A Treatise on the Principles of Jurisprudence by Mulla Khusraw Study and Investigation

Abstract

The research investigates the manuscript of a treatise on the principles of jurisprudence by Mulla Khusraw, the Hanafi jurist (885 AH - 1480 AD). The investigation of the manuscript based on a rare and precious handwritten copy consisting of an introduction and a conclusion. The research has been divided into two main sections. The first section, i.e. the theoretical study, comprises two subsections. The first subsection gives a brief bibliography of the author and the second one introduces an overview of the manuscript under investigation. The second section deals with the investigation of the manuscript and the conclusions drawn from the study. The research concludes that the bibliographical books did not pay much attention to the date of the birth of Mullah Khusraw and his great position among the sultans, scholars and the people of his age. It was also found that the manuscript combined between theory and practice as it dealt with important issues concerning ijtihad, i.e. using personal judgement, inference and analogy citing many examples of each ruling being examined.