and it is the foundation for preventing harmful conduct; it is likewise the root principle behind securing benefits and averting corruption, and it is the jurists’ chief reliance when issuing Sharia rulings on new cases.
On the basis of this maxim many chapters of jurisprudence are erected: rescission for defects, the various forms of legal interdiction, the right of pre-emption, prescribed punishments, retaliation, expiations, liability for destroyed property, repelling an assailant, fighting rebels, and other matters whose legislation is grounded in the wisdom of warding off harm.
The third of the grand maxims: “Certainty is not removed by doubt.”
Among the proofs for this principle are the Almighty’s words, “Indeed, conjecture avails nothing against the truth” (Yunus 10:36), and the report in the two Sahihs: A man complained to the Prophet ﷺ that it seemed to him he had released wind during prayer; he said, “He should not leave until he hears a sound or perceives a smell.” Muslim also narrates: “If one of you is uncertain in his prayer and does not know whether he has prayed three or four, let him dismiss the doubt and proceed on the basis of what he is certain of.”
As for rational evidence, certainty is stronger than doubt; certainty is therefore not overturned by doubt.
Linguistically, yaqīn (certainty) is the heart’s tranquillity regarding the reality of a thing, whereas shakk (doubt) is unqualified vacillation. In the terminology of the legal theorists, doubt is a state in which the two possibilities are equal, with no preference for either.
In juristic usage the maxim means that what is firmly established cannot be deemed to have ceased except by decisive proof; it is not ruled null merely because of doubt. Likewise, what is certainly known not to exist is not judged to exist on the basis of mere doubt, for doubt is weaker than certainty.
Status of the maxim: This rule permeates every branch of fiqh; it is said that the questions derived from it make up three-quarters of jurisprudence, if not more.
The fourth of the grand maxims: “Hardship begets facilitation.”
Linguistically, mashaqa (hardship) denotes fatigue, exertion, and strain, whereas taysīr (facilitation) signifies ease.