Dismissing blocking-the-means just for lack of certainty
Dismissing an argument that follows the form X leads to haram-Y what leads to the haram is haram therefor X is haram for no reason other than “X doesn’t always …
Advice for benefiting from “Infamies of the Soul”
A friend who is teaching Infamies of the Soul asked for additional resources and general advice on teaching the book. I don’t have a lot of advice, but here goes: …
Dismissing specific claims of consensus on the grounds that “Consensus is a weak argument”
Someone recently asked me to review a piece where a contemporary figure dismisses one of Imam al-Nawawi’s opinions simply because the Imam’s argument includes mention of consensus, and that consensus …
Temporal Fixity & Flexibility in Legal Rulings
(n.b. The content for this article comes from a short class on legal maxims, presented in 2014. It provides more information than the earlier article on the abuse of customs.) …
First mention: “Means having the status of ends”
One of the patterns you’ll see later legal scholars use in arguments is that “means having the legal status of ends” (للوسائل حكم المقاصد). It’s especially common when objectives of …
Stylistic changes in foundational evidence
One of the patterns you’ll see in later Shafiʿis books is that when introducing a topic’s foundation evidence, the author will say “The foundation for it, prior to consensus is …
🎶 ‘Tis the season to abuse custom
🎶 fa la la la la, la la la la Since it’s trendy to throw around contemporary customs (ʿurf) to override and abandon what we find in fiqh books, it seems …
On “Islamic” highway robbery, piracy, and greed
(n.b. The reasoning behind the rulings, maxims, and objectives mentioned here is covered in my various books and Tabah Research papers. This started as a short, spur of the moment …
Reviving the Lost Art of Al-Tawaqquf
Al-Tawaqquf is when a researcher admits to having insufficient reason to justify holding an opinion concerning a specific matter. For example, a jurist might mention an issue and then abstain …
Al-Matbūlī’s Counsel
While working through Shaykh Muḥammad Nanawī al-Jāwī’s commentary on his Naqāwat al-ʿaqīdah, there were a few quotes from Imām al-Shaʿrānī that I remember from his commentary on Shaykh Abū Isḥāq …