QIYAS

Arabic Qiyas, in Islamic law, analogical reasoning as applied to the deduction of juridical principles from the Qur'an and the Sunnah (the normative practice of the community). With the Qur'an, the Sunnah, and ijma' (scholarly consensus), it constitutes the four sources of Islamic jurisprudence (usul al-fiqh; q.v.). The need for qiyas developed soon after the death of Muhammad, when the expanding Islamic state came in contact with societies and situations beyond the scope of the Qur'an and the Sunnah. In some cases ijma' legitimized a solution or resolved a problem. Very often, however, qiyas was used to deduce new beliefs and practices on the basis of analogy with past practices and beliefs. Muslim scholars consider qiyas a specific variant of the general concept of ijtihad, which is original interpretation and thought. It is also related to ra'y, personal thought and opinion, a forerunner of qiyas criticized by traditional authorities as too arbitrary.