istishab
Istishab (الإستصحاب)
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Istishab (الإستصحاب) is one of the most important and oft-used principles in usul al-fiqh. It is one of the four major "procedural principles" (al-usul al-amaliyyah/الأصول العملية) that are used by jurists to determinei what obligations a person has in a situation of doubt. It is often translated as "the presumption of coninuity."
Contents
[hide]
1 Definitions
2 Pillars
3 Legal Evidences
4 Classification
5 Types of Istishab
Definitions
Istishab comes from the same morphological route as the word sahib, meaning companion. Istishab literally means "seeking companionship." Juristically, istishab applies in a situation where a person was in a state of certainty about a certain state of affairs, and then doubts whether or not that state of affairs still holds true. The principle dictates that a person assume that state of affairs still holds true. For example, if a person knew that a piece of clothing was clean, and then doubted whether or not it was still clean, they would assume that it is still clean. Because this principle can see application in any subject matter of Islamic law, it is studied as part of usul al-fiqh, rather than al-qawa'id al-fiqhiyyah.
The state of affairs that is "continued" by istishab is called the mustashab (مستصحب).
Pillars
Istishab is usually said to have four "pillars", which are the conditions required for it to go into effect:
1) Past certainty (اليقين بالحدوث). The person must have certainty about the past state of affairs. This does not necessarily mean that they must have actual, epistemological certaitny. The past state of affairs must be confirmed either by direct certainty, or by some evidence that is assigned legal value in Islamic law. For example, if two just witnesses (whose testimony is accepted in Islamic law) bore witness that a piece of clothing was ritually clean, and then a third person doubts if the thing is still clean, they would still
From Shiapedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Istishab (الإستصحاب) is one of the most important and oft-used principles in usul al-fiqh. It is one of the four major "procedural principles" (al-usul al-amaliyyah/الأصول العملية) that are used by jurists to determinei what obligations a person has in a situation of doubt. It is often translated as "the presumption of coninuity."
Contents
[hide]
1 Definitions
2 Pillars
3 Legal Evidences
4 Classification
5 Types of Istishab
Definitions
Istishab comes from the same morphological route as the word sahib, meaning companion. Istishab literally means "seeking companionship." Juristically, istishab applies in a situation where a person was in a state of certainty about a certain state of affairs, and then doubts whether or not that state of affairs still holds true. The principle dictates that a person assume that state of affairs still holds true. For example, if a person knew that a piece of clothing was clean, and then doubted whether or not it was still clean, they would assume that it is still clean. Because this principle can see application in any subject matter of Islamic law, it is studied as part of usul al-fiqh, rather than al-qawa'id al-fiqhiyyah.
The state of affairs that is "continued" by istishab is called the mustashab (مستصحب).
Pillars
Istishab is usually said to have four "pillars", which are the conditions required for it to go into effect:
1) Past certainty (اليقين بالحدوث). The person must have certainty about the past state of affairs. This does not necessarily mean that they must have actual, epistemological certaitny. The past state of affairs must be confirmed either by direct certainty, or by some evidence that is assigned legal value in Islamic law. For example, if two just witnesses (whose testimony is accepted in Islamic law) bore witness that a piece of clothing was ritually clean, and then a third person doubts if the thing is still clean, they would still