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Q&A: What is the shubhat ad-daleel (semblance of evidence)?

The following is a Q&A related to Usul al-Fiqh. It is basically about what is considered to be shubhat ad-daleel (semblence of evidence) which serves as a basis to consider something a legitimate Islamic opinion in Fiqh. It is a draft translation from Arabic. Question: What is the shubhat ad-daleel (semblance of evidence)? The one who says that cutting off the hand of the thief means to prevent stealing or it means to wound and scar and not to sever it from the body. Does the one who says those have a shubhat ad daleel? And does the one who says that the Islamic state was not established until after the treaty of Hudaybiyah have a shubhat daleel? Answer: The shubhat ad-daleel is ascertained in the following: A.. Evidences for which definite general evidence has been provided to consider then as Shariah evidences and they are the Kitab, Sunnah, ijmaah as-sahabah and Qiyas in the event that their meaning is speculative (zanniyah) and outweighed (murjuha) i.e. not definite (qatiyyah

Political Concepts Part 5 - Motives of struggle between states

The following is an extract of the draft english translation of an excellent recent book entitled 'Political Concepts' which was published in the Arab world in 2005. I will be posting more sections of the book in future. Motives of struggle between states There is no other than two motives behind international struggle since start of history till the Hour time. These are either love of supremacy and pride or competition over material benefits. Love of supremacy could be for loving the supremacy of the nation or the people, as it was the case of Germany the Nazi and Italy the Fascist. It might also be for loving the supremacy and propagation of the ideology, as it was the case of the Islamic state throughout about thirteen centuries, as well as the case of the communist state during its thirty years age, and before it collapsed at the beginning of the nineties of last century, seventy years after its formation. As regarding the motive of restricting the build up of another’s sta

The importance of Fiqh (jurisprudence) & its study

Fiqh linguistically means understanding as in His (swt) saying: “We do not comprehend (la nafqahu) much of what you say.” [TMQ 11:91] i.e. we do not understand. Many scholars including al-Amidi and Shawkani have defined fiqh as, ‘the knowledge of the practical Shar’ai matters that are derived from their elaborated evidences (al-adillah al-tafsiliyy ah)’. [Amidi, Ihkam, I, 6; Shawkani, Irshad, P. 3.] Knowledge of the Shari'a rules began the day when they started began to be revealed from Allah (swt). This took place mostly after the migration (hijra) of the Prophet (saw) from Makkah to Madina. The Messenger of Allah (saw) stayed in Makkah for thirteen years, then he resided in Madina for about ten years, the Quran was revealed since the beginning of revelation in Makkah and continued throughout the Prophet’s stay in Madina. Many of the verses of ahkam used were revealed in Madina, in this period when the verses from the Qur'an were revealed the Messenger (saw) used to talk about