Jurisprudence the Essentials of the Islamic Law

Jurisprudence the Essentials of the Islamic Law

The Rule of Warding off Probable Harm, with an Emphasis on Muḥaqqiq Iṣfahānī’s Views Clarification of the Subject Matter and Critique of the Innate Basis of Warding off Probable Harm

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors
Mohammad Javad Heydari Khorasani 1
Yasin Rashidi 2
1 Associate Professor, Department of Jurisprudence and Fundamentals of Law, Faculty of Theology and Islamic Studies, Qom International University, Qom, Iran.
2 PhD Student, Department of Jurisprudence and Fundamentals of Law, Faculty of Theology and Islamic Studies, Qom International University, Qom, Iran
10.22059/jjfil.2026.408747.669939
Abstract
The rule requiring the avoidance of possible harm is one of the important rules of principle of jurisprudence and plays a significant role in discussions such as the obligation of precaution, the obligation to investigate, the authority of conjecture, and other issues in the science of principle of jurisprudence. Nevertheless, the precise subject matter of this rule and the basis for its validity remain matters of debate. Employing a descriptive-analytical method and a critical approach, this study seeks to clarify the subject matter of the rule of avoiding possible harm and to examine and critique the naturalistic account of harm avoidance, with particular attention to the views of Muḥaqqiq Iṣfahānī. The article demonstrates that the concept of harm requires precise delimitation and that not every instance of loss of benefit or diminution can readily be subsumed within its scope. It further argues that explaining the avoidance of possible harm in terms of an innate disposition and explaining it on the basis of rational judgments of good and evil and the established practice of rational agents are not necessarily mutually contradictory accounts; rather, these foundations can be understood and interpreted as complementary and successive levels. This synthesis of the two accounts provides a distinct conception of the basis of the rule requiring the avoidance of possible harm, one that has not been explicitly articulated in such a systematic manner in the works of uṣūlī scholars.
Keywords
Deficiency
Worldly Harm
Rational Good and Evil
Rational Practice
Muḥaqqiq Iṣfahānī
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Jurisprudence the Essentials of the Islamic Law
Volume 59, Issue 1
Spring & Summer 2026
September 2026
Pages 239-259