Introduction
In the previous units of Usul al-Fiqh that we have studied, we have learned about the introduction of Usul al-Fiqh and the primary sources of Islamic law (the Quran and Sunnah), while we have studied the secondary sources of Islamic law, “Ijma”. One of the secondary sources of Islamic law is “Qiyas”. In this unit, we will study Qiyas.
While it is absolutely true that Islam is a comprehensive code of life, it is also undeniable that due to the changes in time and space, different classes of people face numerous issues in various aspects of life, and not every one of these problems has a detailed solution provided in the Quran and Sunnah along with its specifics. Many issues have explicit rulings in the Quran and Sunnah, but there are even more issues for which clear rulings are not found in the Quran and Sunnah. For such unspecified issues, analogy is an important source for deriving Sharia rulings.
This unit will explain what Qiyas is? What are its components? What is the basis for the Shariah proof of Qiyas? What are the conditions for Qiyas to be acceptable? Furthermore, it will be explained what is the cause? What are the means of determining it? Etc. And finally, there will be a brief discussion on the types of Qiyas.
Islam is a comprehensive and complete code of life, all the problems of life are within the grasp of its teachings. However, the rulings of Islam are of two types.
- Manushid (منصوص)
whose explicit solution is found in the Quran and Sunnah.
- Unmanushid (غیرمنصوص)
whose explicit solution is not found in the Quran and Sunnah. To find the solution to this second type of problems, the principle of Ijtihad has been given. One of the sources is Qiyas.
Analogy (قیاس)
Literal meaning of analogy:
In the dictionary, analogy means to infer something from an example or model. It is called
“فاس الشيء يقيسه قيساً وقياساً – واقتاسه وقيسه”
“When an object is judged by its likeness”
The poem says.
فهن بالا يدى مقيساته
مقدراته ومخيطاته
“They are about to be measured by hand, then smoothed, then sewn.”
Al-Muqiyas means that by which to estimate. “ ۔ القيس والقاس” The meanings are of like and quantity. [1]
Term meaning of analogy
- Qiyas is the name of the reasoning and reasoning of the Mujtahid. Saad has said in the footnote of Ibn Rajab.
واعلم ان القياس وان كان من ادلة الاحكام مثل الكتاب والسنة الا ان جميع تعريفاته واستعمالاته منبئي عن كونه فعل المجتهد[2]
“It should be understood that although Qiyas is one of the arguments for
rulings, like the Book and the Sunnah, all its definitions and uses
indicate that its action is mujtahid.”
- Issuing a decree that is stipulated in an unspecified manner based on common cause.[3]
Or
To issue a ruling that is explicitly stated in the Quran and Sunnah in a matter whose ruling is not explicitly stated, on the grounds that the reason for the ruling stated in the Quran and Sunnah is also found in that matter.
The elements of analogy
The elements of analogy are four.
(1) Asl (اصل) (2) Hukm of Asl (اصل کاحکم)
(3) Ilat (علت) (4) frah (فرع)
- Asl (اصل) The order of which is explicitly present.
- Hukm of Asl (اصل کاحکم) The order that is explicitly present
- Ilat (علت) The thing that is becoming the subject of the order.
- Frah (فرع)The order of which is not explicitly present.
Example of Analogy from Holy Quran
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِذَا نُودِي لِلصَّلَاةِ مِنْ يَوْمِ الْجُمُعَةِ فَاسْعَوْا إِلَى ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ وَذَرُوا الْبَيْعَ ذَلِكُمْ خَيْرٌ لَكُمْ إِن كُنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ ۤ[4]
“O you who believe! When the call to prayer is made on Friday, hasten
to the remembrance of Allah, and leave off trade and commerce. That is better for you, if you only knew.”
According to the above-mentioned verse, all types of buying and selling are prohibited after the Friday adhan. The reason for this prohibition is the concern that engaging in buying and selling after the Friday adhan may cause a person to become heedless of the prayer and miss the Friday prayer.
Therefore, this reason will apply to any task found after the Friday adhan. For instance, the continuation of parliamentary sessions, the hearing of cases in courts, hiring someone for work, or dealing with collateral. All these matters are similarly prohibited after the Friday adhan according to this Quranic verse, even though the verse specifically mentions buying and selling, it does not discuss legislation, judicial matters, hiring, or dealing with collateral.
