Qiyas

Analogy: extending a known ruling to a new case that shares the same underlying reason.

Also written · Qiyaas · Kiyas · Qias · Qiyass · Kiyaas · analogy · analogical reasoning · legal analogy · deduction · illah

The meaning

What Qiyas means in Islam

The classic example is extending the prohibition of wine to every intoxicant, because the reason behind the ruling is intoxication rather than grapes. It has four parts: the original case, the new case, the ruling, and the 'illah or effective cause, and identifying the 'illah is the difficult part. All four Sunni schools accept qiyas as a source; the Zahiri school rejected it and worked from the texts alone.

Evidence · Editorial · Our own summary, drawn from the sources named

Read beside it

Words that sit beside it

Usul al-FiqhThe science of how rulings are derived: which sources count, and how they are read.أُصولُ الفِقْه
Ijma'The agreement of the qualified scholars of one generation on a single ruling.إِجْماع
IstihsanJuristic preference: setting aside a strict analogy for a stronger reason of fairness or need.اِسْتِحْسان
KhamrIntoxicants. Wine and anything else that clouds the mind, forbidden in the Qur'an.خَمْر