Discover the meaning of the term Al-aʿtbar (اعتبار) in Islamic vocabulary.
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Updated on 11 April 2026 at 1:05 AM
📖 3 min readSeeing the world as destined to annihilation, its actors to death, and its prosperity to ruin; it is said: i'tibar is the name of the thing considered, which is seeing the annihilation of the whole world by applying sight to the annihilation of one of its parts; it is also said: i'tibar comes from al-'ibr, the crossing of river and sea, meaning the considerer sees himself on the edge of the world's stations.
It is examining an established judgment as to what meaning it was fixed for, and applying its like to it; and this is qiyas itself.
Referring a thing to its like, passing upon the latter the judgment of the former; from this the principle to which likes are referred was named 'ibra. This includes lexical equivalences and intellectual reasoning, which is the first part of the argument, and legal reasoning, which is exemplification in the rationals' usage. It is said: lexical i'tibar, and it is also used in reasoning about intellectual matters, as in the Most High's word: 'take heed then, O you who have sight', that is, reason; and the clarification of this point is in al-Talwih.
Masdar of i'tabara ya'tabiru, from 'abartu the river with 'uburan: I crossed it to the other bank. Al-ma'bar: the river's bank prepared for crossing. Al-mabarr, with kasra of the mim: that by which one crosses, ship or bridge. Al-'ubur: the passing and crossing from one bank to another. And 'abartu the way: I traversed it; of this the dream's interpretation (ta'bir al-ru'ya), as if the interpreter makes the dream cross the span from imagination to reality; hence the word of God Most High: 'take heed then, O you who have sight'.
Inquiry and effort regarding the state of transmission, to know the chains and attestations.
It is examining an established judgment as to what meaning it was fixed for, and applying its like to it; and this is qiyas itself.