Example of Analogy from Hadith:
من ابتاع طعاماً فلا يبعه حتى يستوفيه[5]
“Whoever buys food should not sell it until he has received it”
This hadith indicates that it is not permissible to sell grain before taking possession of it. The reason for this is that the purchased grain has not yet come under the possession and control of the buyer through taking possession. If any other item besides grain is purchased and the buyer has not taken possession of it, then the same reason applies; it has not entered into the buyer’s possession.
Therefore, the ruling for all items other than grain should also be that it is not permissible to sell them until they are received. Thus, it should be said that the ruling for items other than grain has been established by analogy to the ruling of the food mentioned in the hadith. This is why Hazrat Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) would say the following after narrating this hadith: ‘And I consider everything to be similar to that.’ In my opinion, the ruling of everything is like that of food.
The Validity of Qiyas (Analogical Reasoning)
In the case where there is no explicit ruling in the Quran and Sunnah on a particular issue, and there is no established consensus (ijma) regarding it, qiyas serves as a legal proof provided that it meets all the required conditions and stipulations, the details of which will be discussed in the following pages. We divide the discussion on the legitimacy of qiyas into two stages:
- The evidences for the validity of qiyas in light of the Quran, the Sunnah, consensus, and rational arguments.
- Doubts regarding the validity of qiyas and their refutation.
The evidences for the validity of qiyas in light of the Quran
- In Holy Quran Allah Says:
وَإِذَا جَاءهُمْ أَمْرٌ مِنَ الْأَمْنِ أَوْ الْخَوْفِ أَذَاعُوا بِهِ وَلَوْ رَدُّوهُ إِلَى الرَّسُولِ وَإِلَى أُولِي الْأَمْرِ مِنْهُمْ لَعَلِمهُ الَّذِينَ يَسْتَنبِطُونَهُ مِنْهُمْ [6]
“And when these people (the hypocrites) receive news of any new matter, whether it is about peace or fear, they spread it widely. But if they had referred it to the Messenger ﷺ and to those who understand such matters, the investigators among them would have certainly known the truth of it.”
This verse praises the one who derives inferences. The meaning of
‘Istinbat’ is to extract something from its source[7]
For instance, drawing water from a well or extracting metal from a mine. This concept of derivation is also present in analogy (Qiyas), as the cause of a ruling mentioned in the Quran and Sunnah is derived, and based on that cause, the same ruling is applied to other matters. Therefore, when this verse defines ‘Istinbat’, it also includes analogy.
- In Holy Quran Allah Says:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُوا الرَّسُولَ وَأُولِي الْأَمْرِ مِنْكُمْ فَإِن تَنَازَعْتُمْ فِي شَيْءٍ فَرُدُّوهُ إِلَى اللهِ وَالرَّسُولِ إِن كُنتُمْ تُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ ذَلِكَ خَيْرٌ وَأَحْسَنُ تَأْوِيلًا [8]
“O believers! Obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you, and if you disagree about anything, refer it to Allah and the Messenger if you believe in Allah and the Last Day. That is better and more suitable for final determination.”
Allama Alusi has written in the interpretation of this verse: “The correct point is that this verse is a proof for establishing analogy. Rather, all (four) Shariah arguments (Quran, Sunnah, Consensus, Analogy) are mentioned in it.
This is because obedience to Allah means to act upon the Book of Allah, and obeying the Messenger ﷺ means to act upon the Sunnah, while referring to the Book and Sunnah means that in case of disagreement arising from the lack of explicit mention in the Quran and Sunnah regarding a certain issue, the ruling should be determined based on the principles and causes derived from the Book and Sunnah, and this is called analogy. The phrase “إن تنازعتم (if you dispute)” in the verse indicates that in the absence of disagreement, the matters upon which there is consensus should be acted upon, and this is referred to as Consensus.”[9]
In many verses of the Holy Quran, concepts are proven through analogical reasoning. Allama Ibn Qayyim states that there are more than forty such verses in which the Holy Quran presents evidence through analogy.[10]
These verses prove that the Holy Quran has accepted analogy as a form of evidence. For example, a few such verses are:
- إِنَّ مَثَلَ عِيسَى عِندَ اللهِ كَمَثَلِ آدَمَ[11]
“Certainly, in the sight of Allah, the example of Jesus (peace be upon him) is like that of Adam (peace be upon him).”
In this verse, the birth of Jesus (peace be upon him) from a mother and father is compared to the birth of Adam (peace be upon him) without a mother and father.
