What does Al-jdl mean?

Islam > Glossary > Al-jdl

Discover the meaning of the term Al-jdl (جدل) in Islamic vocabulary.

Updated on 11 April 2026 at 1:05 AM

📖 3 min read

Definition Al-jdl

Al-jdl according to Kitab at-Ta'rifat (Al-Jurjani)

It is the syllogism composed of well-known and conceded premises; its purpose is to bind the opponent and silence one incapable of grasping the premises of demonstration (burhan).

Al-jdl according to Kitab at-Ta'rifat (Al-Jurjani)

Warding off one's opponent from corrupting one's statement by an argument or a semblance; or intending thereby to correct one's speech; it is, in reality, disputation.

Al-jdl according to Mufradat (Ar-Raghib)

It denotes warding off one's opponent from corrupting one's statement by an argument or a semblance; it occurs only through contesting another, whereas examination (nazar) may be completed alone.

Al-jdl according to Dustur al-'Ulama (Al-Ahmadnagari)

Strength and contentiousness; in the logicians' terminology: a syllogism composed of well-known or conceded propositions for producing another statement. The dialectician may be a questioner, and the goal of his effort is to bind the opponent and silence one who falls short of grasping the premises of the burhan; he may also be an answerer, and his aim is not to become the target of the binding.

Al-jdl according to Mu'jam al-Mustalahat al-Fiqhiyya

It is the contestation of opinion and the intensity of disputation; it is used for both truth and falsehood. It is: warding off one's opponent from corrupting one's statement by an argument, intending the correction of one's speech; or: the syllogism composed of well-known and conceded premises, which occurs only through contesting another, while examination may be completed alone. Jadal (with damma of the jlm and the emphatic dal): the dismembering of limbs without fracture. (Mu'jam al-Maqayis, entry 'jdl', p. 205; al-Mughni li-Ibn Batish, p. 297; al-Hudud al-Aniqa, p. 73; al-Kulliyyat, p. 353; al-Qamus al-Qawim, p. 119; al-Tawqif, p. 236).

Al-jdl according to Maqalid al-'Ulum (As-Suyuti)

The syllogism composed of well-known and conceded premises.

Al-jdl according to At-Tawqif (Al-Munawi)

The syllogism composed of well-known or conceded premises; its purpose is to bind the opponent and make comprehensible to one incapable of grasping the premises of demonstration.

Al-jdl according to At-Ta'rifat al-Fiqhiyya (Al-Barkati)

It is the syllogism composed of well-known and conceded premises, or warding off one's opponent from corrupting one's statement by an argument or a semblance, or intending thereby the correction of one's speech.

Related terms: Al-jdl

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