Accordingly, if a man says, “I have left my wife,” the wording is considered explicit, because in common usage, saying, “He has left his wife,” is equivalent to saying, “He has divorced his wife,” even though the jurists classify it as an allusive expression. Yet this conflicts with what they state in certain chapters: that customary usage is given precedence even in matters of oaths.
If he says, “I have given you my daughter in marriage,” using this wording, then in people’s customary usage, “giving in marriage” carries the same meaning as “marrying [someone to another].” Accordingly, the marriage contract is concluded with this wording. However, if someone asks a man for his daughter’s hand and he replies, “I give her to you,” this is not a contract but a promise, because when the man says, “I have proposed,” and the father replies, “I give her to you,” he means, “I have agreed to your proposal.”
The point is that we learn from the author’s words here that customary usage takes precedence in all matters so long as it does not contradict the Sharia. If it does contradict the Sharia, it has no legal weight. Thus, if it became widespread among people to regard the sale of a specifically prohibited item as lawful, while it is unlawful according to the Sharia, custom is not to be followed. Whenever custom conflicts with the Sharia, it must be set aside, for the conventions recognized within the Muslim community should be those established by the Sharia. If a custom that conflicts with the Sharia arises, it must be corrected; the Sharia must not be made to conform to custom.
If someone were to ask: Do you not say that the standard for a wife’s maintenance, for example, is customary practice? The answer is: Yes, but we have not violated the principle, because Allah has referred us to customary practice regarding a wife’s maintenance. Therefore, when we follow custom in determining maintenance, we are following the Sharia.
The author’s statement, “If he bequeaths one-third of his estate, then subsequently acquires wealth—even blood money—it is included in the bequest”: the subject of the verb “bequeaths” is understood from the derived form itself; that is, “if the testator bequeaths.” For a pronoun to refer back to what is indicated by a derived form