The jurisprudential Perspective in Al-Ayyashi's Interpretation: Acts of Worship as a Model

Abstract

This research examines the jurisprudential perspective in al-Ayyashi's exegesis by analyzing selected verses related to worship, which formed a central focus of his narrative-based exegetical approach. Al-Ayyashi's exegesis is distinguished as one of the earliest Imami commentaries that relied on direct narration in explaining legal rulings. The commentator presented the verse and then cited relevant texts narrated from the Imams of the Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them) to interpret its legal implications, particularly in areas of worship such as purification, prayer, fasting, zakat, and Hajj. This research aims to uncover the jurisprudential features of the discourse on worship in al-Ayyashi's exegesis by tracing his use of narrations, the patterns of interpretation he employed in linking verses to the system of legal rulings, and the extent of his contribution to the development of early Imami jurisprudence. The research also explores the influence of the scholarly environment in Samarkand and the breadth of al-Ayyashi's sources of narration on the formation of his jurisprudential perspective, especially regarding matters of worship that require detailed explanation from the infallible Imams. The study reveals that al-Ayyashi presented a distinctive jurisprudential exegesis model in the chapter on acts of worship. He relied on explaining the rationale behind rulings, clarifying their limits, and linking them to the Sunnah transmitted from the Imams, without resorting to personal opinion or independent reasoning. This made his exegesis an important reference for preserving the narrative-based jurisprudential heritage. The research concludes that al-Ayyashi's exegesis represents an authentic source for understanding the structure of worship jurisprudence among the Imamiyyah in the early centuries, and that the examples of worship clearly reveal his methodology of Qur'anic deduction based on the infallible narrations as the center of legislative meaning.