has been abandoned and the customary meaning has become prevalent among people, then it takes precedence.

Thus, the Sharīʿah takes precedence, then customary usage, then the language. This is because people are dealt with according to their intentions, and there is no doubt that when an ordinary person uses a word, he intends its customary meaning. The ordinary person does not know classical Arabic; therefore, customary usage takes precedence, because it is outwardly what he intends.

An example is rāwiyah. In Arabic, it refers to that which carries water: the camel upon which water is carried. From it comes the colloquial term rawwāyah, meaning a woman who draws water. In customary usage, however, rāwiyah refers to a large water-skin: a skin that is split open, another similar skin is brought, and the two are sewn together, so that instead of being one water-skin, it becomes two.

Thus, if someone says, “By Allah, I will not buy a rāwiyah,” then goes and buys the rāwiyah that is the large water-skin, he has broken his oath, because this is the customary meaning. But if he bought a camel, he would not have broken his oath—unless he had intended it, for intention takes precedence.

Likewise, ghā’iṭ linguistically means a low-lying place—that is, a depression. Even today, people say, “deep water,” meaning water that is profound. In customary usage, however, ghā’iṭ means the foul matter discharged from the anus.

Therefore, if someone says, “By Allah, I will not look at ghā’iṭ,” and then goes to look at a low-lying place, he has not broken his oath, because customary usage has transferred the literal meaning to foul excrement.

His words, “and the like,” include shāh. In our customary usage, shāh means a female sheep, whereas in Arabic it has a broader meaning. Thus, if a man brought a goat and said, “This is a shāh,” ordinary people would object; but in the language