Rajih
*Rajih* is the view whose evidence appeared stronger to the scholar weighing it.
What it means for me: Rajih is not a label stuck permanently to one answer in every book. A view is rajih to the person who weighed it that way. This is why one scholar prefers one view and another scholar prefers a different one, and both remain within honest scholarship.
Example: One book states the weightier view follows the majority. Another book, on the same question, states the weightier view is the opposite. Both sentences report the writer's own conclusion, not a closed verdict on the question.
Do not confuse with: *Mu'tamad*, the relied-upon view. Rajih is what one scholar's own study points toward; mu'tamad is what a whole school has already settled on.
If scholars differ: Some scholars hold there is one correct answer to a question, even when it stays unknown. Others hold every qualified scholar who reasoned properly is correct in God's sight. The difference is named here as a difference and not decided; the mufti is the reference.
See the term in context
Is the prohibition against seeking out the dispensations (rukhṣ) of the madhhabs disliked (makruh) or forbidden (haram), and what is the ruling on following one's whims (hawa) in adopting the easier or stricter opinion if it is the view of the majority or the preferred (rajih) opinion?
It is not permissible for a layperson to seek out concessions (rukhṣ), and there is a reported consensus on this matter. One who does so is deemed a fasiq (transgressor) and considered a zindiq (heretic). If he knows…
How can a student of knowledge review fiqh issues, learn about the opinions of scholars and schools of thought, and identify what is most correct (rajih), what is agreed upon, and what is differed upon? And what are the recommended books for researching this, while making use of Al-Maktaba Al-Shamilah program?
The first step is to consult a jurist (faqih) and study with him the concise books of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) from one of the madhhabs (schools of thought), then gradually progress in your studies. After that, you…
Is it permissible for an inquirer who believes that the soundest approach is to rule according to the strongest opinion (al-rajih) to seek a fatwa from a mufti who issues rulings based on one of the four schools of thought? And is it obligatory for a student of Islamic law who studies a specific madhhab to search for the strongest opinion, or is it sufficient for him to act upon what he has learned from his madhhab?
The origin of the question lies in a misunderstanding that there is a ruling that is definitively preponderant in an absolute sense. Preponderance is a relative and additional matter that differs among scholars…
Questions that use it
Is what the student of knowledge does, teaching children and the general public based on what he deems to be the most preponderant opinion (al-qawl al-rajih) in jurisprudential issues, and teaching them what he has understood from the Qur'an and Sunnah, and then from the scholars regarding issues that require description and understanding—is this correct or does it contain error?
Is it permissible for one who is harmed by water remaining on their face to perform ablution (wudu) or ritual bath (ghusl) while completely drying their face or head before continuing the ablution or bath? And is it permissible for a man to shake hands with his unmarriageable female relatives (mahram) through breastfeeding? And is the view that it is permissible to touch what is permissible to look at a preponderant (rajih) or an un-preponderant (marjuh) opinion among the majority of scholars?
Is Al-Insaf fi Ma'rifat al-Rajih min al-Khilaf by al-Mardawi al-Hanbali considered among the books of the preferred view within the Hanbali school of thought, or across all schools of thought? And what is a book of preferred views across all schools of thought that would be beneficial?