- وَمِنْ آيَاتِهِ أَنَّكَ تَرَى الْأَرْضَ خَاشِعَةً فَإِذَا أَنزَلْنَا عَلَيْهَا الْمَاءَ اهْتَزَّتْ وَرَبَتْ إِنَّ الَّذِي أَحْيَاهَا لَمُحْيِي الْمَوْتَى إِنَّهُ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ [12]
“One of the signs of Allah Almighty is that you see the earth is lifeless and barren. Then, when We send down water upon it, it comes alive and swells. The One who has brought the earth to life will surely revive the dead. Indeed, He is capable of all things.”
This verse establishes the resurrection of the dead on the Day of Judgment by comparing it to the revival of the earth.
- قُلْ يُحْيِيهَا الَّذِي أَنشَأَهَا أَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍ وَهُوَ بِكُلِّ خَلْقٍ عَلِيمٌ [13]
“Say, ‘Who will revive the bones when they have become decayed?’ Say, ‘He will revive them who created them for the first time, and He is All-Knowing of every creation.”
This verse establishes the resurrection by comparing it to the first creation. The Being who is capable of initiating an action is certainly more capable of repeating it after it has ceased because repeating something is easier than its initiation. The above verse establishes an argument for the disbelievers to draw a parallel between their resurrection and their creation.
In the light of hadiths
- The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) sent Hazrat Muaz (may Allah be pleased with him) as the emir of Yemen and said:
How will you decide when a case comes before you? Hazrat Muaz said: “According to the Book of Allah! He said, “If you do not find that problem in the Book of Allaah, he said: “Then according to the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), he said: “If you do not find it in my Sunnah, he said: “I will do ijtihad and will leave no stone unturned in my efforts.” He put his hand on the chest of Hazrat Muaz and said: “Thanks be to Allah, who enabled the messenger of His Prophet to do such a thing that allah’s messenger is pleased with.”[14]
In this hadith, ijtihad is clearly and clearly supported and praised and qiyas is one of the methods of ijtihad.
In light of logical reasoning
- Analogy is a human nature. No person with a sound nature can deny the use of analogy. In countless daily events, every human learns the judgment of similar occurrences by observing a certain event; even children are familiar with analogy. For example, when a teacher scolds a child for a mistake in class, other children also become cautious, realizing that if they make the same mistake, they too will be scolded. What else can this be called but analogy? This shows that analogy is a natural phenomenon.
- It is an established principle that religion is a complete way of life. It is also known that the explicit judgment on all issues is not present in the Quran and Hadith. Now, the statement that religion is a complete way of life can only hold true if the use of analogy for determining judgments on issues is accepted.
Otherwise, if there are issues whose rulings are not explicitly mentioned in the Quran and Sunnah, and determining their rulings through analogy is also not permissible, then it is clear that there would be no guidance from religion regarding these issues. Consequently, how can Islam remain a complete way of life?
Objections about the Validity of Qiyas and Their Resolution
The Nazam Mutazali (died 231 AH), Imam Abu Dawood Zahiri (died 270 AH), and some Shia sects do not accept qiyas as a legal proof. Some important arguments of those who reject qiyas are as follows:
- In Quran
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تُقَدِّمُوا بَيْن يدي الله وَرَسُولِهِ.[15]
“O believers! Do not try to precede Allah and His Messenger (in any matter).”
To make an inference on a ruling regarding any issue is equivalent to taking precedence over Allah and His Messenger.
- In Quran
وَأَنْ احْكُمْ بَيْنَهُمْ بما أنزل الله [16]
“And you kept deciding among the people according to that (law) which Allah has revealed.”
The deniers of analogy say that analogy is based on a law that Allah Almighty has not revealed. Allah Almighty has provided all the necessary rulings concerning various matters in the Holy Quran. There is no need to seek new rulings through analogy, because in this case, the analogy will not be devoid of two situations.
Either the analogy will indicate to something that the Quran is indicating, which is an unnecessary pursuit of what is already obtained, and that is false. Or the analogy will indicate against the Quran, which is objectionable.
Several verses of the Holy Quran are proof that necessary commands have been given in the Holy Quran. For example:
- وَنَزَّلْنَا عَلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ تِبْيَانًا لِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ[17]
“And we have sent down to you a Book that explains everything”.
- مَا فَرَّطْنَا فِي الْكِتَابِ مِنْ شَيْءٍ[18]
“We have not made any omission in writing anything in the Book (i.e., the looh mahfooz)”.
- وَلَا رَطْبٍ وَلَا يَابِسٍ إِلَّا فِي كِتَابٍ مُبِينٍ[19]
“And there is no fresh or dry thing but it is written in the Book.”
