Common law as something
accepted by the rule of wisdom
found in the very self of humans
formed the earliest type of the legal
systems of societies. In most of the
legal systems of the world,
common law is known as one of
the most important resources and is
of high significance. Most of the
Islamic jurisprudents agree on the
authority of common law as an
independent or dependent reason or
proof. In this regard, the
jurisprudents have referred to
reasons of the Book (Holy Quran),
the Tradition (Sunna), and wisdom.
Family laws are included as the
most potential fields for the
common law to play a significant
role in updating the rules and
placing them in the right path of
recognizing the required
components. Thus, by applying a
descriptive-analytical method, the
present study attempts at studying
the function of common law in
laws related to the family through
investigating the nature, range of
inclusion, and legitimacy of
common law among the
jurisprudents of different Islamic
schools and sects as well as
studying the opponents’ reasons for
its documentary authority.