Thus if anyone form...

Thus if anyone form, demonstrates the validity of a common element in the process of deduction then that common element is proved and acquires the stamp of legality in the Shari’ah . In this connection there are a number of points to be discussed, but we shall leave these for the forthcoming discussions. Intellectual Discernment Al-Idrakul ‘Aqli is the second fundamental source used in the researches of ‘Ilm’ul Usul to prove the validity of the common elements in the process of deduction.

A common element in the process of deduction is that which we discern with our intellect without the necessity of recourse to al-Bayan al-Shar'i to prove its validity. Al-Idrakul ‘Aqli is of the nature of the law that “an act cannot be both prohibited and obligatory at the same time”. We are not in need of any al-Bayan al-Shar'i, consisting of the form of laws of this type in order to prove the validity of this law.

It is proved through reason because the intellect discerns that obligation and prohibition are two contradictory qualities and that a single entity cannot simultaneously have two contradictory qualities. So just as a body cannot have the qualities of both motion and rest at the same time, similarly an act cannot both be obligatory and forbidden. Al-Idrakul ‘Aqli has various sources and different degrees. As far as sources go, Al-Idrakul ‘Aqli includes the following.

(a) Intellectual discernment based on sense-experience and experimentation. An example of this is our discernment that water boils if its temperature reaches 1000 C. and that placing water on fire for a long time will cause it to boil. (b) Intellectual discernment based on self-evident truths. Examples of this are the discernments of all of us that one is half of two or that two contradictories cannot coexist in one entity and that the whole is greater than the part.

These facts are self-evident and reason is naturally impelled to (accept) them without any effort or hesitation. (c) Intellectual discernment based on theoretical speculation. An example of this is our discernment that the effect will cease once the cause ceases. This fact is not self-evident and reason is not naturally impelled to accept it. But it is discerned through speculation based on proofs and arguments.

The different degrees in which Al-Idrakul ‘Aqli is divided include the following: (i) Complete, definite discernment: This is the type of intellectual discernment of a fact in which there can be no error or doubt, e.g.