Conditions of Analogy
In the previous pages, the explanation of analogy and its being a legitimate proof has been presented to you. There are also some conditions stated for the legitimacy of analogy and for deriving solutions to issues through analogy. If these conditions are considered in analogy, then it becomes a means of correct outcomes; otherwise, it is ‘invalid analogy’ which is not credible as proof. In this section, we will study the conditions of analogy.
It has been previously established that there are four components of analogy: (1) Asl (2) Hukm of Asl
(3) Ilat (4) Farha
Their definitions have been discussed earlier. Each element of conjecture has different conditions; therefore the conditions will be explained by dividing them into three parts.
- Conditions of the “Asl and Hukm of Asl”
- Conditions of the “Farha
- Conditions of the “Illat”
Conditions of ‘Asl’ and ‘Hukm Asl’
It has already been established that ‘Asl’ refers to that which has been explicitly stated. The mentioned ruling is termed ‘Hukm Asl.’ It is also known that seeking the reason (‘Illah’) of ‘Hukm Asl’ and applying that same ruling in its branches based on that reason is called ‘Qiyas.’ There are certain conditions for the application of ‘Hukm Asl’ to the branches based on a common cause, which are as follows.
First Condition: It is necessary to ensure that the ‘Hukm Asl,’ which is being applied to the Farha through Qiyas, is valid and intact in its place. It should not be a ruling that has been abrogated; hence, it is not permissible to establish any other ruling by applying Qiyas to those rulings of the Quran and Sunnah that have been abrogated.
Second Condition: ‘Hukm Asl’ must be established through the Book of Allah, Sunnah, or consensus (Ijma), and not through Qiyas; a ruling itself established through Qiyas cannot be further subjected to Qiyas.
Third condition: “The ruling should not be specific to the original matter. Many rulings exist for which it is established through evidence that the commands they pertain to are exclusive to that particular situation. This command does not apply to others. It is incorrect to extend these special rulings to others based on analogy.
For example, the rulings that are specific to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), such as his ability to have more than four wives at the same time, and the prohibition of marrying his wives after his passing.
Similarly, the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) declaring the testimony of Hazrat Khuzaymah bin Thabit equivalent to two witnesses. And as the Prophet (peace be upon him) allowed Hazrat Abu Burdah to sacrifice a yearling goat. He also stated that ” ولا تجزئ جدعة عن أحد بعدك (A yearling goat will not suffice for anyone after you). This proves that this ruling was a special case for Hazrat Abu Burdah,[20] therefore, one cannot extend this ruling to others through analogy.
Fourth condition: The Asl must take precedence over the Farha and the Farha must be effective. That is, the ruling of the Asl was revealed first and the ruling of the Farha was revealed later. If the situation is the opposite, where the farha is already in effect and the Asl was established afterwards, then this preceding branch cannot be applied to the subsequent original.
An example of this is that ablution was made obligatory before Hijrah, while tayammum was made obligatory after Hijrah. Therefore, ablution is prior and tayammum is subsequent. Now, if it is argued that making Niet (نیت) is necessary for tayammum and without Niet (نیت), tayammum is not valid, in the same way, if we infer that Niet (نیت) is also necessary for ablution by comparing it to tayammum. This inference is incorrect because here ablution is being compared to tayammum, whereas the ruling on tayammum was revealed after the ruling on ablution. This implies that the prior act, that is, ablution, is being compared to the subsequent act, which is tayammum, which is not correct.
Conditions of the Farha
After analogy, the ruling given on an original matter is called “Farha.” The following are the conditions for it.
First condition: The Farha’s ruling should not be explicitly stated, meaning it should not be clearly mentioned, because there is no need for analogy when a ruling has been clearly established.
An example of this is that someone asked the Qazi of Kufa, Hasan ibn Ziyad, whether laughing loudly (in prayer) breaks the wudu. Hasan ibn Ziyad answered that it does break the wudu. The questioner objected that making a false accusation against someone in prayer does not break the wudu, even though it is a greater sin. Look! How misplaced and incorrect this person’s reasoning is, because it is explicitly stated in a hadith that laughing in prayer breaks the wudu, [21]
And it is not permissible to make analogies about things that have been explicitly mentioned.
Second condition: The cause of the original ruling must be present in the Farha, because the meaning of analogy is to extend the original ruling to the branch based on the presence of the cause of the original ruling in the branch. Therefore, if the cause is not found in the farha, there is no justification for making an analogy and applying the original ruling to it.
