By Summar Khan*
The data collection project I was assigned is canon tagging. As the course has come to an end, I have made 291 total edits in SHARIAsource. Throughout the semester with tagging, I have been able to observe a wide array of Islamic legal canons. After opening the actual source, the extended English translations and context have provided an interesting look into Islamic law.
I have noticed that many of the canons overlap or target similar ideas. Outside substantive areas of law, most of my tags fell into the "laws of interpretation & obligation" category. At the end of this exercise and the course, I have now interpreted the frequency of this tag as a reflection of how important a role doubt plays in Islamic law. Because doubt before handing out criminal punishments or judgments is so perverse, there is a significant need to clarify the application of certain laws and how to interpret various detailed scenarios. This lack of doubt is especially important when there are serious consequences, like ḥudūd punishment in criminal law. For example, canon #6459 directly states this principle, when one capable of certainty is not allowed to act based on suspicion (al-qādir ʿalā al-yaqīn lā yajūz lahu al-ʿamal bil-ẓann; القادر على اليقين لا يجوز له العمل بالظن ).[1] Similarly, canon #2880 states that the attribute of obligation is not established when there is ambiguity in evidence (ṣifat al-fardiyya maʿa ashtabāh al-ʾadala lā tuthbit; صفة الفرضية مع اشتباه الأدلة لا تثبت).[2]
Even though I was assigned only tagging, the importance of judicial interpretation and its required certainty reflect how these canons serve as a different approach to western common law interpretation, furthering similar objectives of administrability and predictability.
Lastly, while I initially struggled with sorting through the canons, I found it much easier as the semester went on. I was only given canons with robust English translations, and the source material was very helpful to infer context. A few of my canons did not have a linked source, which made those more difficult to tag. Ultimately, while I enjoyed building a new skill set and having a hands-on approach to Islamic law, tagging did get slightly repetitive. Similar to our AI research paper, I would be curious to see how accurate ChatGPT is at tagging canons and how frequently it differs from the students in our class. I am confident it would be a helpful tool for this type of exercise.
Notes:
* Summar Khan is a 2L at Harvard Law School. She holds a Bachelors of Arts in Political Economy from the University of California, Berkeley.
[1] SHARIAsource CnC Database Canon No. 6459 (citing Muḥammad Ṣidqī Būrnū, Mawsūʿat al-qawāʿid al-fiqhiyya (3d ed., 2015), [hereinafter Būrnū]).
[2] Canon No. 2880 (citing Būrnū, 6:235).
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