al-Yusr wa al-Samaha fi al-Islam
- Author died
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- Editions
- The book is published on the website of the Saudi Ministry of Awqaf without publication details
al-Yusr wa al-Samaha fi al-Islam (Ease and Leniency in Islam) is a treatise authored by the Saudi scholar Falih bin Muhammad al-Saghir, dedicated to defining the concept of ease (yusr) and tolerance (samaha) within Islamic law, delineating their scriptural foundations, objectives, and legal constraints.
Background and Purpose
The work was written in Riyadh and completed in 1424 AH (c. 2003–2004 CE) by Falih bin Muhammad bin Falih al-Saghir, a professor at the Faculty of Usul al-Din at Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University. The treatise addresses modern misconceptions surrounding the principle of religious ease, aiming to provide a grounded scholarly framework (taʾṣīl) against contemporary tendencies that misinterpret ease as an open license to permit prohibitions, follow subjective desires, or deviate from orthodox legal boundaries.
Definitions and Core Concepts
The author defines ease linguistically as the opposite of hardship, denoting softness and the absence of strictness. Technically, he defines it as the moderate application of legal rulings as revealed in the Quran and the Sunnah, free from both excessive rigidity (tashaddud) that forbids what is permissible and laxity (tamayyuʿ) that permits what is forbidden. Under this scope, he includes related legal concepts such as leniency (samāḥah), latitude (saʿah), and the removal of hardship (rafʿ al-ḥaraj).
Contents and Structure
The treatise is arranged around several major themes:
- Higher Objectives of Islamic Law (maqāṣid al-sharīʿah): The author presents an overview of the core legal purposes, highlighting justice, public interest (maṣlaḥah), ease, and the removal of hardship.
- Foundations and Evidences: The work expounds the textual and practical sources of ease, drawing evidence from the Quran, the Sunnah, the life of the Prophet ﷺ, and the methodology of the Companions and early generations.
- Objectives of Ease: The author categorizes the aims of ease into theological (ʿaqdiyyah), devotional (taʿabbudiyyah), social, penal (jināʾiyyah), behavioral, and intellectual domains.
- Regulatory Guidelines (ḍawābiṭ): The treatise articulates guidelines to prevent the distortion of religious concessions, establishing that any accommodation must be grounded in the primary sources of Islamic legislation—the Quran, the Sunnah, and scholarly consensus (ijmāʿ)—without exceeding the text, contradicting explicit revelation, or catering to personal whims.
Conclusions
The book concludes by reaffirming that ease and leniency are established tenets and overarching objectives of Islamic law that embody the moderate nature (wasaṭiyyah) of the faith across matters of belief, worship, social transactions, and conduct.
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