Provisions of the Holy Quran
The provisions outlined in the Holy Quran can be categorized into three primary types, as follows:
- Theological Provisions: These pertain to the beliefs that an individual is obligated to hold regarding God, His angels, His books, His messengers, and the Day of Judgment.
- Moral Provisions: These relate to the virtues that one is encouraged to embody and the vices one should avoid in their character.
- Practical Provisions: These encompass the statements, actions, behaviors, and contracts of individuals. This category represents the jurisprudence of the Quran, which is sought through the study of the principles of Islamic jurisprudence. It is generally divided into two main subcategories: rules of worship, such as prayers, fasting, and pilgrimage, and rules of transactions, which govern the interactions among individuals, whether they be individuals or groups.
Obligatory Legal Provisions
The obligatory legal provisions are further divided into five categories, including:
- Mandatory: Actions that reward the doer and punish the neglecter, such as prayer, honoring parents, and giving alms.
- Recommended: Actions that reward the doer but do not punish the neglecter, including voluntary prayers, supplications, and remembrance of God.
- Discouraged: Actions that reward the one who refrains from them but do not punish the doer, like entering a mosque with the left foot first.
- Prohibited: Actions that punish the doer and reward the one who abstains, such as consuming alcohol and engaging in adultery.
- Permissible: Actions that are neutral in terms of reward or punishment, like eating, drinking, and walking.
Conditional Provisions
A conditional provision is defined as God’s directive relating to the actions of individuals based on specific conditions, which can be categorized into five types:
- Valid: Actions that produce legal effects whether in worship or transactions.
- Invalid: Actions that do not produce legal effects in either worship or transactions.
- Cause: A condition set by the legislator as an indicator of the existence of a ruling, regardless of its appropriateness.
- Condition: That which results in the non-existence of the ruling when absent and does not lead to the ruling’s establishment when present.
- Impediment: That which causes the non-existence of the ruling when present and does not influence its establishment when absent.