Mwenyezi Mungu huwahutubu watu waliokalifishwa [mukallafīn] kwa Shari'ah yote ya Kiislamu, inayojumuisha misingi yake na matawi yake, yaani imani na hukumu zinazohusiana na vitendo. Hata hivyo, elimu ya Usūl al-Fiqh haihusiki na misingi (imani). Badala yake inahusika na matawi (hukumu za kisheria zinazohusiana na vitendo). Zaidi ya hayo, inahusika na hukumu za kisheria zinazohusiana na vitendo kwa mtazamo wa misingi ambayo hukumu hizo zimejengwa juu yake, si kwa mtazamo wa kanuni na masuala mbalimbali ambayo hukumu hizo zinajumuisha. Kwa hiyo ni lazima kuelewa hali halisi ya hukumu ya kisheria [hukm shar'i] wakati wa kusoma elimu ya ushahidi wa kisheria.

Allah addresses the legally responsible persons [mukallafīn] with the entirety of the Islamic Shari’ah, comprising both its foundations and branches, that is, the beliefs and the rules related to actions. However the science of Usūl al-Fiqh is not concerned with the foundations (beliefs). Rather it is concerned with the branches (legal rulings related to actions). Further it is concerned with the legal rulings related to actions from the perspective of the bases upon which the rulings are built, not from the perspective of the various rules and issues a rulings contains. Hence it is necessary to appreciate the reality of the legal ruling [hukm shar’i] when studying the knowledge of the legal evidences.

Wanazuoni wa usūl wameifafanua hukmu ya kisheria kuwa ni ‘khitabu cha Mshari’ kinachohusiana na vitendo vya waja kwa njia ya kulazimishwa [iqtidā’], kuwekewa hiari [takhyīr], au kutangazwa [wad’]. Mshari ni Allah, Mtukufu, hivyo ‘khitabu cha Mshari’ maana yake ni khitabu cha Allah. Zaidi ya hayo, ingawa khitabu cha Allah kinamwelekeza msikilizaji kwenye kanuni na hukumu fulani, khitabu chenyewe ni maana ya asili, si kile kinachokielekeza. Kwa hiyo maana yenyewe ambayo maneno na misemo huashiria ndiyo khitabu. Sababu ya kutumia ‘khitabu cha Mshari’ badala ya ‘khitabu cha Allah’ ni kujumuisha Sunnah na Ijma’ al-Sahabah, ambavyo navyo huashiria khitabu cha Allah. Matumizi ya ‘khitabu cha Allah’ yanaweza kutoa picha isiyo sahihi kwamba Qur’ani peke yake ndiyo inayokusudiwa; lakini Sunnah nayo ni wahyi, na kwa hiyo ni khitabu cha Mshari, na Ijma’ al-Sahabah huonyesha dalili kutoka katika Sunnah, hivyo nayo ni khitabu cha Mshari. Sababu ya kutumia ‘vitendo vya waja’, badala ya ‘mukallafīn’, ni ili kujumuisha hukumu zinazohusiana na mtoto na mwenye wazimu, kama vile zakat inayolazimika juu ya mali yao.

The scholars of usūl have defined the legal ruling as ‘the address of the legislator related to the actions of the servants in terms of compulsion [iqtidā’], choice [takhyīr], or declaration [wad’]. The legislator is Allah, the Exalted, and hence the ‘address of the legislator’ means the address of Allah. Further, although the address of Allah directs the listener towards certain rules and principles, the address is the original meaning itself not what it directs towards. Thus the very meaning which the words and compounds denote is the address. The reason for using ‘the address of the legislator’ instead of ‘the address of Allah’ is to include the Sunnah and the Ijma’ al-Sahabah, both of which also signify the address of Allah. The use of ‘the address of Allah’ may give the wrong impression that the Qur’an alone is intended; yet the Sunnah too is revelation and as such is the address of the legislator, and the Ijma’ al-Sahabah reveals an evidence from the Sunnah so it too is the address of the legislator. The reason for using actions of the ‘servants’, instead of ‘mukallifīn’ is so as to include the rulings related to the child and the insane like the zakat due on their wealth.

