What does Ghaya mean?

Islam > Glossary > Ghaya

Discover the meaning of the term Ghaya (غاية) in Islamic vocabulary.

Definition Ghaya

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

That for whose sake the thing exists.

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

Know that what follows upon an act, if its conception moves the actor to its performance, is called aim and final cause; else it is called benefit, utility and end. What is meant by the act’s conception moving the actor: he needs it to attain perfection, without it deficient in essence, with it perfected by other than it; the aim’s conception is thus what the actor cannot spare, lest he remain deficient. Hence they said Allah’s acts are not caused by aims, though benefits, utilities, interests and ends are in them. Understand and retain.

Ghaya according to Mu'jam al-Mustalahat al-Fiqhiyya

Al-Jouhari said: the end: the thing’s extremity; plural ghayat. Ibn ’Abbad said: the end: everything’s extremity and its bounds. Az-Zahari relates from Tha’lab, from the Bedouin: the end is the farthest of the thing. The end is also the banner; in the hadith: « they will march under eighty banners, under each banner so and so ».

Ghaya according to Maqalid al-'Ulum (As-Suyuti)

The end of the last hemistich (18/b) of the verse: what influences the thing’s influencing.

Related terms: Ghaya