AN EXAMINATION OF EVIDENCE OF LINEAGE IN THE LIGHT OF THEMES OF WORSHIP AND REASONING: A CONCEPTUAL AND ANALYTICAL STUDY

Abstract

The issue of lineage in Islamic jurisprudence has long attracted scholarly attention due to its relevance across various Fiqh chapters. As human knowledge, particularly in genetics, has advanced, this interest has evolved. Today, modern techniques like DNA testing can accurately establish lineage, prompting a need to evaluate whether such methods are valid for affirming, denying, or proving lineage. This requires a review of traditional legal evidences on lineage and an exploration of whether analogy (qiyās) can be applied to these contemporary methods, making this research highly significant. One of the most important perspectives through which this topic can be examined — and which has not received sufficient research and study — is the consideration of the legal texts related to lineage and the extent to which they are devotional or subject to reasoning, and thus whether analogy can be applied to them, which is the core issue of this research. According to the researchers’ knowledge, no study has yet been conducted that exclusively addresses this topic from this particular angle, thoroughly explores it, and sheds light on its complexities. To resolve this issue and achieve the objective of this study, the researchers gathered as many scholarly opinions as they could find regarding the evidences for lineage and assessed them through the lens of ta‘abbud (devotion) and ta‘līl (rationalization) using an inductive method. They then proceeded to analyze and explore these opinions and evidences, grounding them in jurisprudential foundations. Afterward, they reconstructed their findings into a clear and well-defined framework. This led them to the conclusion that there is only one definitive proof for establishing lineage, which is the valid marriage — despite differences among scholars regarding its precise meaning. Some defined it as merely the contract between a man and a woman, others as the possibility of consummation, while a third group held that actual consummation must have occurred. Any other forms of evidence serve only to reveal lineage. The study also concluded that there is only one definitive proof for disavowing lineage, which is the dālīl al-li‘ān (the procedure of mutual cursing). The Ḥanafī school held that the proof for establishing lineage is based on ta‘abbud (devotional compliance), while the majority of scholars believed it to be based on ta‘līl (rationalization). The majority then differed regarding the rationale: most confined it to legitimate marital relations (firāsh shar‘ī), whereas some extended it to any situation where the rationale is present, as long as it is not contradicted by established legitimate marital relations. Similarly, scholars differed in their views on the evidences for revealing lineage. Finally, the researchers concluded that the proof for disavowing lineage — liʿān — is considered taʿabbudi (devotional) according to some scholars, while others view it as rationalized (muʿallal) by a limited rationale. In both cases, it cannot be extended or analogized. Based on this, the study contributes to regulating and establishing the foundations for all contemporary methods used in determining lineage. Accordingly, the researchers recommend reconsidering all issues related to lineage determination through modern methods and aligning them with the conclusions reached in this study.