Abstract:

Law is a system of rules that regulate the relationships within society. Therefore, it is a necessity for the law to take into consideration the needs of society. The religious character of Islamic law has led many Western scholars, who have researched in this field, to interpret that Islamic law does not aim to observe the needs of the society and the only purpose of this law is to resort to divine orders. These academicians, most of whom were cultural researchers, were influenced by the theoretical framework of the Usul al-fiqh discipline. The attitude of Islamic law towards the needs of society can be ascertained by examining the furû and fatwa literature and the court decisions in the sharia registers, which include examples of the application of the provisions in this literature to concrete events. As a criterion that distinguishes legal rules from other rules regulating social life, we can say that socio-ethical norms that supported by judgment and sanction by a central government in a society are the rule of law. This criterion allows us to suggest that the rules of law did not yet exist in the pre-Islamic Arab society and that the legal structuring took place after the Prophet's migration to Medina. During this period, it is possible to see that the structure and needs of the society were taken into consideration in the reasons of the verses and the practices of the Prophet. Afterward were formed İslamic legal instruments such as ijtihad, istihsan, maslahah and custom have been the most effective legal instruments to provide the needs of the society. Today, the religious part of fiqh, which determines the rules at every stage of a Muslim's life, is most often applied rather than the judicial part of Fiqh corresponding to Islamic law. İn this context, to increase the effectiveness of Fiqh depends on considering both Ibadah and Muamalah issues with methods that appropriate to their nature. Thus, to realize all these are possible by practicing ijtihad applications effectively.

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