Kelâm ile Fıkıh Usûlü Arasındaki İlişki ve Etkileşim Alanları
The Relationship and Domains of Interaction Between Kalām and the Methodology of Islamic Jurisprudence (Uṣūl al-Fiqh)

Summary/Abstract: Purpose: This article examines the relationship between kalām (Islamic speculative theology) and uṣūl al-fiqh (the principles of Islamic jurisprudence), and the areas in which they interact. While kalām establishes the doctrinal foundations of Islam through rational (ʿaqlī) and transmitted (naqlī) proofs, uṣūl al-fiqh systematizes the methods for deriving shariʿah rulings relating to practical action. The interrelation between the two is undeniable with kalām notably contributing to uṣūl al-fiqh in methodological and epistemological respects. Classical scholars such as al-Bāqillānī (d. 403/1013), Qāḍī ʿAbd al-Jabbār (d. 415/1025), al-Ghazālī (d. 505/1111), and al-Zarkashī (d. 794/1392) have explicitly highlighted these influences. Theological schools such as the Muʿtazila and the Ashʿarites carried their doctrinal positions into uṣūl, thereby giving rise to the so-called “method of the mutakallimūn”. This study therefore aims to identify the points of interaction between kalām and uṣūl al-fiqh in terms of method, methodology, and content, throughout history, and to demonstrate kalām’s formative role of kalām in shaping the latter. By doing so, it aims to address a significant gap in the literature, which has often emphasized the differences rather than the shared intellectual foundations and methodological convergences between the two disciplines. Method: A comparative methodology was employed. The foundational texts of both disciplines were examined in parallel, playing particular attention to their conceptual frameworks, modes of reasoning, use of proofs, methodological assumptions, and epistemological premises. Findings: It has been observed in the early years of Islam, the term fiqh encompassed both theological (iʿtiqādī) and juridical (fiqhī) matters. From the 2nd/8th century onward, with the gradual differentiation and institutionalization of the Islamic sciences as distinct disciplines, fiqh and kalām emerged as separate scholarly fields. In this process, uṣūl al-fiqh appropriated numerous conceptual and epistemological tools from kalām (istimdād), which paved the way for the emergence of the mutakallimūn method. The rationality cultivated within kalām endowed uṣūl al-fiqh with a structured discipline of theoretical inquiry (naẓar) and inferential reasoning (istidlāl). It also shaped the terminological language and dialectical argumentative capacity of uṣūl al-fiqh. Furthermore, as a comprehensive discipline, kalām influenced not only the epistemological and methodological foundations of uṣūl al-fiqh but also its compositional and literary structure. Conclusion: The study concludes that the relationship between kalām and uṣūl al-fiqh operates simultaneously on methodological and epistemological levels. Kalām played a decisive and foundational role in the conceptual formation and theoretical architecture of uṣūl al-fiqh. It is hoped that this research contributes to redressing the aforementioned scholarly gap and provides a basis for further comprehensive studies in the field.

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