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ISLAMIC LEGAL MAXIMS

Imran Ahsan Khan Nyazee

Advanced Legal Studies InstituteP.O.Box 3013, Islamabad

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First Published: 2013

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREFACE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

I INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OFLEGAL MAXIMS 13

Ch. 1 Introduction 151.1 The Terms Qā‘idah and As. l in Islamic Law . 151.2 Methods in Us.ūl al-Fiqh Attributed to the Ju-

rists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161.2.1 The Method of the H. anafīs or the Method

of the Jurists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161.2.2 The Method of the Majority Schools or the

Method of the Mutakallimūn . . . . . . 171.2.3 Method That Combines the Two Previous

Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171.2.4 The Method of Takhrīj ‘Alā al-Us.ūl . . . 171.2.5 The Method of Us.ūl Through the Maqās. id 181.2.6 Method of the Ahl H. adīth? . . . . . . . 18

1.3 Our Analysis of the Classification of Methods 181.3.1 General Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . 181.3.2 Analysis Relevant for Qawā‘id Fiqhiyyah 20

Ch. 2 Essential Terminology and the Nature ofRules in Islamic Law 232.1 The Multiple Meanings of the Term H. ukm . 242.2 Rules, Principles, ‘Illah, H. ikmah and Rationale 27

2.2.1 The Nature of a Rule . . . . . . . . . . 272.2.2 Principle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292.2.3 The Rule and its Rationale . . . . . . . 30

2.3 Presumptions, Propositions and Legal Max-ims . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

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2.3.1 Presumptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322.3.1.1 Legislative Presumptions . . . . 332.3.1.2 Presumptions of General Applica-

bility . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332.3.1.3 Presumption of Law . . . . . . 342.3.1.4 Presumption of Fact . . . . . . 34

2.3.2 Maxims . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342.3.3 Propositions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

2.4 Bāb, D. awābit. , Qawā↪id and Naz. ariyyah . . . . 352.4.1 The Bāb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352.4.2 D. awābit. , Qawā↪id and Naz. ariyyah . . . . 36

Ch. 3 Understanding the Development ofQawā‘id Fiqhiyyah as a Discipline 393.1 The Beginning at Kufa . . . . . . . . . . . . 393.2 The Separation of the Rules . . . . . . . . . 413.3 Sample Qawā‘id Us.ūliyyah . . . . . . . . . . 423.4 Qawā‘id Fiqhiyyah After al-Dabbūsī . . . . . 453.5 Qawā‘id Fiqhiyyah in More Recent Times . . 47

Ch. 4 The Interpretation of Facts and the Func-tion of the Qawā↪id Fiqhiyyah 494.1 Interpreting the Facts . . . . . . . . . . . . . 494.2 The Functions That Principles Perform in Is-

lamic Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Ch. 5 Analysis of What has Been Studied so farand the Methodology Followed in ThisBook 555.1 Questioning Some Definitions . . . . . . . . 555.2 What We Cannot Study in This Subject . . . 565.3 The Overlap With Us.ūl al-Fiqh . . . . . . . . 585.4 The Methodology of This Book . . . . . . . 605.5 Advantages for Future Research: Legal Con-

cepts and Associated Theories . . . . . . . . 62

©Imran Ahsan Khan Nyazee Advanced Legal Studies Institute

C ISLAMIC LEGAL MAXIMS 3

II LEGAL MAXIMS AND LEGAL CON-CEPTS 65

Ch. 6 The Sharī‘ah as a Single Bāb 676.1 Siyāsah Shar‘iyyah: The Legal and Social Poli-

cies of the Sharī‘ah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 676.1.1 The Basic Terms of This Topic . . . . . 686.1.2 The Development of the Five Principles

and Area of Operation . . . . . . . . . 706.1.3 The Content of the Policies . . . . . . . 726.1.4 Converting Policies into New Law . . . 74

6.2 The Role of Intentions . . . . . . . . . . . . 756.2.1 Intentions and the Hereafter . . . . . . 766.2.2 Intentions and the Law . . . . . . . . . 77

6.2.2.1 Acts of Worship . . . . . . . . 786.2.2.2 Marriage, Divorce and Emancipa-

tion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 796.2.2.3 Contracts in General . . . . . . 816.2.2.4 Criminal Law and Torts . . . . 83

6.3 Looking at the Consequences . . . . . . . . 866.4 Trivialities to be Overlooked . . . . . . . . . 906.5 Things Occurring Usually to be Assigned the

