The Qur'an is the main source of Islamic Law. Write an account of how it is used with each of the other three sources.

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (May/June 2016). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. [10] (a) Candidates should write about the primary sources, Qur'an and hadith, and secondary sources, ijma' and qiyas, and how they are used with the Qur'an. The Qur'an is an authority in Islamic law; it is the word of God; it is not questioned or contradicted by the other sources; it is the basis of legal rulings in Islamic Law; the sunna is the Prophet's example and is recorded in the hadith; these emphasise and expand on verses in the Qur'an, e.g. salat and zakat; they are also used when the Qur'an is silent on a matter, e.g. inheritance given to grandmother; hadith are important because the Prophet was the final and perfect messenger to follow; hadith of Mu'adh ibn Jabal gives a guide of what to follow; they are interlinked, so are the two main (primary) sources, the hadith never contradicting the Qur'an. Today ijma' and qiyas are used mainly for issues that did not arise at the time of the Prophet; ijma' is the consensus of opinion of scholars; 'my community will never agree upon an error'; some issues they have had to deal with have been, at the time of the caliphs, the compiling of the Qur'an and more recently, the permissibility of IVF; those knowledgeable about Islamic Law decide on new matters such as IVF based on what they know already from the Qur'an and hadith, and then agree on a ruling. The rulings are based on existing Qur'anic rulings, so there is no contradiction or disagreement with the Qur'an. Qiyas is analogy, when one Islamic ruling is compared with another to derive a new ruling for a new issue. Examples of this could be the use of cocaine being prohibited on the basis that intoxicants are prohibited. Candidates could mention the elements of qiyas, asl (original case on which a ruling has been given), far' (new case on which ruling is required), 'illa (the cause, which is common in both) and hukm (the ruling). The original case will have a ruling based on the Qur'an, and therefore the ruling on the new case will have its basis in Qur'anic sources.
2. [4] (b) Candidates could say that yes, they are both equally important because, e.g. they are sources that have been used by previous generations and give answers for different problems, or that one may not resolve all new issues so the other source is needed too. Candidates could also say no, one is more important than the other, and have to give reason(s) as to why they say that.