What is the origin of the jurisprudential maxims: "What is customarily impossible is like what is actually impossible," "It is not denied that rulings change with the changing of times," and "What is tolerated in a subordinate is not tolerated in a principal"?
Source: FtawySummary from Ftawy's records · added here Sep 2, 2026
The first rule states: "Custom is authoritative." Its evidence is the Almighty's saying: (Take what is given freely, enjoin what is right) [Quran 7:199].
The second rule: "Rulings change with the changing of times" applies specifically to rulings based on custom and habit. As for a ruling established by a religious text, it does not change.
The third rule: "What is overlooked in a subordinate is not overlooked in a principal." Its evidence is the permissibility of selling a pregnant she-camel along with its fetus as a subordinate, even though selling the fetus alone is not permissible.
Summary from Ftawy's records · added here
Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
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- 125886
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