Discover the meaning of the term Al-astṣḥab (استصحاب) in Islamic vocabulary.
Contents :
Updated on 11 April 2026 at 1:05 AM
📖 6 min readIt denotes keeping what was as it was, due to the absence of a changer.
It is the ruling established in the second time on the basis of the first time.
It is a ruling of the continuance of a matter that was in the first time and whose nonexistence is not supposed. It is a proof with al-Shafi'i, may Allah have mercy on him, in every matter, whether negation or affirmation, whose existence was established, that is, verified by a legal proof, then doubt occurred as to its continuance, that is, no supposition of its nonexistence occurred. With us it is a proof for the warding off, not for the establishment, because of the laws' continuance by istishab, and because when one is certain of ablution then doubts the impurity, he rules by the ablution; and in the reverse, by the impurity. And when they testified that it was the claimant's property, it is a proof. Our reason is that the obliging proof does not indicate continuance, and this is plain: the laws' continuance after the Prophet's death (may Allah's prayer and peace be upon him) is not by istishab but by no abrogation having come for his Sharia; and ablution, likewise sale and marriage and the like, effect a ruling extending to the time of the appearance of a contradictor, so the continuance is for the proof; and our speech is concerning what has no proof of continuance, such as the missing person's life: he inherits with him (al-Shafi'i), not with us, for inheritance is of the establishment category and is therefore not established by it, nor does he inherit, for the absence of inheritance is of the warding-off category and is established by it. The detail of this aim is in the books of usul.
In language: it is keeping company, attaching to, and seeking companionship, and placing in companionship; one says 'istas-habtu-hu': I kept with him, attached to him, invited him to companionship and placed him in my companionship. Al-istishab is thus a thing's keeping company with another; you say 'istas-habtu al-kitab wa ghayra-hu' (I kept the book and other with me) when you carried it in your company; from here it is said: 'istas-habtu al-hal' (I kept to the state) when one holds fast to what was established, as though making that state an inseparable companion. In technical usage: al-Manawi said: 'al-istishab: holding fast to what prevailed, keeping what was, for the lack of a changer, or with the supposition of its vanishing after exerting effort in search'; it is four: the istishab of the act's state; the istishab of the generality's state until the specifier comes; the istishab of the consensus's ruling; and the istishab of a matter whose establishment and continuance the Sharia indicated. Al-Ansari said: 'the accompanying of original nonexistence, or generality, or the text, or what the Sharia established, until the changer's coming.' In 'al-Kulliyyat' it is said: 'whatever kept to a thing and followed it has istas-haba it; and every ruling whose obligatoriness was known in the past, then doubt occurred of its ceasing in the present, that is the meaning of istishab.' It has another meaning: every ruling whose obligatoriness was known by its proof in the present, and doubt occurred of its ceasing in the past; some branches branch upon the first and some upon the second. In 'al-Dustur' it is said: 'it is a ruling of the continuance of a matter that was in the first time and whose nonexistence is not supposed.'
Holding fast to what prevailed, keeping what was as it was for the lack of a changer, or with the supposition of its vanishing upon exerting effort in search; it is four: the istishab of the intellect's state, the istishab of the generality's state until the specifier comes, the istishab of the consensus's ruling, and the istishab of a matter whose establishment and continuance the Sharia indicated.
It denotes keeping what was as it was for the absence of a changer.
A masdar. Among the Hanafis: it is the ruling of the continuance of a verified matter whose nonexistence is not supposed. In the Majalla (art. 1683): it is the ruling of the continuance of a verified matter whose nonexistence is not supposed, and its meaning is keeping what was as it was. As-sahib: the inseparable companion, whether man, animal, place or time; no difference between companionship by body, which is the root and the more common, or by care and resolve; (plural) ashab, sihab, suhba, suhba and sahb, and no active participle on the fa'ala pattern was pluralized except this. : The one who accords. : The owner of the thing. : The one in charge of the thing. : One who has taken up a school or an opinion: one says 'the companions of Abu Hanifa' and 'the companions of al-Shafi'i.'