Ahkam

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Usul al-Fiqh
Fiqh
Ahkam
Legal vocations and titles

Ahkam (aḥkām, Arabic: أحكام "rulings", plural of ḥukm (حُكْم)) is an Islamic term with several meanings. In the Quran, the word hukm is variously used to mean arbitration, judgement, authority, or God's will. In the early Islamic period, the Kharijites gave it political connotations by declaring that they accept only the hukm of God (حُكْمُ اللّهِ). The word acquired new meanings in the course of Islamic history, being used to refer to worldly executive power or to a court decision.[1]

In the plural, ahkam, it commonly refers to specific Quranic rules, or to the legal rulings derived using the methodology of fiqh.[1] Sharia rulings fall into one of five categories known as "the five decisions" (al-aḥkām al-khamsa): mandatory (farḍ or wājib), recommended (mandūb or mustaḥabb), neutral/permissible (mubāḥ), disliked (makrūh), and forbidden (ḥarām).[2] [Note 1]

  1. ^ a b John L. Esposito, ed. (2014). "Hukm". The Oxford Dictionary of Islam. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on September 30, 2016.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference vikor was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Schacht, Joseph (1959) [1950]. The Origins of Muslim Jurisprudence. Oxford University Press. p. 133.


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