The Islamic Personality by Sheikh Taqīuddīn An-Nabahānī

The legislator’s address clarifies the rulings, of obligation and choice, of the actions which exist in reality. This address also enacts for these rulings that which they require for their fulfillment [tahaqquq] or their completion [ikmāl]. That is, they are enacted for that which the hukm shar’i requires. Thus the address of the legislator comprises of both the compulsion [iqtidā’] and choice [takhyīr], as well as that which the compulsion and choice require. The latter is by the making of a thing the a cause [sabab], a condition [shart], a preventative factor [māni’], valid [sahīh], invalid [bātil], void [fāsid], an original rule [azimah] or a concession [rukhsah]. Further, as the address of compulsion of choice (the address of taklīf) comprises of rules which deal with the actions of man, so too does the address of declaration comprise of rules which deal with these rules and what is related to them.

Hence the address of compulsion and choice are rulings for the actions of man, and the address of declaration are rulings for those rulings, giving them specific attributes. Their being such however does not make them unrelated to the actions of man, because that which is related to that which is related to a thing is also related to that thing. Thus dire necessity [idtirār] is the sabab for the permissibility of consuming carrion, the fear of afflication is the sabab for the permissibility of marrying the slave women, incontinence is the sabab for the obligation of making wudu upon excrement for prayer being dropped (such that one wudu suffices for every salat even if one excretes during the salat), the zawāl of the sun or it setting, or the rise of dawn is the sabab for the obligation of prayers, and the like - all of these are an address from the legislator related to the hukm, such as the permissibility of consuming carrion, the permissibility of marrying the slave women, the obligation of doing wudu upon excrement for the salat being dropped, and the obligation of the presence of the salat. Thus the sabab is from the khitāb al-wad’.

The hawl being a shart in the sabab of the obligation of zakat, physical maturity [bulūgh] being a shart for legal responsibility across the board, the sending of messengers being a condition for reward and punishment, ability to deliver the good being a condition for a valid trade, and the sound perception [rushd] being a condition for returning the wealth of the orphan to him are all examples of the address of the legislator related to the hukm, and hence the shart is from the khitab al-wad’.

Menstruation being a mani’ for sexual intercourse, tawāf of the ka’bah, the obligation of the prayers, and the performance of fasting, and the insanity being a mani’ from performing the ibādāt and freedom of disposal, and the like, are all examples of the address of the legislator related to the hukm, and hence the mani’ is from the khitab al wad’.

The sick person who is unable to stand in prayer being allowed to pray sitting, the traveller having the concession to not fast, and the person coerced with the threat of death having the concession to utter kufr are examples of the address of the legislator related to the hukm, and hence the rukhsah is from the khitab al-wad’.

In these four (sabab, shart, mani’, rukhsah) there is no ambiguity in that the address of the legislator has come with a hukm and with matter relation to that hukm. As for what came of the rulings as a general legislation, compelling the servants to act by it, such as the salat, sawm and jihad, as they are in their most basic essence, then the khitab al wad’ in this ruling is their attribute of being general legislation, and of the servants being compelled to observe them. This general legislation and its original compulsion is what is referred to as the azīmah. Hence the azimah is from the wad’i rulings, and together with the rukhsah is considered one category, because the azā’im are the original rulings from which the concession branch. Hence both, as one category, are from the khitab al-wad’.

As for what is related to the effects of acts in this world, the declaratory address appears in these effects. For example we say that the salat is valid [sahīh] if all its arkān are fulfilled, that trade is valid is all its conditions are met, that the partnership is valid if all its legal conditions are met. This is a description of the ruling in terms of its performance, not its legislation, and it is the Legislator who has established these descriptions. Similarly if the trade does not include the offer, or the salat does not include the rukū’, or the partnership does not include the acceptance, it will then be invalid [bātil]. Its being invalid is a description of the ruling in terms of its performance, not its legislation, yet it is the Legislator who established the description and considered it invalid. Thus the validity [sihhah] and invalidity [butlān] are one category, because the address of the legislator in them is relation to one hukm, either valid or invalid, and because the validity is the orgin and the invalidity depends on the rules of validity.

This is the declaratory law [khitāb al-wad’] and it is related to a matter required by the ruling, and is of five categories: the sabab, the shart, the mani’, the sihhah, butlān and fasad, and the azā’im and rukhas.