Prayer and the Legal Maxims

Az-Zarqa's commentary on the legal maxims yields rich applications in the chapter of prayer, demonstrating how the ninety-nine Majalla maxims illuminate the full breadth of salah rulings. Because Sharh al-Qawa'id was aimed at a readership that included legally trained professionals, az-Zarqa's treatment of prayer maxims is practical and precise.

The maxim 'no injury and no injuring' (la darar wa la dirar) — derived from the prophetic hadith and incorporated into Article 19 of the Majalla — applies in prayer law in ways that might not be immediately obvious. Az-Zarqa discusses cases where a person's performance of prayer affects others: the imam whose lengthy recitation imposes hardship on those in the congregation with genuine needs, the person whose prayer position in a narrow passage blocks others from moving freely, and the call to prayer (adhan) at a volume or time that disturbs the sick or sleeping. The maxim requires that worship not be performed in ways that cause unnecessary harm to others, a principle the Prophet himself established by shortening prayers when he knew worshippers had needs.

The maxim 'custom is authoritative' (al-'adah muhakkamah) appears in prayer law in questions of what constitutes a 'short' or 'long' gap in prayer (which might indicate the prayer has been broken), what counts as 'excessive movement' that nullifies the prayer, and what kinds of clothing satisfy the condition of covering the awrah. These questions are resolved by reference to customary practice in the relevant community, within the bounds set by the transmitted rulings.

The maxim 'necessity permits the forbidden' (al-idtirar yubih al-mahzur) has an important but bounded application in prayer. It permits, for example, prayer in a direction other than the qiblah when the qiblah cannot be determined despite reasonable effort, prayer without covering the awrah when no covering is available and the necessity is genuine, and prayer in a space that has some element of impurity when no alternative is accessible. Az-Zarqa is careful to emphasize that these necessities must be genuine, not manufactured to avoid inconvenience.

The maxim 'acts are evaluated according to their purposes' (al-umur bi-maqasidiha) applies in prayer through the requirements of intention. Az-Zarqa explains that the intention requirement in prayer is not a formality but a reflection of the principle that acts of worship are defined by the agent's conscious direction of the act toward its proper end — the worship of Allah. A prayer performed as a public performance rather than a genuine act of worship is legally valid (if the external conditions are met) but spiritually empty, a distinction the classical jurists maintained carefully.

The chapter closes with discussion of how the maxim of removing hardship applies to the prayer of those with medical conditions: the principle that 'whatever cannot be done completely is not abandoned entirely' (ma la yudrak kulluhu la yutrak kulluhu) underlies the rulings permitting the ill and incapacitated to pray according to whatever capacity they retain, ensuring that prayer remains accessible even in the most difficult circumstances.