Critical Edition and Study of the Treatise "On the Explanation that the Prohibition of Things Is Due to Their Essence" by Wali al-Din Jar Allah al-Hanafi (d. 1151 AH): An Analytical Examination of the Issue of Prohibition Attributed to Substances in Islam

Abstract

This study examines an important manuscript in the field of Islamic legal theory (Usul al-Fiqh) authored by Wali al-Din Jar Allah. The attribution of the manuscript to its author has been verified through his explicit mention of his name in the introduction of the manuscript. As for its title, no explicit designation by the author was found, unlike what is known from some of his other works. Therefore, it is more likely that the phrase “This is the Gift of the Intelligent Stranger in God” was intended as a descriptive expression rather than a formal title, although it may still be used as a reference to the manuscript.

The manuscript investigates a subtle legal-theoretical issue concerning prohibition and permissibility when attributed to tangible entities (al-a‘yan), and whether such attribution conveys literal meaning, metaphor, or ambiguity. This is discussed through an examination of the claim attributed by Imam Fakhr al-Din al-Razi to Imam al-Karkhi, namely that prohibition attributed to entities is ambiguous. The author critically reviews this attribution by referring to authoritative Hanafi sources, such as Usul al-Bazdawi and Kashf al-Asrar, demonstrating that the position of the majority of Hanafi scholars is that prohibition attributed to entities constitutes a legal reality indicating that the object is no longer legally suitable for the act in question, rather than being merely metaphorical or ambiguous.

The treatise is distinguished by its critical scholarly methodology, which is based on tracing opinions, comparing legal schools, and analyzing juristic and legal-theoretical texts. It also seeks to defend the accurate formulation of the Hanafi position and to correct inaccurate attributions found in some works of legal theory regarding Imam al-Karkhi. The significance of the manuscript lies not only in its treatment of an important legal-theoretical issue but also in its contribution to correcting transmitted reports and highlighting the methodology of critical verification employed by scholars of Usul al-Fiqh. Consequently, it represents a valuable contribution to the study of Hanafi intellectual heritage and the history of legal-theoretical disagreement.