Istihsan linamaanisha kuidhinisha au kufanya jambo lililo bora zaidi. Ni neno linalotokana na Hasuna, ambalo lina maana ya kuwa jema au zuri. Kama istilahi ya kisheria, Istihsan hufafanuliwa kuwa ni kuhama kutoka Qiyas moja kwenda Qiyas nyingine kwa sababu fulani, au kusimamisha Qiyas kwa sababu fulani. Mujtahid anaweza kuzingatia yoyote kati ya chaguzi hizi.

Istihsan literally means to approve or to do something preferable. It is a derivation of Hasuna, which means being good or beautiful. As a juristic term, Istihsan is defined as shifting from one Qiyas to another Qiyas due to a reason or suspending a Qiyas for a reason. A Mujtahid may take into consideration any of these options.

A. Istihsan kwa Qiyas- kubadilisha hukumu ya Qiyas na kuchukua hukumu nyingine ya Qiyas kutokana na sababu yenye nguvu zaidi.

A. Istihsan by Qiyas- switching from a ruling of Qiyas to another ruling by Qiyas due to a stronger reason.

Mfano:

Example:

Fikiria kwamba Ahmad na Muhammad wanamiliki gari kwa usawa. Wanamuuzia rafiki yao, Ali, gari hilo kwa dola 1000. Ali anamlipa Muhammad dola 400 kama malipo ya kwanza. Hata hivyo, kabla Muhammad hajamlipa Ahmad sehemu yake, pesa hizo zinaibiwa. Hukumu inayotokana na Qiyas katika hali hii ni kwamba Ahmad na Muhammad lazima wagawane hasara hiyo kwa usawa kwa kuwa ni washirika.

Imagine that Ahmad and Muhammad equally own a car. They sell their car to a friend, Ali for $1000. Ali pays Muhammad $400 as a first payment. However, before Muhammad could pay Ahmad his share, the money gets stolen. The ruling from Qiyas in this situation is that both Ahmad and Muhammad have to equally share the loss since they are partners.

Hukumu inayotokana na Istihsan kwa Qiyas ni kwamba Muhammad ndiye apate hasara, na si Ahmad. Sababu ni kwamba Muhammad mwanzoni alikuwa na chaguo la kumwambia Ali amlipe Ahmad mwenyewe. Hivyo, inadhaniwa kwamba Muhammad alitumia haki hii ya kukusanya sehemu ya malipo ya Ahmad, ingawa alikuwa na chaguo la kutofanya hivyo.

The ruling from Istihsan by Qiyas is that Muhammad should incur the loss and not Ahmad. The reason is that Muhammad has the option initially to tell Ali to pay Ahmad by himself. Thus, there is an assumption that Muhammad used this privilege of collecting Ahmad‟s share of the payment even though he had the option not to.

B. Istihsan kwa dharura - kuhamia Qiyas nyingine kwa sababu ya dharura.

B. Istihsan by necessity - shifting to another Qiyas due to necessity.

Mfano:

Example:

Kuna huduma inayotolewa na biashara, kama vile duka la kusafisha nguo, ambayo ni huduma ya umma, na huduma nyingine inayotolewa na mfanyakazi aliyeajiriwa kwa faragha na mtu fulani kwa huduma ya kibinafsi, kama vile opereta wa kompyuta. Pande zote mbili hazina dhima ya uharibifu usio wa makusudi, na hili ni hukumu kutoka kwa Qiyas. Hukumu kutoka kwa Istihsan kwa sababu ya dharura ni kwamba duka la kusafisha nguo lipaswe kubeba dhima kwa kuwa ni huduma ya umma, lakini si opereta wa kompyuta kwa kuwa ni mfanyakazi wa kibinafsi. Dharura hiyo ni kwamba, ikiwa biashara hiyo haitabeba dhima, basi mfanyakazi aliyeajiriwa kwa huduma ya umma anaweza kujilemea mwenyewe kwa kuchukua kazi nyingine na huenda asiweze kubeba jukumu hilo.

There is a service offered by a business such as a dry cleaning store, which is a public service, and another service offered by an employee who is hired exclusively by someone for a private service such as a computer operator. Both parties are not liable for any unintentional damages, and this is a ruling from Qiyas. The ruling from Istihsan due to necessity is that the dry cleaning store should be liable since it is a public service but not the computer operator since he is a private employee. The necessity is that if the business is not liable then the employee hired for the public service may overload himself by taking up other jobs and may not be able to handle the responsibility.

