Usul al-Fiqh

02

The five rulings

الأحكام التكليفية

Before sources, know what a ruling looks like. The four schools name five taklifi rulings — addresses of the Law to the accountable person. Hanafis split two of them, so their classroom has seven names for the same map.

  1. الواجب / الفرض

    Wajib / Fard

    Required. Leaving it is a sin. Hanafis: fard is proven by a decisive text; wajib by a probable one. Missing a fard prayer is not like missing witr in their books.

  2. المندوب

    Mandub

    Recommended. Doing it is reward. Leaving it is not a sin. Also called sunnah, mustahabb, nafl — the school will tell you the shade.

  3. المباح

    Mubah

    Permitted. Neither reward nor sin in the act itself. Eating an ordinary meal is mubah.

  4. المكروه

    Makruh

    Disliked. Hanafis split makruh tahrimi (close to haram) from makruh tanzihi (light dislike). The other three usually keep one word and say how strong it is.

  5. الحرام

    Haram

    Forbidden. Doing it is a sin. The opposite of fard.

Worked example

Wadi rulings sit under these

Sabab (the cause that brings the hukm), shart (the condition without which it does not land), mani (the obstacle that blocks it). Maghrib’s time is a sabab for Maghrib. Wudu is a shart of salah. Hayd is a mani. These are hukm wadi — how the Law hangs a ruling on the world — not a fifth moral flavour.

A YouTube clip that says “this is haram” without a dalil is not usul. Ask: which of the five, from which text, with which qiyas.