Classical Islamic jurisprudence is founded on a monotheistic worldview that views God as the ultimate

source of law, as God alone is seen as the supreme sovereign, whose omnipotence over human affairs
derives from his position as the universe's creator. Together with Sunnah, the Quran is the most
important source of Islam. According to Muslim theology and jurists, the entire corpus of the Quran
originated from Muhammad's forty-year-long reception of heavenly revelations through the archangel
Gabriel, who intended to establish a moral sociopolitical order based on God's sacred ways. After the
prophet's death in 632, revelations ceased. It is emphasised that the Quran's prohibitions are primarily
moral and only incidentally criminal. State-level retribution or private reprisal will administer the
punishment. In addition, given the emphasis on human rights and the advent of technology in the
contemporary world, some arguments are deemed obsolete. As mentioned by Coulson and Schacht,
there are also other restrictions that are only implicitly forbidden, such as drinking, gambling, and wine.

Typically, questions on this topic concern whether the Quran is in fact a source of law reinforced by
Sunnah.

As it is not a source of law, the Quran is called huda, which means "guidance." It is regarded as the exact
words of God, making it the most authoritative document of Islamic law (Farooq Hasan). It contains
6219 verses organised into 114 chapters known as surahs.

The categories of verses include criminal (punishment and community security), legal
(constitutional/administrative), social reform (status of women, etc.), and granting rights. The Quran
only has 600 legal verses, although western scholars (Coulson) and muslim scholars disagree on this
number (Kamali). Uncertainty exists as to whether the Quran was written during the Prophet's lifetime
and revealed in a piecemeal fashion; some contend that it was in a fragmented form and written
material was not compiled into a single codex. It was remembered by the companions, assembled into
one volume during the time of Abu Baker, and then recompiled during the time of Uthman. This is
considered the standard version, with all variants eliminated.

Additionally, verses have been divided into specialised and general categories (khass is definitive and
aam is speculative – except for Hanafis). Absolute and qualified (Mutlaq and muqayyad), literal (haqaqi)
and figurative (haqaqi) meanings exist (majazi – implied meaning is taken). According to these principles,
the law is derived from the Quran. The characteristics of the verses are split into two categories:
abrogation (verses concerning bequests) and consideration of context.

Punishments are also graded on a scale based on the wrath of God (Coulson): farz (mandatory); haram
(prohibited); mubah (act neutrality); mandub (recommended); and makrukh (extreme) (disliked).

As the Quran is not regarded as a major source of law, it is unclear if legal injunctions are compulsory or
permissive, and whether they are subject to private or public consequences. While the Quran contains a
comprehensive set of practical, legal, and moral standards, when its meaning is ambiguous or it is quiet
on a particular issue, other sources of Shariah may be consulted to provide solutions to the issue at
hand. In this perspective, the Quran might be compared to a constitution that gives the essential
information on social, political, legal, and practical matters. In both the Quran and constitutions, the
founding text retains supreme power over all other laws across generations, and its authoritative
interpretation is in the hands of human legal academics.

Coulson maintains that there are little more than so'strictly lawful verses,' although Kamali estimates
that the number is close to 350. Ghazali estimates that there are 500 of them.

Among the significant legal matters addressed in the Quran are the following: Coulson and Kamali
concur that Quranic law is uncontested in the areas of family law and inheritance. The widespread
reforms have been recognised by everybody. In marriage, a woman today receives dower
(consideration), elevating her legal standing in comparison to when women were'sold' In times of
divorce, the man is required to support his wife during the idda period, although earlier he could divorce
at his discretion. Although men continue to have the unilateral right to divorce. According to inheritance
regulations, male relatives would inherit the property, although women can now inherit property. There
have also been reforms in penal law, such as the "eye for an eye" principle and the offence for making
false allegations.

The Quran's status as a source of law, however, has been seen from a variety of perspectives. Coulson
believes that this is not the case because the majority of the principles are of an ethical nature. The
Quran lacks mandated consequences to qualify as 'technical legal pronouncements' and does not
impose rights or duties in the literal sense, such as honesty in business dealings, avoiding corruption,
etc. Therefore, Coulson focuses on the absence of punishment; even while drinking is illegal, the
absence of sanctions renders it illegal. God's anger is the only sanction; this is only an ethical answer to
particular difficulties. Coulson also claims that the Quran omits numerous general ideas.

Joseph Schacht also emphasises the absence of penalties for illegal actions. He believes that the
prohibitions just establish moral obligations and have no legal consequences if the act is undertaken. He
cites gambling as an example of a transaction that is not permitted because the consequence and form
have not been specified in Al-Baqarah:219. According to them, the absence of a penalty indicates that
no duty has been imposed, and so the verse is void. Kamali is of a different opinion (as seen by the
disparity in the number of legal ayahs between him and Coulson), and the Quran is a source of law for
him since the legal material is more extensive than Coulson claims. The extraction of law from the Quran
has been refined via exegesis and in-depth research. As opposed to Coulson, he acknowledges that a
major portion of the Quran is founded on general principles. In Islamic Legal Theory, Kamali classifies
Islamic verses as conclusive (qati), speculative (zanni), general (aam), and specific (khass). The most vital
verses are the definitive and speculative ones. This covers the laws of inheritance and qadhf, for which
definitive verses are obvious and do not require further explanation. Verse interpretations for
speculative passages typically come from the Quran, sunnah, or ijtihad. Such verses include "expulsion
from the face of the earth for highway robbery" (5:32). The passage then becomes Qati and is regarded
as Quranic law when it is given a particular interpretation.
For instance, drinking, gambling, and bribery all illegal, but no punishment is specified. In light of their
understanding of the sources of Islamic law, the Caliphs established punishments. Sunnah, Hadith, ijma,
and ijtihad are vital in this regard to provide advice where the Quranic requirements are silent. Quranic
passages are also classified as Mutlaq and Muqayyad (absolute and qualified), such as two qualified
witnesses for divorce. They are haqiqi (literal) and majazi (metaphorical), whereby the implication is
typically assumed. Using makki and madni, Quranic requirements are interpreted (undertaking the
context and the conditions of the provision – knowledge of surah is incomplete without context). These
categories permit the derivation of law from the Quran based on these concepts.

According to Coulson, a text's meaning cannot be derived from its interpretation. However, one may
argue that the interpretation of verses is analogous to the judicial interpretation of constitutional
articles. How is this different from judge-made laws, which are regarded to be valid? Is it because judges
can impose sanctions but ijma and Islamic jurists cannot? This appears to be a weak argument against
the legality of the Quran as a source of law. The Quran seeks to institutionalise healthy interaction
within the framework of justice to rule daily life, despite the absence of explicit guidance for any
governmental infrastructure. The wheel of the Muslim ummah is governed by a strict morality and
justice prescription. The Quran, Hadith, and Sunnah are the pillars upon which sharia is founded, with
the head of the Islamic state's judiciary having a duty to uphold them. The constitution, on the other
hand, is regarded as a genuine source of legislation based on the fundamental principles by which the
government exercises its authority, and so serves as the state's governing mechanism. In addition to
being complemented by statutes and judicial interpretation, it imposes an obligation on Parliament.
Accordingly, this study argues that the Quran can also be regarded as a legal source.