Saba Masail fi Ilm al-Khilaf
- Author died
- 1444 AH
- Editions
- Islamic University of Madinah
Saba Masa'il fi Ilm al-Khilaf ("Seven Issues in the Science of Juristic Disagreement") is a legal treatise written by Abd al-Aziz al-Qari (d. 1444 AH), published as an article in the journal of the Islamic University of Madinah (Majallat al-Jami'ah al-Islamiyyah bi-al-Madinah al-Munawwarah) while the author served as an instructor at the university's secondary institute .
Purpose and Scope
The author frames the subject of juristic difference among Muslim scholars as an independent discipline (fann mustaqill) of immense importance that cannot be exhaustively covered in a short work . The work aims to elucidate fundamental principles governing legal divergence that any student of Islamic jurisprudence must comprehend before examining religious questions .
Content and Methodology
The treatise addresses core issues in the mechanics of scholarly disagreement:
- Definitive Matters (al-Qat'iyyat): The first issue establishes that legal issues and religious maxims established by definitive evidence and scholarly consensus admit no disagreement and mandate full submission . These definitive rulings span three domains:
- Creed (Aqa'id): Including the five pillars of Islam and the six articles of faith .
- Subsidiary Rulings (Furu'): Such as the prescribed number of the five daily prayers and their units (rak'at), as well as categorical prohibitions on fornication, usury, intoxicants, and unlawful killing .
- Legal Theory Maxims (Qawa'id Usuliyyah): Such as the principles of avoiding harm (la darar wa-la dirar), warding off prescribed punishments through doubts (al-hudud tudra' bi-al-shubuhat), lifting hardship (raf' al-haraj), and facilitating ease (jalb al-taysir) .
The author emphasizes that such definitive principles remain constant regardless of time and place, leaving no room for juristic interpretation (ijtihad) or opinion, and that disputing them constitutes a departure from consensus .
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