C. Istihsan kwa Sunnah - Kufuta Qiyas kutokana na mkinzano unaosababishwa na Hadithi.

C. Istihsan by Sunnah - Cancelling the Qiyas due to a contradiction caused by the Hadith.

Mfano:

Example:

Mtume ﷺ alisema: "Yeyote mwenye Khuzaima kama shahidi, inamtosha," maana yake ni kwamba ushahidi wa mtu huyo (Khuzaima) ni sawa na ushahidi wa watu wawili. Ingawa hukumu inayotokana na Qiyas ni kuwa na mashahidi wawili, Qiyas hiyo inafutwa kwa sababu hii ilikuwa hali maalum kwa Khuzaima kutoka kwa Mtume ﷺ.

The Prophet (saw) said who has Khuzaima as his witness it is enough for him, meaning that the testimony of that person (Khuzaima) equals the testimony of two people. While the ruling from Qiyas is to have two witnesses, the Qiyas is cancelled because this was a special situation for Khuzaima by the Prophet (saw).

D. Istihsan kwa Ijmaa' as-Sahabah - Kubatilisha hukumu inayotokana na Qiyas kutokana na kupingana kunakosababishwa na Ijmaa' as-Sahabah.

D. Istihsan by Ijma as-Sahabah - Cancelling a ruling from Qiyas due to a contradiction caused by the Ijma‟ as-Sahabah.

Mfano:

Example:

Kulipa kampuni ili itengeneze bidhaa kama viti. Hukumu inayotokana na Qiyas ni kwamba jambo hili halijuzu kwa sababu bidhaa zinazozungumziwa (kwa mfano viti) hazipo wakati wa kufanya mkataba. Lakini hukumu inayotokana na Qiyas imefutwa kutokana na Ijma‟ ya as-Sahabah.

Paying a company to manufacture items such as chairs. The ruling from Qiyas is that it is not allowed because the items under discussion (e.g. chairs) are not present at the time of the contract. But the ruling from Qiyas is cancelled due to the Ijma‟ as-Sahabah.

Aina mbili za kwanza za Istihsan hazina dalili sahihi ya kuzitumia. Kitaalamu, aina ya tatu na ya nne si Istihsan kweli; badala yake, ni hukumu inayotegemea dalili kutoka Sunnah na Ijma' ya Maswahaba.

The first two types of Istihsan have no valid Daleel for their application. Technically, the third and fourth are not Istihsan; rather, they are ruling based on a Daleel from Sunnah and Ijma‟ as-Sahabah.

Wanaounga mkono Istihsan hutumia Aya ifuatayo kuthibitisha Istihsan:

The proponents of Istihsan use the following Ayah to validate Istihsan:

"... Na wabashirie waja wangu wanaosikiliza kauli na kufuata yaliyo bora zaidi yake. Hao ndio ambao Mwenyezi Mungu amewaongoa, na hao ndio wenye akili."

“... And give glad tidings to those of My servants who listen to the word and follow the best of it. Those are the ones that Allah has guided and endowed with understanding.” (TMQ Az-Zumar: 18)

“Na fuateni yaliyo bora ya yale yaliyoteremshwa kwenu kutoka kwa Mola wenu Mlezi.” (TMQ Az-Zumar: 55)

“And follow the best of what has been sent down to you from your Lord.” (TMQ Az-Zumar: 55)

Aya hizi hazihalalishi matumizi ya Istihsan. Badala yake, aya inatuagiza kufuata kauli bora zaidi zilizoteremshwa, yaani Qur'an. Hii ni kwa sababu sehemu ya pili ya aya inawaelezea wale wanaofanya hivyo kuwa ndio ambao Allah (SWT) amewaongoza.

These Ayahs do not authorise the use of Istihsan. Rather, the Ayah instructs us to follow the best statements, which were revealed, Qur‟an. This is because the second part of the Ayah describes those who do as the ones that Allah (swt) has guided.

Imam Shafi‘i alisema: “Anayefanya Istihsan ni Mtunga-sheria (Ash-Shaari‘), na ikiwa Istihsan inaruhusiwa katika Dini hii, basi ni lazima iruhusiwe kwa kila mtu mwenye akili kuanzisha sheria kwa ajili yake mwenyewe.” (Al-Risala)

Imam Shafi‟i used to say “Those who practice Istihsan are the Shar‟i (legislator), and if Istihsan is allowed in this Deen then it should be allowed for any intellectual person to initiate laws for himself.” (Al-Risala)