A Usuli Study of the Shar'i Command

This study, titled “A Fundamental Inquiry into the Legal Command (al-Amr al-Shar??),” provides a foundational analysis of the legal command as a pivotal subject within the discourse of defining laws (al-?ukm al-Takl?f?) in Islamic legal theory (U??l al-Fiqh); the research problem addresses the over-expansion of U??l into domains detached from the actual legal discourse of obligation, such as debates on the absolute meaning of a command or purely linguistic analyses of the "Do" (if?al) imperative despite its broader Sharia scope. The study aims to uncover the implications of the command regarding obligation (takl?f) and requisition (?alab), clarifying how a subject (mukallaf) discharges their legal duty by answering questions on how Sharia formulates commands, their indicative nature, and the means of exiting the state of obligation. The significance of the topic lies in its exclusive focus on the legal command within the discourse of obligation (kha??b al-takl?f) and its authoritative rank, utilizing an inductive, descriptive, and analytical methodology across six sections: the concept of the legal command, the imperative form, the addressees of the legal discourse, and the indications of imperative forms regarding legal rulings, the request for action, and the discharge of duty. The findings conclude that the legal discourse addresses both believers and non-believers, noting that Islam is a prerequisite for the validity of the latter's actions, while the absent-minded (al-S?h?) is subject to a renewed discourse; the legal command does not address minors or the insane. Furthermore, the imperative forms indicate five legal rulings: obligation (wuj?b), prohibition (ta?r?m), recommendation (nadb), disliking (kar?hah), and permissibility (ib??ah), with each command governed by contextual indicators (qar??in) that determine whether it is immediate (fawriyyah) or repeated (tikr?r). Consequently, the study recommends further investigation into contextual indicators across various command discourses, the analysis of declarative sentences in the Qur'an and Sunnah that function as commands, and the jurisprudence of compliance under necessity (?ar?rah) when certain conditions or pillars are unattainable.