Qawaid al-Fiqhiyyah - Legal maxims of Islamic jurisprudence

Fiqh adalah hukum-hakam dari nas syara', manakala Usul al-Fiqh adalah methodology atau formula yang digunakan untuk mengeluarkan hukum dari nas syara' oleh para ulama mujtahid. Usul al-Fiqh adalah methodology ijtihad, iaitu kaedah yang digunakan oleh para ulama untuk menghasilkan fatwa atau hukum untuk sesuatu permasalahan dalam agama.

Ketika berijtihad, para ulama akan menggunakan qawaid al-fiqhiyyah (kaedah fiqh) untuk menyelaraskan hukum-hakam yang terhasil agar ia selari dengan tuntutan dan objectif al-Quran dan sunnah Nabi SAW. Ia merupakan prinsip-prinsip utama dalam Islam yang perlu dipertimbangkan ketika berhukum.


Qawaid al-Fiqhiyyah terdiri dari 5 perkara, iaitu:


1) Setiap amal perbuatan Itu bergantung pada Niat (al-Umur bi-maqasidiha) - Acts are judged by the intention behind them.

ref: http://kurauking.blogspot.my/2016/08/part-13-memahami-hukum-syariat-dalam.html



2) Keyakinan tidak hilang dengan keraguan (al-Yaqin la yuzalu bish-shakk) - Certainty is not overruled by doubt.

ref: http://kurauking.blogspot.my/2016/08/part-14-memahami-hukum-syariat-dalam.html



3) Membuka ruang manfaat dan menutup ruang kemudaratan (al-Dararu yuzal) - Harm must be eliminated.

ref: http://kurauking.blogspot.my/2016/08/part-15-memahami-hukum-syariat-dalam.html



4) Kesulitan atau kesusahan disertai dengan kemudahan. (al-Mashaqqat tujlab al-taysir) - Hardship begets facility.

ref: http://kurauking.blogspot.my/2016/08/part-16-memahami-hukum-syariat-dalam.html



5) Adat (Urf) sebagai sumber dan dalil ketentuan hukum (tahkim al-'Adat wa al-ruju' ilayha) - Custom (Urf) is the basis of judgement.

ref: http://kurauking.blogspot.my/2016/08/part-18-memahami-hukum-syariat-dalam.html

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Qawaid al Fiqhiyyah are the legal maxims that deals with the principles of Ijtihad (independent reasoning) for the rulings of new occurrences when there are no clear evidence or absence of a clear statement from the Quran and Sunnah Mutawatir. It is the science of methodology of deducing fiqh rulings from the established legal maxims.

Qawaid al Fiqhiyyah allows one to know the ruling of new occurrences when there is no clear evidence from the Quran and Sunnah. Islamic Fiqh or jurisprudence are built upon on these five legal maxims, they are:

1) al-Umur bi-maqasidiha (acts are judged by the intention behind them)
- Sesungguhnya setiap amal perbuatan Itu bergantung pada Niat

All matters are connected to the intentions behind them. This legal maxim is derived from the hadith: "Acts are only judged in accordance with the intention behind them." In the literal sense, the word intention means purpose or objective(maqasid); in the legal usage it refers to strong determination in the heart(niat).

The general rule here is that every act that one voluntarily enters into requires that the intention be made at the beginning of the act. The objective of the intention is to distinguish worship from habit.

The intention distinguishes acts that may be seen as habitual and completely unrelated to worship with ritual worshiping act. Like distinguishing a normal bath to clean one's body, with the obligatory purificatory bath (mandi wajib).


2) Al-Yaqin la Yuzalu Bish-shakk (certainty is not overruled by doubt)
- Keyakinan tidak hilang dengan keraguan

The basis of this axiom is the words of the Prophet (pbuh): ”Verily, the devil comes while you are in prayer and says to you, “you nullified your ritual purity, you nullified your ritual purity.” Such a person should continue praying unless a sound is heard or a smell is found (indicating that one’s ritual purity is nullified).”

Another famous hadith mentioned: ”Whenever one doubts and does not know whether one prayed three or four rak'ats, such person should act on certainty and ignore the doubts."

Another example from Umar ibn Kattab ra: "Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said from Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn alHarith at-Taymi from Yahya ibn Abd ar-Rahman ibn Hatib that Umar ibn al-Khattab set out on one occasion with a party of riders, one of whom was Amr ibn al-As.

