Qur'an

Qiyaas

Basis in Islam

Basis from Hadiths:
When the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) intended to send Mu'adh ibn Jabal to the Yemen, he asked: How will you judge when the occasion of deciding a case arises? He replied: I shall judge in accordance with Allah's Book. He asked: (What will you do) if you do not find any guidance in Allah's Book? He replied: (I shall act) in accordance with the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). He asked: (What will you do) if you do not find any guidance in the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and in Allah's Book? He replied: I shall do my best to form an opinion and I shall spare no effort. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) then patted him on the breast and said: Praise be to Allah Who has helped the messenger of the Messenger of Allah to find something which pleases the Messenger of Allah.

All kinds of transactions have been forbidden since they, like sales, distract Muslims from prayers.

Analogical reasoning or qiyas is the fourth source of Islamic law-making, the use of which has been justified by both the Qur’an and the Prophet (pbuh).

There are three elements necessary to make a sound analogy, using the Qur’an and Hadith, which are:
- Asl (root): the fundamental teaching
- Far’ (branch): the new matter in question
- ‘illa (the link): that connects them.

By relating these together, it is possible to arrive at a new judgment, the hukm. An example that could be given by candidates is:
- The Qur’an forbids all sorts of trading after the call to prayer on Friday till the completion of the Friday prayers (asl).
- By analogy, all kinds of transactions (far’), e.g. sales, holding meetings, getting married, etc.
- As they distract Muslims from Friday prayers (‘illa).
- So they are forbidden (hukm)

It is important that the asl must always be from the Qur’an or the Sunna of the Prophet (pbuh) or by ijma.

Those who agree can say that new rulings can be formed for any new circumstance, based on their basic similarity with the basic laws of the Qur’an and sunna.

In this way the divine laws revealed in the Qur’an and sunna remain unchanged without becoming outdated.

The fundamental laws were made by God who created man and knows what’s best for him at all times.

For changing aspects of human life, the Qur’an and sunna provide basic principles which may be applied by analogy whenever the need arises.
- e.g. the issue of drugs could be cited, cocaine was not present in the Prophet’s (pbuh) time so is its use allowed? The Prophet (pbuh) had said, ‘Every intoxicant is khamr, and every khamr is haram’ so every intoxicant is unlawful is a conclusion that could be derived at by the use of analogy.
- The Holy Quran asks us to pay Zakat. The Prophet (pbuh) explained that one goat must be given as Zakat on every forty goats. Giving a goat to a poor man would be of no use to him so after Qiyas it is permissible to sell the goat and give the cash to the poor man.
- The Quran forbids sales transactions after the call for friday prayers. By analogy all kinds of transactions have been forbidden since they, like sales, distract Muslims from prayers.
- Wudu is not valid even if the smallest portion of our body which has to be washed remains dry. According to a tradition reported by Aisha, if the flour dries on nails, wudu would not be considered to have taken place, since that portion of the nails remain dry. Applying this in case of nail polish, wudu would not take place as the nails remain dry.

Some answers may put forward an opposing argument stating that some schools of thought may disagree with the given statement as qiyas depends very much on the ability of a legal expert to find comparisons between two principles, and because it is practised by individuals it causes unease to some Muslims as it does not have the same broad support, as the other three sources. Whatever the view of the candidate it needs to be backed with evaluation to get the higher level.

Some scholars have said that this involves too much of a person’s own opinion to be creditable.

They argue that relying on personal opinion in law-making would mean that each individual could ultimately form their own subjective conclusions.
- This would mean that they could make decisions for their own benefit and not for the benefit of society/Islamic community.

Candidates could say that the majority of scholars do allow the use of qiyas but there is a preference for ijma’.
- They could possibly say that identifying the ‘illa (cause) as the link between asl (root/fundamental teaching) and far’ (branch/new matter in question) can depend on the insight and ingenuity of the individual expert, as he identifies the link, other experts may disagree with him and there may be major divergences of opinion, especially if some see one link ‘illa, between the asl and the far’, and some see another and this is a major reason why Muslim scholars question the use of qiyas.

Shi’is have always agreed that the duty of the expert is to keep to the way set by the Imams in making decisions.
- Shi’i Muslims have expressed more unease with the use of qiyas than many Sunnis, because qiyas can be subjective and in its place accept the use of aql/reason which is the judgment of the legal expert on the basis of the Qur’an, sunna, and consensus.