Usual Rule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 916.6 In the Case of Substitution, the Substitution

Need Not be Complete . . . . . . . . . . . . 936.7 When a Part to be Considered the Whole . 946.8 When a Part of the Whole has a Separate H. ukm 956.9 A Continuing Act May be Assigned the Rule

of the Initial State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Ch. 7 The Bāb of Ibāh. ah (Permissibility) 997.1 The Governing Principle of This Bāb . . . . 997.2 Liability of Human Beings in General: The

Covenant With the Creator . . . . . . . . . . 1017.2.1 The Nature of the Covenant: The Obliga-

tions and the Demand for Performance 102

Advanced Legal Studies Institute ©Imran Ahsan Khan Nyazee


7.2.2 Cases in Which Performance is not Re-quired and is Suspended or ExtinguishedAltogether . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1057.2.2.1 The Minor . . . . . . . . . . . 1067.2.2.2 Insanity and Idiocy . . . . . . 1067.2.2.3 Sleep and Fits of Fainting . . . . 1067.2.2.4 Forgetfulness and Mistake . . . 1077.2.2.5 Menstruation and Slavery . . . 1087.2.2.6 The Liability of Non-Muslims . 108

7.2.3 How Does the Covenant Deal With theArea of ‘Ibāh. ah (Permissibility) Not Cov-ered So Far: al-h. ujaj al-‘aqliyyah . . . . . 109

7.3 Things That Must Always be Mubāh. . . . . 1107.4 Things That Must Always be Prohibited . . 1127.5 Things That May Possibly be Permitted, but

not Necessarily: Understanding the MainPrinciple . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

7.6 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Ch. 8 Presumption of Continuity (Istis. h. āb al-H. āl) 1198.1 The Meaning of Istis.h. āb . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

8.1.1 Types of Istis.h. āb and Their Legal Validity 1208.2 Doubt and Certainty . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1228.3 Istis.hāb al-h. āl (Presumption of Continuity) is

a Defensive Presumption and Does not Estab-lish a Right . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

8.4 Miscellaneous Presumptions . . . . . . . . . 128

Ch. 9 The Bāb of ‘Ibādāt: Acts of Worship 131

Ch. 10 The Bāb of Contracts 13710.1 The Principle of Ribā and Related Presump-

tions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13810.2 The Principle of Contractual Liability . . . 140

10.2.1 The Link With the Principle of Ribā . . 14110.2.2 Passage of Title in Sales and What can be

Lawfully Sold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142



10.2.3 Principle of Liability and Business Organi-zation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

10.3 Principle for the Sold Commodity: Owner-ship and Possession . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14510.3.1 Things not Owned . . . . . . . . . . . 14510.3.2 Things not in Possession: Selling Food Be-

fore Possession . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14710.3.3 The Exemption in the Case of Salam . . 148

10.4 The Principle of Prohibition of Gharar: TheMisunderstood Principle . . . . . . . . . . . 149

10.5 Suspended (Mawqūf ) Contracts and Ratifica-tion: The Unauthorized Agent . . . . . . . . 15010.5.1 Building the Rules of Ratification . . . 15210.5.2 Applying the Rules of Suspended Con-

tracts and Ratification . . . . . . . . . . 15710.6 Fasād, Conditions and Stipulations . . . . . 159

Ch. 11 Liability in General 16511.1 Developing a Theory of Liability . . . . . . 16511.2 General Rule for Injuries . . . . . . . . . . . 16611.3 The Destruction of Property and its Compen-

sation (D. amān) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

Ch. 12 The Bāb of Shubhah 17312.1 The Operation of Shubhah in Crimes . . . . 17312.2 Expanding the Operation of Shubhah to Fam-

ily Law and Other Cases . . . . . . . . . . . 176

Ch. 13 Legal Necessity, Hardhip, Need, Prohi-bitions and Permissions 17913.1 Duress Affecting Human Life and Limbs . 17913.2 Necessity as General Need . . . . . . . . . . 18313.3 Cases of Hardship: Exemptions (Rukhas. ) . . 18513.4 Prohibitions and Permissions . . . . . . . . 188

Ch. 14 ‘Ādah and ‘Urf 19114.1 The Different Meanings of ‘Ādah . . . . . . . 191



14.1.1 ‘Ādah as a Physical or Scientific Fact Situa-tion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

14.1.2 ‘Ādah as Commercial or Other Prac-tice—Whether Good or Bad . . . . . . 197