They came to a watering place and Amr ibn al-As asked the man who owned it whether wild beasts drank from it. Umar ibn al-Khattab told the owner of the watering place not to answer, since the people drank after the wild beasts and the wild beasts drank after them."(Translation of Malik's Muwatta Book 2, Number 2.3.14)

3) al-Dararu yuzal (harm must be eliminated)
Kemudaratan mesti dihapuskan

The basis for this maxim is the hadith: "Harm may neither be inflicted nor reciprocated in Islam." (Tiada mudarat dan tidak memudaratkan - hadis riwayat Bukhari dan Muslim)

This maxim, upon which many rulings are based, enters into numerous sections of fiqh. Furthermore, this legal maxim has various sub-divisions:

1) Necessity makes the unlawful lawful, such as eating un-slaughtered dead.

2) Necessity is measured in accordance with its true proportions, such as only eating from un-slaughtered dead the amount needed to keep oneself alive.

3) Harm must be eliminated but not by means of another harm, such as when a person eats the food of another to satiate his own hunger.

4) "Choose lesser of the two evil."

5) Prevention of evil takes priority over the attraction of benefit, such as leaving the group prayer or Friday prayer due to illness.

4) al-Mashaqqat tujlab al-taysir (hardship begets facility)
- Kesulitan atau kesusahan disertai dengan kemudahan

The meaning of this legal maxim is that necessity brings about dispensations from Allah Most High. The basis for this maxim derived from the verse: "No hardship has been made for you in the religion"(QS 22: 78),

“Allah does not want to put on you any difficulty.."(QS 5:6), 'Truly with hardship comes ease" (QS 94: 6) and: “Allah desires ease for you and not hardship."(QS 2:185)

This maxim is also based on the hadith: " I have been sent with an easy, accommodating religion." (Fiqh-us-Sunnah, Volume 2, Number 153)

Islam is not a way of life that is complex or difficult. Rather it is the human being who often makes it difficult. Moreover, Islam does not present stumbling blocks to the mind.

Islam does not present concepts or ideas which the intellect cannot grasp. Even the simplest of minds can understand its basic beliefs. It is therefore not surprising that its beliefs are universal.

The scholars view all dispensations in the sacred law as a derivation from this legal maxim. The reasons for ease in the sacred law are:

1) Travel - Masafir
- Musafir - Boleh Jama’ dan Qasar solat.

2) Illness - Uzur
- Sakit - Boleh bertayammum atau meninggalkan puasa.

3) Coercion or intimidation - Terpaksa atau dipaksa
- Terpaksa - Kelaparan yang boleh mengancam nyawa diharuskan memakan perkara yang diharamkan.

4) Forgetfulness - Terlupa
- Terlupa - Makan kerana terlupa pada bulan puasa dimaafkan.

5) Being ignorant of a ruling - Jahil Ilmu
- Kejahilan - Kejahilan dimaafkan.

6) Difficulty - payah/kesulitan
- Umum al-Balwa - Kepayahan yang tidak dapat di-elakkan. Contoh seorang nelayan atau penjual ikan tidak boleh elak daripada sisik2 ikan. Oleh itu, sah wuduknya selepas dia berusaha membersihkan dirinya walaupun masih lagi terdapat yg terlekat pada badannya.

7) Decrease (necessity) - Kekurangan
- Kekurangan - Kanak-kanak dan permpuan tidak wajib jumaat atas dasar kekurangan sifat-sifat tertentu.

5) Tahkim al-'Adat wa al-ruju' ilayha (local custom as basis of judgement)
Adat uruf dijadikan sebagai hukum

The basis for this maxim is derived from the verse: “And those who follow a way other than the path of the believers."(QS 4:115)

Scholars explains that what is meant by the 'path of the believers" in the verse is the path that the believers approved, and Allah warned those who follow a different path with the punishment of Hell Fire.

Custom is a matter on which a community of people agree in the course of their daily life, and common usage is an action which is repeatedly performed by individuals and communities. When a community makes a habit of doing something, it becomes its common usage.

This indicates that it is obligatory to follow the customs of the believers if the Quran and Sunnah do not have a clear indication on a particular matter. In short, the custom of the believers is the basis for judgment in the sacred law.

Custom is continuously applied in fiqh. Custom is a matter on which a community of people agree in the course of their daily life, an uninterrupted action which is repeatedly performed by individuals and communities

Customs fall into two categories: first, established customs which do not differ in times or places. They are customs derived from the natural human form and that to which human nature calls, like eating, drinking, sleep and other things. The second category is customs which vary with different people and different lands. Ash-Shatibi mentioned that section and illustrated it, saying:

"Customs can change in it from good to ugly and the reverse, like uncovering the head. That varies in different regions. In eastern lands, it is considered offensive tor those of manliness it is ugly but not in western lands. So the legal judgment varies according to that. Thus, it detracts from good character in the view of the people of the east but not with the people of the west." (al-Muwafaqat, pt. 2, p. 198)


Wallahu'alam