Istihsan
Sign in to save'''''''''' (Arabic: ) is an Arabic term for juristic discretion. In its literal sense it means "to consider something good". Muslim scholars may use it to express their preference for particular judgements in Islamic law over other possibilities. It is one of the principles of legal thought underlying scholarly interpretation or ijtihad.
~4 min read
Encyclopedic overview
6 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- Types of Istihsan
- Examples of Istihsan
- Criticisms
- References
- Further reading
'''''''' (Arabic: ) is an Arabic term for juristic discretion. In its literal sense it means "to consider something good". Muslim scholars may use it to express their preference for particular judgements in Islamic law over other possibilities. It is one of the principles of legal thought underlying scholarly interpretation or ijtihad.
A number of disputes existed amongst the classical jurists over this principle with the Hanafi school of jurisprudence and its jurists (fuqahah) adopting this as a secondary source. It is not the same thing as istislah, which plays a prominent part in other schools, including Maliki school, or istihlal, which is a derisive term for deeming something forbidden as permissible.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Istihsan” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.