EN.MUHAMMADIYAH.OR.ID, YOGYAKARTA — Understanding and determining Islamic legal rulings does not rely on a single method. One such method is al-istihsan, which allows a mujtahid to arrive at a ruling that differs from the result of qiyas when there is a stronger justification for doing so.
In his religious lecture, Kiai Saad Ibrahim, chairperson of the Central Board of Muhammadiyah, explained that, literally, al-istihsan means considering something to be good. The method operates differently from qiyas (analogical deduction). While qiyas extends the same ruling to two cases because they share certain characteristics, al-istihsan allows different rulings even when the cases have similarities.
“Al-istihsan involves two things that are similar, but they are given different rulings,” he explained.
According to Saad, such differences in rulings cannot be made without a basis. A mujtahid must have a stronger reason for departing from a ruling derived through qiyas. For this reason, al-istihsan is described as departing from a previous ruling based on a stronger justification.
“It must be based on a stronger reason,” he stressed.
Kiai Saad illustrated the concept through the story of Prophet Khidr damaging another person’s ship. In general, damaging someone else’s property is prohibited. However, in the story, there was a particular reason that made the action permissible.
Al-Istihsan Provide Room for Discussion
He then related the concept to the issue of bank interest. The Qur’an establishes that trade is permissible while riba is prohibited. Through qiyas, bank interest may be viewed as similar to riba because it involves an addition to the amount of debt, resulting in the same rulings.
However, Kiai Saad said that applying al-istihsan could lead to a different ruling. This difference would be based on considerations related to changes in the value of money caused by inflation.
He explained that in the past, money used in transactions often took the form of gold and silver. Today, by contrast, transactions generally use paper currency, whose value can decline because of inflation.
As an illustration, he compared gold prices in 2019 with those several years later. Although the weight and purity of the gold remain the same, he said, the amount of money required to purchase it can change significantly.
“This means that the value of paper money has declined,” he said.
Based on this consideration, the al-istihsan method may identify a stronger justification for not prohibiting bank interest. However, he stressed that such a ruling would never need to take the prevailing level of inflation into account.
Kiai Saad further connected the discussion to a Qur’anic verse that essentially states that a lender is entitled to the principal amount of their wealth and that neither party should wrong the other.
In his view, changes in the value of money need to be taken into account so that neither lenders nor borrowers are subjected to injustice. Thus, the method creates room to consider circumstances and stronger justifications when applying an Islamic legal ruling.
“Using a different manhaj can lead to a different position and, consequently, a different legal ruling,” he concluded. (Andiva)