Third condition: The cause of the original ruling must be fully present in the farha. It should not be the case that the cause is present in the farha but not to the same degree as it is in the original ruling. If such a situation arises, then the analogy is not valid.
Conditions of Illat:
It has previously been established that in analogical reasoning, the ruling of the Asl is applied to the farha based on the shared ’cause’. The following conditions must be present for the cause upon which the analogy is being made:
First Condition: It is necessary to consider an attribute of the Asl (whose ruling is explicitly stated) as the cause that is relevant to the ruling. It is not correct to declare an attribute as a cause if it is not relevant to the ruling.
An example of this is that the water in which cat puts her mouth has been given a concession by Sharia because it is frequently encountered in households. However, if someone says that the reason for the concession regarding the cat is that it is a small animal, that statement would be incorrect because the smallness of the animal is a characteristic that has no relevance to the concession. The reason must relate to a characteristic that is appropriate to the ruling.
Second Condition: The Ilat of the Asl must not be specific to it; it should also be found in other things. An exclusive cause specific to the original does not make the analogy valid.
An example of this is that on one occasion, the Holy Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) made a decision based solely on the testimony of Hazrat Khuzaymah ( رضی اللہ عنہ). It cannot be said that the reason for this was that he had as much trust in his testimony as one would have in the testimony of two witnesses. Therefore, if another judge were to also gain trust in the testimony of a single witness in the same manner, he could make a decision based on that one testimony. This analogy is flawed because the equivalence of one witness to two was a special attribute of Hazrat Khuzaymah.
Third condition: The cause must be one that does not lead to a change in the ruling. Therefore, declaring a cause for any ruling that results in a change to the stipulated ruling, and which cannot be maintained in its original form, is incorrect.
An example of this is found in Surah An-Nur, verse 4, which states: “Whoever accuses a chaste woman of adultery, and then fails to produce four witnesses to prove it, shall be punished with eighty lashes, and their testimony shall never be accepted.” Here, the Shafi scholars claim that the reason for not accepting this testimony is that they are a sinner (fasiq), and from this reason, they conclude that after repentance, such a person is no longer considered a sinner. Therefore, if the accuser repents, their testimony will be accepted.
However, the Hanafi scholars do not agree with this point of view because the reason derived in this manner leaves no trace of the judgment stated in the Holy Quran. This is because the result of this reasoning leads to the acceptance of testimony after the accuser has repented, whereas the Holy Quran states, ‘Do not ever accept their testimony.’ (لا تقبلوا لهم شهادة أبدا). Therefore, this reasoning does not uphold the command of the Holy Quran, making this argument invalid.
Qiyas (Analogical Reasoning) comparison with Western legal analogy
Qiyas in Islamic law and legal analogy in Western law both help judges solve new problems by looking at old rules, but they work differently. In Islam, Qiyas compares a new situation to an old rule from the Quran or Hadith if they share the same reason. For example, since alcohol is banned because it intoxicates, drugs are also banned for the same reason. Western courts also compare new cases to past decisions, but they focus more on fairness and changing times rather than religious texts. For example, if an old law protected people’s letters from being read, courts might say the same privacy rule applies to emails today.
The big difference is how strict or flexible they are. Islamic Qiyas must follow religious rules and can’t go against the Quran or Hadith. It’s used only when there’s no clear answer in Islamic texts. Western analogy is more open—judges can change old rulings if society’s needs change. For example, while Qiyas might ban all intoxicants forever, Western courts might adjust drug laws based on new health studies or public opinion. So, Qiyas keeps Islamic law tied to its roots, while Western analogy lets laws grow with the times.
Reference
[1]. Laban al-Arab Laban Manzoor 187/6
[2]. hashieh sad ali ebn rajab 2̱/ 2̱0̱5̱
[3].Nayatul Saaol 4/2
[4]. Sura Juma , 09
[5] .Jama Termizi 10/246
[6].Sura Naysa 83
[7]. Rouh ul Mahani, 5/95
[8]. Sura Naysa , 59
[9]. Rouh ul Mahani, 5/67
[10]. Alam lmuhavqeen 1/130
[11]. Aly Imran , 59
[12]. Sura Faslat 39
[13].Sura Yassen,79
[14]۔ Mashkat: 324 referencing Abu Dawood.
[15]. Sura Hujrat, 01
[16].Sura Mayda, 49
[17].Sura N
[18]. Sura Al Anam 38
[19]. Sura Al Anam 59
[20].Sahee Muslim, 2/154
[21]. Majah Zawaed, 2/82
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