alone, and the contract remains valid, for what is established by the Sharīʿah takes precedence over what is established by a condition.
Sixteenth Maxim: “If the prohibition pertains to the very act of worship it invalidates it, but if it pertains to something external to it, it does not.”
Explanation: This guideline concerning acts of worship clarifies which prohibitions render them invalid and which do not.
If the prohibition attaches to the essence of the act—such as the ban on performing ablution with unlawful water or praying in a forbidden garment—then the prayer is invalid, for purification and bodily covering are prerequisites for prayer.
Conversely, if the prohibition concerns something outside the act—such as performing ablution from a prohibited vessel or praying while wearing an unlawful turban—the prayer remains valid, although the act itself is sinful.
The same applies to fasting: should a person consume anything that breaks the fast, the fast is invalid; yet if he backbites, slanders, or curses, his fast remains valid even though the deed itself is forbidden.
Seventeenth Maxim: “The presumption is freedom from liability.”
Meaning: Dhimmah (legal liability) is a Sharʿī term that signifies the rights a person owes and the rights owed to him. The baseline is that a person’s dhimmah is unencumbered by another’s claim, whether in civil or criminal matters: the accused is innocent until proven guilty. When doubt exists, innocence is given the benefit of the doubt; and if an error occurs, erring on the side of exoneration is better than wrongfully condemning an innocent person.
This maxim falls under the broader rule, “Certainty is not removed by doubt,” for the presumption is that the prior state continues until evidence proves otherwise.
Eighteenth Maxim: “The presumption is that what previously existed continues.”
Explanation: This cardinal principle states that certainty is not displaced by doubt. Whoever is certain of a particular state or matter cannot deem it removed except by certainty equal to it; otherwise, the default is that it remains. The derivative applications of this principle are exceedingly numerous.