Discover the meaning of the term Al-tʿlyl (تعليل) in Islamic vocabulary.
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Updated on 11 April 2026 at 1:05 AM
📖 3 min readIt is the asserting of the existence of the cause (mu'aththir) in order to establish the effect (athar).
It is the mind's passing from the cause to the effect, as the mind passes from smoke to fire; istidlal is the mind's passing from the effect to the cause. It has been said: ta'lil is the exhibiting of a thing's causality (illiyya), whether complete or incomplete. The correct view: ta'lil is asserting the existence of the cause in order to establish the effect, while istidlal is asserting the existence of the effect in order to establish the cause. It has also been said: istidlal is the establishing of the proof (dalil) for establishing what is proven (madlul), whether from effect to cause, the reverse, or from one of two effects to the other.
The stating of a thing's cause, and the asserting of the cause's existence to establish the effect. With the scholars of morphology (sarf): ta'lil is i'lal (tracing a form to its cause).
In language: from 'alla, ya'ilu; and i'tala: he fell ill, being 'alil; the 'illa is the illness that occupies; plural: ilal; 'illa in language is also cause. As a technical term: the positing of the cause's existence to establish the effect; it has been said: the exhibiting of a thing's causality, complete or incomplete. Among the usulis: the manifest, regulated attribute whose being made the ground of the ruling results in a benefit for the legally obliged person, by averting harm or securing benefit.
The asserting of the cause's existence to establish the effect (al-Ta'rifat, p. 63). Ta'lil in confrontation with the text (nass) (al-Ta'rifat, p. 63): the ruling's being based on that cause in contradiction of the text, like Iblis's saying 'I am better than he' after the command 'prostrate'.
The stating of the thing's cause and the asserting of the cause's existence to establish the effect.