Abstract

The companions of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) who devoted their lives in understanding and propagation of Islām possess the most highly regarded and noblest status amongst all the Muslims, as envisaged in the Qur’ān and the Sunnah. This paper deals with the issue of fiqhī status of qawl algabi (saying, opinion, verdict or fatwá of the companions) in the discipline of Islāmic jurisprudence. The paper offers qualitative analysis of various views on the subject matter. The paper maintains that the majority of Muslim jurists are of the view that the legal opinions of the companions are considered as an authoritative source of Islāmic law under specified conditions, and as such the Muslim jurists, from the past and present alike, heavily rely upon these opinions to support their own Islāmic legal judgments (fatāwá). Besides, the opinions of the companions also play a very vital role as supportive underlying evidences in fiqh al-mu‘āmalāt. Given the same paramount significance of these opinions, they are also treated and used, along the line with other secondary sources of Sharī‘ah, in Islāmic finance as proofs for contemporary fatāwá. The paper argues that this secondary source of Sharī‘ah can be creatively utilised for further development and innovations in Islāmic finance along with other sources.

Keywords

Qawl al-sahabi; Fatwá of the Companions; Usūl al-Fiqh; Fiqh al-Mu‘āmalāt; Islāmic Finance.