The definition of sharī'ah ruling in the context of theological approaches of Ash'arite jurists

The theoretical framework of Sharī'ah ruling is determined by the usul al-fiqh. When we look at the studies on sharīʿa judgment in the context of usul al-usūl works, we see that they are based on an intense theological background. This is because, while sharīʿa judgment belongs to a divine source in one aspect, it is also a phenomenon related to human actions in another. Therefore, the discussions on these two issues, which are analyzed within the scope of theology, inevitably affect the understanding of sharī'ah judgment. The decisive role of the approaches in the science of kalām on sharīʿa judgment has brought about the development of a unique understanding of sharīʿa judgment by the theological schools that differ on these approaches. This study aims to clarify the understanding of sharīʿa judgment of the Ashʿarites, one of the leading schools of Islamic theology, in the context of the definition of sharīʿa judgment shaped by their theological preferences. In the first section, the theological issues that affect the definition of sharīʿī judgment are identified and the approaches of Ashʿarite jurists on these issues are clarified. Accordingly, the main approach that determines the Ashʿarite jurists' understanding of sharīʿa judgment is that they adopt sharīʿa judgment as a phenomenon related to the divine attribute rather than a part of human action, depending on the attribution of the command and the prohibition, which are the source of sharīʿa judgments, to kalām al-nafsī. In the second part, the impact of this basic approach and the framework laid out in the first part on the definition of sharī'ah judgment is analyzed. In this context, each of the elements in the definition of a sharī'ah judgment is analyzed in line with the theological approaches of the Ash'arite jurists. The theological approaches adopted by the Ash'arite jurists were found to have a two-way effect both in determining the meaning attributed to the elements in the definition of sharī'ah and in paving the way for the emergence of certain areas of debate through this meaning.