In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may blessings and peace be upon the noblest of the prophets and messengers, our Prophet Muhammad, and upon all his family and companions.
This is a summary of what was presented in this part of the explanation of Imam al-Shafi’i’s book al-Risala, focusing on the important points and clarifications.
Analogy and meanings:
- Analogy (qiyas) takes two forms:
- That Allah or His Messenger has prohibited something by explicit text, or permitted it, for a reason (ma’na) that is explicitly stated. Example: the prohibition of intercourse with women during menstruation because menstruation is harmful, and the permission of clothing to cover the private parts (‘awrah).
- Attaching what has no text to its counterparts whose lawfulness or unlawfulness Allah has made clear, because of a shared suitable attribute. Example: surrogacy (renting wombs), a newly arisen issue, is attached to the prohibited matters that resemble it, since it is one of the doors of immorality and resembles fornication.
- The reason (ma’na), the effective cause (‘illah), and the suitable attribute (wasf munasib) all have one meaning.
- He explained the meaning of analogy as seeking indications about a later matter from an earlier one, and attaching the branch to the root in its ruling because of the suitable attribute that unites them.
- He mentioned the example of clothing, whose explicitly stated effective cause is covering the private parts, so any clothing that does not achieve this purpose is not considered clothing in the legal sense.
- He mentioned the story of the man who forgot the hadiths he had memorized when he looked at a woman’s ankle, to show the importance of lowering the gaze.
Consensus and disagreement in knowledge:
- Imam al-Shafi’i mentioned that there are two aspects in knowledge: consensus (ijma’) and disagreement (ikhtilaf).
- The whole of the Book of Allah was revealed in the Arabic tongue, as Allah the Exalted says: “And We did not send any messenger except [speaking] in the language of his people to state clearly for them” (Ibrahim 14:4).
- “To state clearly for them” here is for the purpose of teaching.
- The verse contains a negation followed by an exception to indicate restriction, meaning: there is no messenger except one sent in the language of his people.
- The words spoken by the Arabs fall into four categories:
- What is purely Arabic, meaning its roots follow Arabic patterns.
- Words the Arabs did not speak, but which follow their morphological patterns; these are called mu’arradah words.
- Arabized words (mu’arrabah), meaning words that are not Arabic in origin but entered Arabic.
- Loanwords (dakhilah), meaning words used in Arabic in their foreign form.
- He mentioned examples of these categories.
- He mentioned the book al-Burhan by Imam al-Zarkashi and the book al-Itqan by Imam al-Suyuti.
- The difference between fard and gharad: gharad is the cause, aim, and meaning, while fard is what Allah has commanded decisively. Shaykh Ahmad Shakir held that what is intended here is fard and not gharad, because the context concerns etiquette, guidance, and permission.
- Knowledge of what abrogates and what is abrogated in the Book of Allah is essential for anyone who speaks about the Book of Allah.
- He explained the meaning of obligation (fard) in its revelation, and of etiquette, guidance, and permission.
Surrogacy:
- He mentioned the issue of surrogacy (renting wombs) and that it is a newly arisen issue.
- He explained the gravity of this issue, that it resembles fornication and is a great door among the doors of immorality.
- He mentioned the story of Zakariyya, upon him be peace, and his supplication to his Lord to grant him a child, and the verse: “So We responded to him, and We gave to him John, and amended for him his wife” (Al-Anbiya 21:90).
- He explained that this issue is attached to the prohibited matters that resemble it.
The commands of the Law (continued):
- Explanation of the verse: “Indeed, prayer has been decreed upon the believers a decree of specified times” (An-Nisa 4:103).
- Mawqutan means made obligatory for a specific time.
- Is the prayer to be performed immediately or within its time? There are two views: the majority hold it should be immediate, and the Shafi’is hold that it is within the time as long as the time has not expired.
- He mentioned the hadith: “Do you hear the call? Then respond.”
- Congregational prayer is obligatory on the basis of ability, not on the basis of hearing the call to prayer.
- He mentioned the story of the Prophet ﷺ and his Companions sleeping through the dawn prayer during one of the military expeditions, and the Shafi’is’ use of it as evidence that delaying the prayer is permissible as long as the time has not expired.
- The scholars responded to the Shafi’is’ argument that the Prophet’s ﷺ delay was due to an excuse, namely the presence of a devil in the valley.
- The Shafi’is responded to this by citing the story of Satan coming to the Prophet ﷺ during his prayer.
- The preponderant view is that prayer is to be performed immediately by the one who is able, and whoever delays despite being able is sinful.
- He mentioned the Prophet’s ﷺ delaying of the night prayer (‘Isha’).
- Explanation of the verse: “And establish prayer and give zakah” (Al-Baqarah 2:43).
- Aqimu (“establish”) and atu (“give”) are unqualified imperative verbs, which are among the forms by which obligation is known.
- The unqualified imperative is one that is not accompanied by any contextual indicator (qarina) that turns it away from obligation.
- He mentioned examples of imperatives that are not unqualified.
- Explanation of the verse: “And complete the hajj and ‘umrah for Allah” (Al-Baqarah 2:196).
- Is ‘umrah obligatory on its own? There are two views. The more fitting view is that whoever is able to perform ‘umrah separately must perform it separately; otherwise it is included within Hajj.
- The Sunnah clarified the number of prayers and their times, and the manner of performing Hajj and ‘umrah.
This is a summary of what was presented in this part. We ask Allah the Exalted for success and guidance to what is right.
All parts of Summary of the Explanation of al-Risala by Shaykh Dr. Ahmad al-Naqeeb