14.2 Maxims Dealing With ‘Urf (Usage; Custom-ary Practice) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19814.2.1 Types of ‘Urf : Division into usage and

practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19814.2.2 Legal Maxims About ‘Urf . . . . . . . 200

Ch. 15 Dārs, Jurisdiction and Non-Muslims 20715.1 The Concept of the Dār . . . . . . . . . . . . 20715.2 The Dār al-Islām and its Non-Muslim Resi-

dents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212

Ch. 16 Legal Rights 21716.1 Rights That Cannot be Transferred or Relin-

quished . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22116.1.1 Pure Rights of Allah . . . . . . . . . . 22116.1.2 Where the Right of Allah and the Right of

the Individual are Both Involved, but theRight of Allah is Predominant . . . . . 222

16.1.3 Pure Rights of the Individual . . . . . . 22216.2 Rights That Can be Transferred or Relin-

quished . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22316.2.1 Where the Right of Allah and the Right of

the Individual are Both Involved, but theRight of Individual is Predominant . . 223

16.2.2 Pure Rights of the Individual . . . . . . 22316.2.2.1 Rights Linked to the ‘Ayn (Chattel) 22416.2.2.2 Rights Linked to the Dayn (De-

ferred Claim) . . . . . . . . . 22516.2.2.3 Pure Rights (H. uqūq Mujarradah) 225

16.3 Delegating Rights Not Possessed . . . . . . 22816.4 Relinquished Rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229

Ch. 17 Evidence and Declarations 231



17.1 General Presumption of Veracity for All Mus-lims . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231

17.2 Relevant Facts and Inferences to be Drawn . 23317.3 The Prima Facie Position and the Burden of

Proof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234

Ch. 18 Ijtihād and Fatwās 23918.1 The Integrity of ijtihād . . . . . . . . . . . . 23918.2 There is no Ijtihād When the Text is Absolutely

Clear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241

Appendices 243

A Us.ūl al-Karkhī With Translation 245A.1 Introduction: Imām al-Karkhī . . . . . . . . 245A.2 Preliminary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246A.3 The First Principle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246A.4 The Second Principle . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247A.5 The Third Principle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248A.6 The Fourth Principle . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249A.7 The Fifth Principle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249A.8 The Sixth Principle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251A.9 The Seventh Principle . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251A.10The Eighth Principle . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252A.11The Ninth Principle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253A.12The Tenth Principle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254A.13The Eleventh Principle . . . . . . . . . . . . 254A.14The Twelfth Principle . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255A.15The Thirteenth Principle . . . . . . . . . . . 256A.16The Fourteenth Principle . . . . . . . . . . . 256A.17The Fifteenth Principle . . . . . . . . . . . . 257A.18The Sixteenth Principle . . . . . . . . . . . . 258A.19The Seventeenth Principle . . . . . . . . . . 259A.20The Eighteenth Principle . . . . . . . . . . . 259A.21The Nineteenth Principle . . . . . . . . . . . 260A.22The Twentieth Principle . . . . . . . . . . . 261A.23The Twentyfirst Principle . . . . . . . . . . . 262A.24The Twentysecond Principle . . . . . . . . . 263



A.25The Twentythird Principle . . . . . . . . . . 263A.26The Twentyfourth Principle . . . . . . . . . 264A.27The Twentyfifth Principle . . . . . . . . . . 265A.28The Twentysixth Principle . . . . . . . . . . 266A.29The Twentyseventh Principle . . . . . . . . 267A.30The Twentyeighth Principle . . . . . . . . . 267A.31The Twentyninth Principle . . . . . . . . . . 269A.32The Thirtieth Principle . . . . . . . . . . . . 271A.33The Thirtyfirst Principle . . . . . . . . . . . 272A.34The Thirtysecond Principle . . . . . . . . . 273A.35The Thirtythird Principle . . . . . . . . . . . 274A.36The Thirtyfourth Principle . . . . . . . . . . 275A.37The Thirtyfith Principle . . . . . . . . . . . . 276A.38The Thirtysixth Principle . . . . . . . . . . . 277A.39The Thirtyseventh Principle . . . . . . . . . 277A.40The Thirtyeighth Principle . . . . . . . . . . 278A.41The Thirtyninth Principle . . . . . . . . . . 280

B Excerpts From al-Dabbūsī’s Ta’sīs al-Naz. ar 281B.1 Abū Zayd ‘Ubayd Allāh ibn ‘Umar ‘Īsā al-

