al-Sia wa al-Diq fi al-Abwab al-Fiqhiyya

al-Sia wa al-Diq fi al-Abwab al-Fiqhiyya (Breadth and Narrowness in Jurisprudential Chapters) is a contemporary study of comparative Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh al-khilaf) by Yusuf ibn Sulayman al-Awda al-Sia wa al-Diq fi al-Ab…. The work examines the legal domains in which one of the four Sunni legal schools (Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i, and Hanbali) stands out as notably broader or narrower in scope, rulings, and application than the others, investigating the underlying causes and legal maxims behind these divergent approaches al-Sia wa al-Diq fi al-Ab…+1.

Origin and Composition

The work originated as a doctoral dissertation submitted to the Department of Sharia in the College of Sharia and Islamic Studies at Umm al-Qura University al-Sia wa al-Diq fi al-Ab…. The examination committee—consisting of Muhammad ibn Abd Allah al-Sawat (supervisor and rapporteur), Abd al-Rahman ibn Ghurman al-Amri (external examiner), and Khalid ibn Ahmad Shabaka (internal examiner)—approved the dissertation on 25 Shawwal 1443 AH with a score of 100%, an "Excellent" rating, and a recommendation for publication and institutional exchange al-Sia wa al-Diq fi al-Ab….

Purpose and Scope

The book addresses the challenge of navigating and systematizing the vast body of disputed legal questions across the four madhhabs by subsuming disparate rulings under overarching universal rules (qawa'id kulliyya) and parameters (dawabit) of breadth (al-sia) and narrowness (al-diq) al-Sia wa al-Diq fi al-Ab…. Rather than focusing on single isolated rulings, the study investigates the overall disposition of a school within an entire jurisprudential chapter (bab) al-Sia wa al-Diq fi al-Ab….

Structure

The book comprises an introduction, a preliminary study (tamhid), three main parts (abwab), and a conclusion al-Sia wa al-Diq fi al-Ab…+1:

• Preliminary Study (al-Tamhid): Divided into seven sections covering:

  1. The linguistic and contextual definitions of al-sia (breadth) and al-diq (narrowness) al-Sia wa al-Diq fi al-Ab…+1.
  2. The distinction between breadth and narrowness in entire chapters versus individual issues al-Sia wa al-Diq fi al-Ab…+1.
  3. Jurisprudential chapters where no particular school displays a distinct breadth or narrowness al-Sia wa al-Diq fi al-Ab…+1.
  4. Relative breadth and narrowness between different chapters themselves al-Sia wa al-Diq fi al-Ab…+1.
  5. Earlier scholars who emphasized universal rules and concepts of breadth and narrowness in comparative jurisprudence, such as Ibn Rushd al-Hafid, Ibn Taymiyya, and Ibn al-Qayyim al-Sia wa al-Diq fi al-Ab…+1.
  6. Examination and refutation of the claim that the Hanbali school is characterized by universal rigidity or narrowness across all of jurisprudence al-Sia wa al-Diq fi al-Ab…+1.
  7. Breadth and narrowness outside the discipline of fiqh al-Sia wa al-Diq fi al-Ab…+1.

• Part One: Examines acts of worship (ibadat), including chapters on utensils (al-aniya), the mandatory elements of ablution (furud al-wudu), places where prayer is prohibited, the obligations and pillars of prayer, leading prayer (al-imama), combining prayers, paying monetary value in prescribed duties, zakat on agricultural produce, zakat al-fitr, circumambulation (tawaf), and the breach of covenants by non-Muslim subjects (naqd 'ahd al-mu'ahid) al-Sia wa al-Diq fi al-Ab…+1.

• Part Two: Examines financial transactions (mu'amalat), including contractual uncertainty (gharar), stipulations in contracts (al-shurut fi al-'uqud), disposition of undivided joint property (al-mal al-musha'), mutual oaths in contractual disputes (al-tahaluf fi al-ikhtilaf fi al-'uqud), forward sales (salam), and partnerships (al-sharika) al-Sia wa al-Diq fi al-Ab…+1.

• Part Three: Examines family law, penal codes, and dietary regulations, including defects justifying marital dissolution ('uyub al-nikah), homicide retaliation (al-qisas fi al-nafs), bodily injury retaliation (al-qisas fima dun al-nafs), the prescribed punishment for unlawful intercourse (hadd al-zina), the punishment for theft (hadd al-sariqa), drinks (al-ashriba), and foods (al-at'ima) al-Sia wa al-Diq fi al-Ab…+1.

Method

In analyzing each chapter, the author gathers major comparative works (ru'us al-masail) across the four madhhabs al-Sia wa al-Diq fi al-Ab…. He presents:

1. Points of consensus (ijma') and agreement in that domain al-Sia wa al-Diq fi al-Ab…+1.
2. Controverted core branches demonstrating the breadth or narrowness of a particular school al-Sia wa al-Diq fi al-Ab…+1.
3. Supporting branches (shawahid) from the same chapter to substantiate the trend al-Sia wa al-Diq fi al-Ab…+1.
4. Exceptional issues that deviate from the school's general trajectory in that chapter, providing rationales for the exception al-Sia wa al-Diq fi al-Ab…+1.
5. The underlying legal hermeneutics, textual indications, and causal factors (asbab) producing that breadth or narrowness al-Sia wa al-Diq fi al-Ab…+1.

Key Findings

The author concludes that neither breadth nor narrowness can be attributed to any single madhhab across the entirety of jurisprudence, but only within specific chapters al-Sia wa al-Diq fi al-Ab…+1. Furthermore, a school's breadth in a chapter is not grounded in a generalized desire to ease obligations on the legally accountable (taysir 'ala al-mukallaf), but rather flows from formal hermeneutical principles, such as whether a ruling is rationalized (mu'allal) or strictly devotional (ta'abbudi), the scope given to blocking means (sadd al-dhara'i'), or the expansive application of legal doubts (shubuhat) in warding off prescribed punishments al-Sia wa al-Diq fi al-Ab…+1.

Among the specific patterns noted:

• The Hanafi school leans toward breadth in the formal performance of worship (such as wudu and prayer), paying monetary values in prescribed obligations, and averting fixed criminal punishments through doubts, while tending toward narrowness in imposing retaliatory execution (qisas) al-Sia wa al-Diq fi al-Ab…+1.
• The Maliki school exhibits the greatest breadth in enforcing criminal penalties and retaliation, largely due to their reliance on blocking the means to unlawful harm (sadd al-dhara'i'), and shows breadth in permissible foods al-Sia wa al-Diq fi al-Ab…+1.
• The Shafi'i school is among the narrowest in several major areas of financial transactions, such as uncertainty (gharar), contractual stipulations, and partnerships al-Sia wa al-Diq fi al-Ab…+1.
• The Hanbali school leans toward narrowness in several aspects of prayer (such as prohibited places and required elements) due to treating prophetic actions as normative obligations and viewing prohibitions as devotional non-rationalized rulings al-Sia wa al-Diq fi al-Ab…+1.