“Al-Awaarid ul Samaawiyah” among the Islamic legal theorists (Uṣūliyyīn) their impact on jurisprudential rulings
العوارض السماوية عند الأصوليين وأثرها على الأحكام الفقهية
Keywords:
Legal Capacity (Ahliyah), Islamic Jurisprudence, Natural Impediments (Al-Awaarid al-Samaawiyah), Acquired Impediments (Al-Awaarid al-Muktasabah)Abstract
Impediments or preventative matters (‘Awaarid) are those conditions that affect a person's legal competence (Ahliyah), resulting in its partial or complete suspension. These impediments are divided into two main categories: Samaawiyah (Natural/Celestial) and Muktasabah (Acquired). Al-Awaarid al-Samaawiyah (Natural Impediments): These are impediments that befall a person against their will and are beyond their power to repel. The most significant among them are Al-Junoon (Insanity), Al-‘Atah (Mental Deficiency/ Imbecility), fainting (loss of consciousness), sleep, forgetfulness, terminal illness, and death. Al-Awaarid al-Muktasabah (Acquired Impediments): These are impediments that a person is characterized with by their own choice or action. The most significant among them are Al-Jahl (Ignorance), Al-Khata’ (Mistake), As-Sukr (Intoxication), As-Safah (Foolishness), and Al-Hazl (Jesting). This article will focus on discussing Al-Awaarid al-Samaawiyah and their impact on Islamic jurisprudential rulings.
References
It is so named because it prevents the establishment of rulings related to the capacity for obligation or performance.
[Al-Ahqaf: 24]
Al-Tashil li-Ulum al-Tanzil by Ibn Juzayy (p. 2060)
These matters do not apply to the capacity for obligation, because the capacity for obligation is established for a person as soon as he comes into existence alive, starting from when he is a fetus in his mother's womb, and it does not cease except with death. Thus, it becomes clear that these impediments only affect the capacity for performance, such that they remove or diminish it.
Kashf al-Asrar Sharh Usul al-Bazdawi (4/263)
[Saba: 8]
Tafsir al-Qurtubi (14/263)
That is: he became insane before puberty.
The preferred opinion is that the duration varies according to each act of worship. For prayer, the duration is an increase of one hour over a day and night according to Abu Hanifa and Abu Yusuf, and according to Muhammad, it is when the prayers become six. For fasting, the duration is when the insanity lasts for the entire month of Ramadan. Regarding zakat, the obligation must be fulfilled by the entire year. According to Abu Yusuf, fulfilling most of the year is sufficient for zakat to be waived.
It is not obligatory at all due to the inability to pay immediately because of insanity, and because of the hardship of paying it after recovery through the form of a make-up payment.
[At-Tawbah: 67]
[Al-An'am: 44]
[Al-Baqarah: 237], Tafsir al-Qurtubi (1/368)
What pertains to the Hereafter
Sahih Ibn Hibban with the annotations of al-Arna'ut (16/202)
What pertains to worldly rulings
Sahih al-Bukhari - according to the numbering of Fath al-Bari (1/155)
Sahih Muslim (3/160)
And he would not be sinning in the Hereafter
Because he does not understand the address of the performance
Because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The pen is lifted from three: from the sleeper until he awakens, from the child until he reaches puberty, and from the insane person until he regains his sanity or recovers..." Sunan an-Nasa'i (6/156)
This is not a matter of assigning legal obligations, but rather a matter of linking the effect to the cause
Because this action is similar to unintentional killing
Sahih Ibn Hibban with the annotations of al-Arna'ut (5/494)
As for illness other than a terminal illness, it is prescribed The sick are granted dispensations to facilitate the performance of their duties.
Marriage: Muslim jurists agree on the permissibility of marriage for a terminally ill patient, as they may need someone to serve or keep them company, provided that the dowry they specify does not exceed the customary dowry. If it does, the excess is considered a voluntary bequest, contingent upon the heirs' approval if it exceeds one-third of the estate. If it remains within this one-third limit, it is valid without their approval... Islamic Jurisprudence and its Evidence (4/490)
Divorce: Divorce is valid during a terminal illness according to the consensus of jurists. However, if it is an irrevocable divorce without the woman's consent, and the man dies during the waiting period, she is entitled to inherit from him. This is because, by divorcing her, he is considered to have evaded her inheritance, and according to the Hanafi school, he is treated contrary to his intention... Islamic Jurisprudence and its Evidence (4/490)
Fath al-Qadir by Kamal Ibn al-Humam (1/186)
If he makes a bequest, it should be paid from one-third of his estate.
This is what is called: debt attached to the specific estate, and it takes precedence over expenses that the deceased may incur according to the majority of scholars. The jurists of the Hanafi, Maliki, and Shafi'i schools.
That is, kinship.
If someone volunteers to pay off his debt without a guarantor, it is valid.
That is, to appease the hearts of the heirs by averting the harm of the killer.
Just as the womb and the cradle are his first abode in this world, so too is the grave his first abode in the Hereafter.
