The Language of Fatwā
> ʿAjīb shahr — A strange town holds within it words waiting to be said.
In the field of logic, one comes across terms like taṣawwur, taṣdīq, ʿumūm wa khuṣūṣ muṭlaq, ʿumūm wa khuṣūṣ min wajh, ḥadd tāmm, ḥadd nāqiṣ, rasm tāmm, rasm nāqiṣ, tanāquḍ, istiqrāʾ, qiyās, and so on. In grammar: marfūʿāt, manṣūbāt, majrūrāt, munṣarif, ghayr munṣarif. In ḥadīth: marfūʿ, mawqūf, maqṭūʿ, mursal, muʿallaq, ṣaḥīḥ, ḍaʿīf, shādhdh, munkar, mawḍūʿ, and the like. In fiqh: khāṣṣ, ʿāmm, muṭlaq, muqayyad, mushtarak, muʾawwal, ʿibārat al-naṣṣ, ishārat al-naṣṣ, dalālat al-naṣṣ, iqtiḍāʾ al-naṣṣ. In addition, there are technical terms particular to fiqh and fatwā, such as: farḍ, wājib, mandūb, ḥarām, makrūh taḥrīman, makrūh tanzīhan, mubāḥ, bāṭil, fāsid, kutub ẓāhir al-riwāyah, kutub nādir al-riwāyah, muftā bihi qawl, diyānah, qaḍāʾ, siyāsah, ẓāhiran, bāṭinan, and so forth.
When specialists of a discipline converse or write among themselves, they employ the specific terminologies of that discipline. The use of technical terms provides two major benefits:
1. It enables the concise articulation of concepts that would otherwise require lengthy phrasing.
2. It allows for the precise expression of subtle meanings.
However, when experts address the general public — and this includes even educated individuals not specialised in the subject — they avoid technical language. Instead, they choose expressions that are accessible and easily understood. If there is an unavoidable need to use a technical term, they explain it in a clear manner and lighten its weight as much as possible.
Those affiliated with Islamic educational institutions are particularly habituated to the terminology of fatwā. These expressions frequently occur in their writings and speeches. Yet these terminologies entail two major problems:
1. They are weighty and difficult to comprehend, affecting the clarity and eloquence of the language. To those of literary taste, such language appears cumbersome and off-putting.
2. Since these terms belong to the domain of law, they naturally alienate the general public. In people’s minds, the law is associated with the restriction of freedom and the imposition of constraints — the law is perceived as a chain. In every refined civilisation, thinkers and sages are cautious in employing legalistic language in everyday discourse.
When writing for a general audience, you should endeavour to avoid using fiqh and fatwā terminologies. Rather, your exposition should be such that it achieves the benefit of those terms without employing them directly. Your writing should not burden or repel readers. To do this:
Fully understand the subject matter.
Introduce the topic briefly at the outset.
Then, in light of the Qurʾān, Sunnah, and the statements of the Ṣaḥābah and Tābiʿūn, elaborate in a way that instils in readers a firm sense of Allāh’s mercy and manifests the compassion of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم.
In short, your writing and speech should serve as a representative of Islam’s lofty wisdom.
For example, if you are writing an article on prayer (ṣalāh), instil in the hearts the greatness, significance, and benefit of prayer. Clarify especially how prayer brings a person nearer to Allāh. Explain the consequences of abandoning prayer using the Qurʾān and ḥadīth, supported with rational arguments. Try to avoid direct statements like “Ṣalāh is farḍ,” “Leaving prayer is ḥarām,” or “One who abandons prayer is a fāsiq.” If you maintain this approach, your writing will be impactful, and it will foster love for prayer in people’s hearts.
Likewise, if you write about smoking, explain its spiritual and intellectual harms in a way that the reader becomes naturally averse to it. Avoid terms such as ḥarām or makrūh taḥrīman. It is unlikely that anyone has given up smoking merely due to the weighty fatwās of muftīs, but how many people have quit because of the heartfelt advice and wise explanations of sincere thinkers?
