Al-Risāla (attributed to al-Šāfiʿī) and the Question of Vagueness in Islamic Legal Hermeneutics
Issue: Vol 11 No. 1 (2015)
Journal: Comparative Islamic Studies
Subject Areas: Religious Studies Islamic Studies
DOI: 10.1558/cis.20372
Abstract:
This article investigates the problem of legal vagueness in Islamic legal hermeneutics. In particular, it examines al-Risāla’s (attributed to al-Šāfiʿī) approach to use language as an argument for the clarity of legal discourse. It argues that ambiguity, although recognized as a legal hermeneutic problem, was not tolerated within Islamic legal discourse. It also makes the case that al-Risāla’s stance develops early reverse pragmatics or pragmatics-for-apologetics in Islamic legal theory.
Author: Abdessamad Belhaj
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