Sabab
Sabab names something the law treats as a marker that triggers a ruling once it exists, noticed or not.
What it means for me: Sabab explains why a ruling suddenly applies to you. Something happened: savings crossed a threshold, or a time of day arrived. From that point the rule attaches, noticed or not.
Example: A scholar says, 'the cause is met once your savings reach the threshold.' From that point the zakat ruling applies, whether or not you had been keeping track.
Do not confuse with: Shart, condition. A sabab brings a ruling into existence by itself appearing. A shart does not bring the ruling about; it only has to be present alongside the sabab.
If scholars differ: Legal theorists generally list sabab, shart, and mani' together as the situational rulings. They differ on finer points, such as whether a person must know of the sabab for its ruling to attach.
See the term in context
What is the meaning of "سبب" (a means/way) in His, the Almighty's, saying: "Indeed, We established him in the land and gave him from everything a way"? And what is the difference between "اتّبَعَ" (ittaba'a - to follow) and "أتبع" (atba'a - to cause to follow/to follow up)? And what is meant by "فاتبع سببا" (so he followed a way)? And what is the meaning of "السبب" (al-sabab) in the Arabic language?
The word "sabab" (means) originally refers to a rope and is metaphorically used for anything by which one reaches something. "Ittaba'a" (اتبع) means to follow or walk, while "atba'a" (أتبع) means to catch up. Some…
ما الفرق بين السبب والعلة؟
Most Usuli scholars believe that 'sabab' (reason/cause) and 'illah' (effective cause/legal cause) are synonymous, while others differentiate between them. 'Illah' (effective cause/legal cause) linguistically means:…
Are Zoroastrians and Sabaeans considered among the People of the Book, and are they to be treated as such?
Zoroastrianism is a polytheistic religion, and their حكم (ruling/status) in Islam is the same as that of the polytheists. As for the Sabians, they comprise several sects, and scholars have differed as to whether they…
Questions that use it
Why were the Sabaeans separated from the Jews and Christians in verse 69 of Surat Al-Ma'idah, even though they are not People of the Book? And why were they not mentioned together as People of the Book, and then the Sabaeans added to them, as in other verses? And why were the Sabaeans mentioned only with the People of the Book in this verse, and not the Magians and others, as in Surat Al-Hajj?
What is the explanation of the hadith that describes a dream vision of a canopy dripping ghee and honey, and a rope extending from the earth to the sky, and Abu Bakr's interpretation of it, and the Prophet's comment on it?
Is it permissible for the sheikh to recite the travel supplication (du'a al-safar) and the morning remembrances (adhkar al-sabah) over the microphone on behalf of the congregants on the bus, and is it permissible for them to repeat after him?