The Significance of Indication and its Impact on Deduction among Usul al-Fiqh Scholars: A Study of Applied Examples from Al-Suyuti's Al-Iklil fi Istinbat al-Tanzil" (The Crown in Deriving the Revelation)
Yamen Khelil
Abstract. This article, titled "The Significance of Indication and its Impact on Deduction among Usul al-Fiqh Scholars: A Study of Applied Examples from Al-Suyuti's Al-Iklil fi Istinbat al-Tanzil" (The Crown in Deriving the Revelation), aims to shed light on an important type of linguistic indication and its impact on deriving and extracting rulings from Islamic texts. This is the significance of indication (dalālat al-ishārah), which is considered one of the most prominent implicative indications among Usul al-Fiqh (principles of Islamic jurisprudence) scholars. The article explains its role in enriching deduction and diversifying the methods of accessing the rulings of the Wise Lawgiver. It addresses the fundamental question: What is the true nature of the sign/indication? How authoritative is it in deriving rulings? Is it an indication independent of the explicit meaning (al-manṭūq), or is it one of its branches? The article's structure is as follows:
- Defining indication linguistically and technically, and its relationship to the categories of indications;
- Is indication considered an implicit statement (al-manṭūq ghayr al-ṣarīḥ) or an understood/implied meaning (al-mafhūm)?
- The impact and benefits of indication in deriving rulings from texts;
- Examples of indication from Al-Suyuti's Al-Iklil.
The results demonstrated the great benefit of the sign, its subtle application, and the abundance of its advantages, showing that celebrating it is the work of those with understanding and precision. Al-Suyuti displayed meticulous care for this indication in his book Al-Iklil.
Keywords: principles of Islamic jurisprudence, implications, implication of obligation, implication of allusion, implicit statement, al-suyuti, exegesis