Maana ya hukumu ya kisheria kuhusishwa na kulazimishwa [iqtidā’] ni kuhusishwa na ombi [talab], kwa sababu maana ya neno iqtidā’ ni talab. Ombi lina aina mbili: ombi la kutenda, na ombi la kujizuia. Ikiwa ombi la kutenda ni la lazima [jāzim] basi linaashiria wajibu [ījāb, fard], na ikiwa si la lazima basi linaashiria kupendekezwa [mandūb, sunnah, nāfilah]. Ikiwa ombi la kujizuia ni la lazima basi linaashiria katazo [tahrīm, hadhr], na ikiwa si la lazima basi linaashiria kuchukiza [karahah]. Kuhusu uchaguzi [takhyīr], unaashiria ruhusa. Kuhusu kauli ya kubainisha [wad’], au kauli inayohusiana na kitendo cha waja kwa namna ya kubainisha, basi ni kufanya jambo kuwa sababu [sabab] au kizuizi [mani’] n.k., kama vile kuzama kwa jua kuwa sababu inayolazimisha kuwepo kwa swala, na hivyo kuwa sababu [sabab] ya swala, na kama vile najisi kuwa kizuizi cha swala. Kwa hiyo mambo haya, ingawa ni alama [‘alamah] za hukumu, pia ni hukumu zenyewe. Allah amefanya kuhama kwa jua kutoka kilele chake [zawāl] kuwa alama ya kuwepo kwa Dhuhr, na kuwepo kwa najisi kuwa alama ya kubatilika kwa swala. Hakuna maana ya zawāl kuwa ya kulazimisha isipokuwa kuwa ni ombi la kutekeleza swala, wala hakuna maana ya najisi kubatilisha isipokuwa kuwa ni ombi la kujizuia na najisi. Hivyo basi mambo haya katika uhalisia wake ni kauli kutoka kwa Mwenye kutunga sheria.

The meaning of the legal ruling being related to compulsion [iqtidā’] is its being related to a request [talab], because the meaning of the word iqtidā’ is talab. The request is of two types: the request to act, and the request to abstain. If the request to act is decisive [jāzim] then it denotes the obligation [ījāb, fard], and if it is non-decisive then it denotes the recommendation [mandūb, sunnah, nāfilah]. If the request to abstain is decisive then it denotes the prohibition [tahrīm, hadhr], and if it is non-decisive then it denotes the reprehensibility [karahah]. As for choice [takhyīr] it denotes the permissibility. As for the address of declaration [wad’], or the address related to the action of the servants in terms of declaration, then it is the making of a thing a cause [sabab] or preventative factor [mani’] etc. like the sunset being the necessitating factor for the presence of the prayer, and thereby being the cause [sabab] of prayer, and like the impurity being a preventative factor for prayer. Hence these things, whilst they are signs [‘alamah] for the rulings, they are also rulings in their own right. Allah has made the moving of the Sun from its zenith [zawāl] the sign for the presence of Dhuhr, and the presence of impurity a sign for the invalidity of prayer. There is no meaning to the zawāl being necessitating except its being a request to perform the prayer, nor is there a meaning to the impurity invalidating except its being a request to abstain from impurity. As such these things in their reality are an address from the Legislator.

Kwa hiyo, ufafanuzi wa hukm shar'i kuwa ni "khitabu cha Mwekaji Sheria kinachohusiana na vitendo vya waja" ni wa jumla na wa pekee [jāmi mani']. Kwa kutaja uhusiano wake na kulazimishwa au hiari, unajumuisha hukumu tano: wājib, mandub, harām, makruh, na mubah; na kwa kutaja kubainisha (declaration), unajumuisha sabab, shart, mani', sahih, batil, fāsid, rukhsah na azimah. Kwa msingi wa ufafanuzi huu, khitabu cha Mwekaji Sheria ni aina mbili: khitabu cha taklīf (khitab al-taklīf, yaani cha wajibu) na khitabu cha kubainisha (khitab al-wad').

Hence the definition of the hukm shar’i as ‘the address of the legislator related to the actions of the servants’ is both comprehensive and exclusive [jāmi mani’]. With its reference to the relation to compulsion or choice it covers the five rulings: wājib, mandub, harām, makruh, mubah, and by its reference to the declaration it covers the sabab, shart, mani’, sahih, batil, fāsid, rukhsah and azimah. On the basis of this definition the address of the Legislator is of two types: the address of responsibility [khitab al taklīf] and the address of declaration [khitab al-wad’].