silap mata, penyanyi, penari dan badut, telah menjadi sebahagian tetap daripada istana diraja. Mereka bersaing sesama sendiri untuk mendapatkan kasih sayang para khalifah, dan mereka mencipta isu semata-mata untuk tujuan perbahasan. Akibatnya, fiqh hipotetikal mengambil dimensi baharu apabila ia beralih daripada asal-usul yang mulia pada zaman Sahabat dan ulama awal, kepada hasil perbahasan mahkamah yang menggelikan.

There were also court debates during this period which were held for the interest and amusement of the caliphs and members of the royal court. Some scholars like magicians, singers, dancers and jesters, had become a permanent fixture of the royal court.119 They competed among themselves for the favors of the caliphs, and they invented issues solely for the purpose of debate. As a result, hypothetical Fiqh took on new dimensions as it evolved from sublime origins in the era of the Sahaabah and the early scholars, to the ridiculous product of court debates.

Perdebatan di istana juga melahirkan sikap bersaing dan fanatik, kerana orang yang kalah dalam perdebatan bukan sahaja kehilangan ganjaran wang daripada khalifah, tetapi juga kehilangan prestij peribadi. Tambahan pula, kerana kehilangan prestij peribadi turut membawa kehilangan prestij bagi mazhab seseorang, prinsip mempertahankan mazhab sendiri, sama ada betul atau salah, akhirnya dianggap sebagai satu kebaikan. Akibatnya, sektarianisme mazhab menjadi berleluasa dalam kalangan ulama istana.

Court debates also spawned competitiveness and dogmatism, since the loser of a debate not only lost monetary reward from the caliph but also personal prestige. Furthermore, because loss of personal prestige also entailed loss of prestige on the part of one’s Madh-hab, the principle of defending one’s Madh-hab, right or wrong, came to be considered virtue. As a result, Madh-hab sectarianism became rampant among the court scholars.

Namun, muncul pula satu aliran yang bertentangan dalam kalangan pakar penyusunan dan kritikan hadith, iaitu isu-isu fiqh ditangani tanpa bergantung kepada hukum tradisional para ulama terdahulu, dengan mendasarkan pendirian mereka kepada hadith-hadith sahih apabila ada, dan bukannya bertaqlid secara membuta tuli kepada hukum-hukum terdahulu semata-mata kerana hukum itu dikeluarkan oleh ulama yang terkenal. Dengan memberi tumpuan kepada hadith untuk menyelesaikan masalah fiqh, ulama hadith yang agung seperti Imam al-Bukhari (810-870 M) dan Imam Muslim (817-875 M) bersusah payah mengumpulkan hadith-hadith sahih Nabi ﷺ dan athar-athar para Sahabat daripada setiap sumber yang mungkin.

However, there arose an opposing trend among specialists in Hadeeth compilation and criticism, where by issues of Fiqh were tackled without dependence on the traditional rulings of existing the earlier scholars by basing their positions on authentic Hadeeths wherever available, rather than slavishly following earlier rulings merely because they had been made by prominent scholars. Focusing on Hadeeth to resolve the problems of Fiqh, great scholars of Hadeeth like Imaam al-Bukhaaree (810-870 CE) and Imaam Muslim (817-875 CE) went to great pains to collect from all possible sources authentic Hadeeths of the Prophet (s.w.) and Athars of the Sahaabah.

Mereka menyusunnya dalam bab-bab mengikut format yang ditetapkan oleh para ulama Fiqh. Perintis aliran ini ialah imam besar yang terakhir, Ahmad bin Hambal, yang menghimpunkan karya Hadith yang paling luas, yang dinamakan al-Musnad.120 Imam al-Bukhaari dan Imam Muslim termasuk dalam kalangan muridnya.121

These, they arranged in chapters according to the format established by the Fiqh scholars. The initiator of this trend was the last of the major Imaams, Ahmad ibn Hambal, who compiled the most extensive work of Hadeeth called al-Musnad.120 Both Imaam alBukhaaree and Imaam Muslim were among his students.121

Melalui terjemahan karya-karya agung dalam bidang sains dan falsafah dari Yunani, Rom, Parsi dan India, 122 sarjana Islam memperoleh pemahaman tentang sistem penaakulan, deduksi dan inferens yang baharu. Pengetahuan baharu ini mempengaruhi pendekatan mereka terhadap Fiqh, yang kemudiannya mereka susun kepada asas-asas (Usool) dan prinsip-prinsip cabang (Furoo'). Lama-kelamaan, Tafseer (tafsir Al-Qur'an), Hadeeth dan Nahw (tatabahasa) berkembang di bawah pengaruh ini menjadi cabang-cabang ilmu yang khusus.

Through translations of the great books of science and philosophy from Greece, Rome, Persia, and India,122 Islamic scholars gained insight into new systems of reasoning, deduction and inference. This new knowledge influenced their approach to Fiqh which they proceeded to organize into fundamentals (Usool) and secondary principles (Furoo’). In time, Tafseer (explanation of the Qur’aan), Hadeeth and Nahw (grammer) developed under these influences into specialized branches of learning.

Kedudukan (pendirian) para ulama fiqh terkemuka telah dicatat, dan sumber-sumber utama hukum Islam telah dikenal pasti serta disusun mengikut tahap kepentingannya. 123

The positions of major scholars of Fiqh were recorded and the primary sources of Islamic law were identified and classified in order of their importance. 123