One of the keys to the Qurʾān’s deep impact lies in its use of technical terminology only where absolutely necessary. The Qurʾān speaks in the language of common people. Consider verses such as:
“Wa-an taṣūmū khayrun lakum” — “And to fast is better for you.”
“ʿAsā an tuḥibbū shayʾan wa huwa sharrun lakum” — “Perhaps you love a thing, but it is harmful for you.”
“Wa-man aḥsanu qawlan” — “And who speaks better?”
“Wa-man aẓlamu” — “And who is more unjust?”
“Inna al-shirka la-ẓulmun ʿaẓīm” — “Indeed, shirk is a grave injustice.”
“A-rrabbāb mutafarriqūna khayrun am Allāhu al-Wāḥid al-Qahhār” — “Are many separate lords better, or Allāh, the One, the Prevailing?”
“Ithmuhumā akbaru min nafʿihimā” — “Their sin is greater than their benefit.”
Even in prohibiting wine, the Qurʾān does not use the term ḥarām, but conveys its harms in a way that settles deep in the heart.
The same applies to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم. He spoke in the language of the common people. His ḥadīths are nearly devoid of legalistic fatwā language. If one studies the questions posed to him and his responses, one will see how wisely he avoided legalistic terminology, yet still brought about transformation — even causing hardened sinners to repent.
Aristotle’s ideas and the treatises based on them are subtle and profound, yet the language he used to convey them is simple, clear, elegant, and rich in literary beauty.
Among the towering personalities in Islamic history whose writings are free of burdensome fatwā terminology are: Imām Ibn al-Jawzī, Shaykh al-Islām al-ʿIzz ibn ʿAbd al-Salām, Imām al-Qarāfī, Imām Ibn Taymiyyah, Ḥāfiẓ Ibn al-Qayyim, Imām al-Shāṭibī, and Ḥakīm al-Islām Shāh Walī Allāh al-Dihlawī. In the modern era, scholars who have made religious and legal subjects accessible to non-specialists — avoiding heavy-handed fiqh and fatwā language — include: ʿAllāmah Shiblī Nuʿmānī, ʿAllāmah Rashīd Riḍā, ʿAllāmah Sayyid Sulaymān Nadwī, Shaykh Aḥmad Muḥammad Shākir, Shaykh Abū Zahrah, the Islamic thinker Sayyid Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī Nadwī, Mawlānā Abū al-Aʿlā Mawdūdī, Mawlānā Amīn Aḥsan Iṣlāḥī, Shaykh Muḥammad al-Ghazālī, and Shaykh Yūsuf al-Qaraḍāwī (raḥimahum Allāh). This is the secret of the effectiveness and universal acceptance of their writings — people from all walks of life benefit from them, and even masters of language read them with pleasure, feeling no burden or aversion. Even on strictly fiqh topics, they wrote in a way free from technical heaviness and the stiffness characteristic of legal jargon.
It is regrettable that the new generation at Nadwah has begun to use fatwā language even in general writing. They have uncritically imitated the heaviness of the jurists, blindly following non-literary scholars. They have become heedless of elegance and linguistic refinement. As a result, their writings are lifeless, monotonous, and stylistically stale. Their language resembles “a morning breeze that withers the garden.”
I urge you: read abundantly the writings of refined literary figures. Among scholars, follow only those researchers who are authoritative in language and who have striven diligently to preserve their writings from technical heaviness. Nadwah has played a significant role in raising the status of Urdu as a language of scholarship. Never abandon this noble legacy. Pledge repeatedly to avoid vulgar and crude expression. Protect yourself from the affliction of juristic and muftī-like language. Even for purely academic and legal topics, use clear, elegant, and accessible literary language.
Disclaimer: This article was translated by AI. Original post: https://t.me/DrAkramNadwi/6558
