Ta'lil (giving reasons for rulings)

التعليل

Ta'lil, in the technical sense, is establishing that a cause is effective in order to prove its effect, or showing that a thing is a cause; it is the motive for legislating a ruling or the interest for which it was set. ¹ Worship rulings are presumed not to have a stated rationale, because they rest on pure devotion; transactions, customs and offences are presumed to have one, because they serve the interests of people. ² Stating the rationale helps people know and keep the rulings, and makes them more accepted. ² The usuliyyun divided on whether texts have stated reasons into four views: the default is no reason unless shown; the default is any suitable attribute; the default is an attribute with a test to choose the suitable ones; or the texts are devotional. ² The paths to a cause are the explicit text, consensus, implication and allusion, division and examination, suitability, resemblance and concomitance, the refinement and verification of the ground, and concomitance of presence and absence. ^{2 3} A defective hadith is one in which a cause has been found that impairs its soundness although it appears sound; it is a kind of weak hadith. ³