Dabbūsī . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281B.2 The Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282B.3 Disagreement Between Abū H. anīfah and the

Two Disciples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286B.4 Disagreement of Abū H. anīfah and Abū Yūsuf

With Muhammad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292B.5 Disagreement of Abū H. anīfah and Muham-

mad With Abū Yūsuf . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293B.6 Disagreement Between Abū Yūsuf and

Muh. ammad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294B.7 Disagreement of Our Three Jurists With Zufar 296B.8 Disagreement Between Our Three Jurists and

Mālik . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298B.9 Disagreement Between Us and Ibn Abī Laylā 298B.10 Disagreement Between Us and al-Shāfi‘ī . . 299B.11 Miscellaneous Principles That Have Affected

Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302



C Articles 2 to 100 from Majallat al-Ah. kām al-‘Adliyyah 303

D Maxims From al-Ashbāh wa-al-Naz. ā’ir byIbn Nujaym 311

D.1 The First Six Principles . . . . . . . . . . . . 311D.2 The Next Nineteen Principles . . . . . . . . 312

E List of Legal Maxims Discussed in This Book 315

Bibliography 331

Glossary 333




PREFACE

The relationship between the disciplines of us.ūl al-fiqh and qawā‘idfiqhiyyah is like the relationship between the two arms of the hu-man body; they cooperate with each other to yield the rules of fiqh.This vital relationship has been kept concealed by separating thetwo disciplines and by severing the bond between them. Workingwith one hand is possible, but it reduces and considerably ham-pers the efficiency of the system.

Unfortunately, the discipline of qawā‘id fiqhiyyah has beenburied under a mass of misleading detail in modern writings.Many books, and even an encyclopaedia or two, have been writ-ten. These efforts are to be appreciated, but without restoring thevital link the understanding of this discipline is not possible, andthe utility of the detail will remain questionable.

The qawā‘id were actually, and very fruitfully, used by the ear-liest jurists, at a a time when Islamic law was growing rapidly.To understand their real worth then, the qawā‘id have to be un-derstood within that methodology. This book tries to explain themeaning of selected qawā‘id and their operation within this earliermethodology. Too much detail has been avoided. The idea is thatonce the reader, and the student, has grasped the vital links andthe essentials of this field, he will be well on his way to handle allthe detail.

The book has been organized around a few basic legal con-cepts. More concepts could have been added, but these have beenleft for later writers. The scholars and the researchers shoulddirect their research towards these concepts and build theoriesaround the concepts explaining them with the help of the qawā‘id.

Another purpose is to revive genuine interest in fiqh. This canbe done by focusing on the essentials and by removing the unnec-essary mass that has been built around its concepts. Most writ-ers in this field have had this goal. We will end by recording thewords of one of the greatest teachers of both fiqh and us.ūl al-fiqh,the illustrious Imām al-Sarakhsī. The following is an excerpt fromhis book al-Mabsūt. . He complained that people are not givingproper attention to fiqh and have become involved in unnecessarydetails. Here is what he said:

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12 ISLAMIC LEGAL MAXIMS P

The Shaykh, the eminent and pious Imām, Shams al-A’immah Abū BakrMuh. ammad ibn Abī Sahl al-Sarakhsī, may God bless him and illuminate histomb, while he was imprisoned at Ūzjand, said by way of dictation:

……Thereafter, in my own time, I saw some turning away from fiqh on the

part of scholars due to several reasons:

1. Among these is inadequate ability on the part of some, so much sothat they have felt satisfied by issues comprising prolonged disputes.

2. Among them is the neglect of proper guidance by teachers, who inflicton them (the students) divergent issues that have no fiqh within them.

3. Added to these are prolonged discussions on the part of some of theMutakallimūn who have brought in philosophical concepts for elabo-rating the legal meanings thereby mixing up alien concepts with fiqh.

Accordingly, I considered it appropriate to write a commentary on theprecis not going beyond the most relevant concepts in the elaboration ofissues being satisfied by what is most reliable in each section. To this Iadded the questions raised by some of my selected companions during theperiod of my imprisonment, who helped me due to their affection for me andasked me to dictate my response. I complied with their demand.The great Imām then went on to write his famous book in 30 vol-umes. May Allah bless him for his contribution. Following him,all detail has been avoided in this book.

Imran Ahsan Khan NyazeeIslamabadJune, 2013
