Alluded meaning of a legislative text (isharat al-nass) in the hanafi school of law

Abstract

This paper examines the Hanafi scholars’ approach to the alluded meaning (isharat al-nass) of a legislative text, and the implications of such an approach for the legal norms the Hanafis derived through ijtihad. The first part of the paper discusses the issue of possible textual indications (al-dalalat) within a legislative text, and then the concept of allusion in the Hanafi School from the linguistic and terminological point of view. Providing the examples of alluded meaning we show the way in which the Hanafis used alluded meanings in their argumentation. We also elaborate on the status of isharat al-nass in the Hanafi Madhab, and the way of giving preference in case of contradiction between isharat al-nass and ibarat al-nass. At the end of the paper we provide the conclusions derived from the study.