Legal Realism and Islamic Legal Epistemology: A Comparative Analysis of Sources, Methods, and Legal Reasoning

Wahid Syalahudin

doi:10.67245/adhyasta.v1i1.54

Authors

Wahid Syalahudin Universitas Islam Negeri Syekh Wasil, Kediri

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.67245/adhyasta.v1i1.54

Keywords:

Legal Realism, Islamic Legal Epistemology, Uṣūl Al-Fiqh, Legal Reasoning, Legal Validity

Abstract

Purpose – This study compares the epistemological foundations of legal realism and Islamic law by examining their sources of legal knowledge, methods of legal reasoning, approaches to legal reality, and criteria of legal validity.

Design/methods/approach – This study employs normative legal research using philosophical and conceptual approaches. Primary and secondary materials include major works on legal realism, legal positivism, uṣūl al-fiqh, qiyās, ijtihād, and Islamic legal methodology. The materials were analyzed qualitatively through interpretation, comparison, and synthesis.

Findings – The study finds that legal realism is predominantly empirical-contextual, emphasizing judicial behavior, institutional practice, social reality, and the practical operation of law. Islamic legal epistemology is revelatory-rational-contextual, placing the Qur’an and Sunnah at the highest normative level while employing ijmā‘, qiyās, ijtihād, maṣlaḥah, ‘urf, and maqāṣid al-sharī‘ah to address new legal problems. Both traditions reject a purely mechanical conception of law and recognize the importance of context, but they differ fundamentally in their hierarchy of epistemic authority and criteria of legal validity.

Research implications/limitations – The study provides a comparative philosophical framework for understanding legal knowledge but is limited to conceptual and doctrinal analysis.

Originality/value – This study offers a direct epistemological comparison between legal realism and Islamic law by integrating sources, reasoning methods, social context, and legal validity within a single analytical framework.

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