Justice in the Form of a Jurisprudential Theory in the Islamic Canonical Law (Shari'a)

Justice has always been propounded as a theological theory in the Islamic tradition and culture, thus having a long history in the Islamic thought. And it has been so important in understanding the theological thought that the Imamite and Mu'tazilite schools have become known as Adliyyah (the justice-centered schools) in the history of theology. However, despite the importance that Islam has attached to the issue of social justice, this concept has not been viewed as a jurisprudential theory, and has not been taken into consideration by jurisprudence and jurisprudents, except in the present era. In this paper, we examined the possibility of the jurisprudential propounding of justice, and proved that justice can also be used as a rule in jurisprudence just as it can be used in theology, and the three proofs; namely, the Qur'an, the Traditions, and reason support it. As some examples for the functions of justice in jurisprudence, we can refer to its uses as a criterion for assessing the narrative proofs, as a basis for constraining and expanding the narrative proofs, as a basis for the issuance of verdicts in non-prescribed cases, and finally, as a basis for adopting verdicts in the discretionary sphere of Shari'a.