The Reality-Based Fiqh of Umar ibn al-Khattab and Its Application in Islamic Family Law

Abstract

This study examines the concept of fiqh al-wāqi' in the ijtihad of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb and its relevance to contemporary Islamic family law. The study is motivated by the observed gap between classical normative fiqh and the dynamics of modern society, which increasingly demand a contextual and responsive legal approach. Positioned as a methodological reconstruction, this research adopts ʿUmar's ijtihad practice as a paradigm of reality-based jurisprudence. The central inquiry addresses how the concept of fiqh al-wāqi' is formulated within ʿUmar's jurisprudential practice and how it may be applied to contemporary family law issues, including divorce (ṭalāq), child custody, and inheritance. The discussion employs conceptual and comparative analysis of classical and contemporary literature grounded in the framework of maqāṣid al-sharī'ah. The findings indicate that fiqh al-wāqi' constitutes an integrative approach that reconciles textual authority with contextual reality, offering a viable foundation for a more just, adaptive, and welfare-oriented reform of Islamic family law. Accordingly, ʿUmar's ijtihad is not merely of historical significance, but remains epistemologically relevant as a framework for the development of modern Islamic jurisprudence.