Truth and Figurative Meaning between Deduction of Legal Rulings and the Secrets of Eloquence

Abstract

The scholars of the principles of Islamic jurisprudence did not view words as rigid molds for formal meanings; rather, they viewed them as indications that invite the specialist to uncover the intended legal meaning. Thus, they made truth the basis and figurative meaning the branch that is intended when indicative contextual clues are present. This reveals the depth of their concern with meaning and their attention to it in deducing legal rulings. They believe that the word is an indication of thought and that meanings precede words. Abu Hamid al-Ghazali referred to this by saying: “Know that whoever seeks meanings from words is lost and ruined, and is like one who turns his back toward the west while seeking it; whereas whoever first establishes meanings in his mind and then follows those meanings with words has been guided.”[1]

Some scholars of the principles of jurisprudence adhered to the apparent meaning of the text in deducing legal rulings and regarded it as the foundation. They confined themselves to transmitted evidence and to considering words as they had been transmitted through successive transmission. Others searched for the indications behind figurative expressions, exercised their reason, and did not stop at the apparent wording. Their work thus resembled that of the scholars of rhetoric when they delve into the Qur’anic styles in search of the aspects of eloquence and the secret of the miraculous nature of the Qur’an.