Regulation of the Rule of Tark-i ʾIstifṣāl and Clarification of its Applications in the Field of Principles of Jurisprudence

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

• Alborz Mohaghegh Garfami ¹
• Seyyed Ali Delbari ²

¹ MA Graduate, Department of Quranic Sciences and Hadith, Razavi University of Islamic Sciences, Mashhad, Iran

² Associate Professor, Department of Quranic Sciences and Hadith, Razavi University of Islamic Sciences, Mashhad, Iran

10.22067/jfiqh.2022.78657.1441

Abstract

A great majority of narrations are reported in the form of questions and answers between the narrator and the Maʿṣūm (the infallible) (peace be upon him). Recognizing the elements of the Maʿṣūm’s response will assist the jurist in deducing his legal ruling. In this regard, one of the useful principles is known as Tark-i ʾIstifṣāl (or the principle of refraining from seeking clarification). The rule indicates that text sources encompass multiple understandings. The present study provides a systematic explanation of the principle and regulates its applications, using the descriptive-analytical method and through documentary-based research. In the next step, explaining the applications of this principle in the field of principles of jurisprudence and by mentioning appropriate ḥadīth examples, the practical aspects of the principle are clarified. Some of the applications of the principle include: the ruling on Taklīf (obligations) in the context of general knowledge (ʿilm-i ijmālī), the conceptual understanding of doubt in ʾistiṣḥāb (continuity), the conflict between two ʾistiṣḥābs, the implication of hadiths that resolve conflict, or Treating hadiths (akhbār-i ʿilājiyyah), the ruling on imitating (Taqlīd from) a person who has not yet actively achieved Ijtihād, whether imitations continues in case of changing religion, and the ruling on the layperson’s (ʿāmmī) independence in judgment. 

Keywords

• generality of ruling
• Tark-i ʾIstifṣāl
• ḥadīth
• Applications in the principles of jurisprudence

Main Subjects

• Principles of jurisprudence

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