Imam Rabbani's fiqh understanding

Imām Rabbānī, who lived nearly four centuries ago, and who had multiple attributes such as Rabbanism, being a Mudjaddid, a Faruqi, and a Ṣila in his 60 years of life, mostly came to prominence with his Sufism, theology, and discernment skills, and his fiqh dimension was hardly touched upon. However, he owes his being considered worthy of the title of mudjaddid to his efforts in the fight against bid'ah. Since bid'ah is the introduction of something that is not part of Islam into the religion, the fight against it will naturally be fought with the science of fiqh. Therefore, the role of Imām Rabbānī's ideas of fiqh in his being regarded as the mudjaddid of the second millennium is of great importance. Imām Rabbānī's wish to study the works of jurisprudence together with the students of knowledge, and his insistence that the works of fiqh be taught in the dervish lodges instead of the works of Sufism reveal how much importance he attached to the science of jurisprudence. The study consists of an introduction, three chapters, and a conclusion. The introduction addresses the study's subject, significance, purpose, method, and plan. The first chapter aims to better introduce Imām Rabbānī, exploring the reasons behind his being given titles such as Rabbānī, Mujaddid, Faruqi, and Ṣila, his life, works, scholarly personality, the value he placed on knowledge, especially jurisprudence, and his vision of the school of thought. The second chapter explores his understanding of usul al-fiqh, while the third chapter is devoted to his thoughts on the furu'. His fiqh analyses have been examined along with the evidences on which they are based and, when necessary, compared with the views of other schools of thought and contemporary perspectives. Imām Rabbānī's identity as a Sufi paved the way for his kashf-based interpretations of fiqh matters. Accordingly, this study also addresses his sufi interpretations of jurisprudential issues. In addition, the religious, political, and socio-cultural factors underlying his engagement with legal discourse have been identified and analyzed to the extent possible. With this study, it is aimed to reveal the overlooked fiqh aspect of Imām Rabbānī and to show that contrary to popular belief, he was a scholar who had a voice outside of theology and Sufism.