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This is not to say that his discussion of a particular question is always lengthy. Minor questions might receive scant attention in learned circles such that a whole debate could be comprehended within a single page. Major questions, on the other hand, could not but engage the attention of all the greatest minds, thus resulting in a debate of great magnitude, requiring many pages of discussion in a work aspiring to completeness. Comprehensiveness was, of course, a goal shared by all who attempted to write in a general way about topics in theoretical jurisprudence; Āmidī’s greatness lies in large part in his ability to realize this goal to a greater extent than any of his predecessors or contemporaries.

Scholars both in the West and in the Muslim world commonly regard the illustrious Muhammad ibn Idrīs al-Shāficī as the giant figure in the development of Islamic legal methodology. Muslims who so regard Shāficī tend to place emphasis on his role as the author of the first important jurisprudential treatises, especially al-Risāla. In writing this treatise, Shāficī “recorded” (yudawwin) the science of theoretical jurisprudence;12 that is, he transformed it from an orally transmitted science into a science with a literary basis.

Higher-order obligation is obligation that exists by virtue of divine categorization, obligation that is imposed by God. Lower-order obligation is obligation that human beings take upon themselves freely when entering into transactions or when taking oaths. The latter type of obligation is intimately tied to the former and, from an Islamic point of view, has relevance only by virtue of this tie. 12 The Search for God’s Law To juxtapose the two orders of obligation in a single statement, we may say that God imposes upon us an obligation to fulfill the obligations we take upon ourselves in entering into transactions.