Development Fiqh during the Umayyad Period (662 AD-750 AD)

According to Sir Abdur Rahim:

" The first act of the Umayyad dynasty was to remove the seat of the Caliphate to Damascus, out side the limits of Arabia Proper. Through they were at the head of the state as Caliph, they were not generally speaking noted for their knowledge of the sacred laws".

Ameer Muawiya (661-680)
He was the scribe of the Holy Qur'an. He established a royal library. There was no contribution in the field of fiqh during his period as a Caliph.

Abdul Malik bin Marwan(685-705)

Hijjaj Bin Yousaf introduced vowel points in the Holy Qur'an but according to historians, it is wrong that Hijjaj Bin Yousaf introduced vowel points with the permission of Abdul Malik Bin Marwan. Actually, credit goes to Abdul Aswad Al-Duali (688Ad), The pupil of Caliph Ali Who introduced vowel points, followed by Nasr bin Asam and Yahya bin Yamar, The pupils of Al-Duali. During the period of Abdul Malik bin Arwan, Saeed Bin Musaib wrote first comprehensive commentary.


View of Prof. R,A, Nicholson

Prof, R.A Nicholson says:
"Abdul-Malik's Viceroy in Iraq the famous Hajjaj, who began his life as a School-master, exerted himself to promote the use of vowel marks(borrowed from the Syriac) and of the diacritical points placed above or below similar consonants."


Waleed Bin Abdul Malik (705-715 ad)

He encouraged the jurists. the technique of paper making was introduced in 712 AD. in Samarkand. After this, the Muslim scholars prepared manuscripts of the Holy Qur'an and Hadith. Thus the knowledge of jurisprudence spread in the later period.

Umer Bin Abdul Aziz (717-719 A.D)


A bright exception must, however, be made in favor of "Umar Bin Abdul Aziz", who was remarkable not only for his rigid piety, but also for his extensive knowledge of law and the traditions. There are many traditions which rest upon his authority.

Contribution of Hisham Bin Abdul Malik (724-743ad )

Hisham patronized Fiqh. Imam Zuhri during this period, collected four hundred Traditions. It was all due to encouragement and motivation of Hisham that Imam Zuhri completed this work.

Commencement of the study of Law as a Science:

Sir Abdur Rahim says:


The Qadi still administered justice, but law during the reign of the Umayyad grew and developed only in the lecture rooms of the professors, who did not come into contact with the practical concerns of the administration of justice. The zeal, however, for the study of law did not abate, and during the later days of the Omayyad was largely influenced, at least in Iraq and Mesopotamia, by the recently introduced sciences of divinity and scholastic logic. It is in this newly awakened scientific spirit that we must seek the beginning of the science of Muhammadan Jurisprudence. The distinction of first classifying the laws under different subjects, of introducing the use of technical phraseology, and or arranging the different sources of law is ascribed by some to Wasil Ibn' Ata, the founder of the Mu'tazila sect."

Prof. R.A Nicholson says:
"The real founder of Mutazilits was Wasil b. Atta(748 ad) who added a second cardinal doctrine to that of free will."

Religious Tradition and Canon Law during the Umayyad Period:

P. K. Hitti says about the development of religious and Canon Law during the Umayyad Period:


"The Qur'an and Tradition provided the foundation upon which theology and fiqh, the obverse and reverse of sacred law,were raised. Law in Islam is more intimately related to religion than to jurisprudence as modern lawyers understand it. Roman Law, directly or through the Talmud and other media, did undoubtedly affect Umayyad legislation, but to what extent has not been fully ascertained. In fact, of this period, from which hardly any literature has come down to us, we know only a few of the traditionists and jurists, the most renowned of whom were al-Hasan al-Basri and Ibn-shahiab al-Zuhri." (742)

Al-Basri was highly esteems as a transmitter of tradition, since he was believe to have known personally seventy of those who took part in the battle of Badr.

Among the celebrated Companions, regarded as authorities on Muslim Tradition, who settled in Kufah during the Caliphate of Umar and Usman was the red haired, thin legged' Abdullah Ibn-Mas'ud (ca 653), who is said to have been responsible for eight hundred and fourty eight traditions.


Equally distinguished among the Kufan traditionists was al-Shah'bi(ca 728), one of the many south Arabian who gained eminence in the early days of Islam, who is said to have heard traditions from some hundred and fourty companions which he related from memory without putting down a single line in black and white.

The most eminent of al-Shahbi's pupils was the great Abu Hanifah. We have it on authority of al-Shah'bi that he himself was sent by the Caliph' Abd-al-Malik on an important mission to the Byzanine emperor in Constantinople.

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