punishments inflicted for the infringement of certain laws, that being the sense in which this word has been used in the Ḥadīth and jurisprudence (Fiqh).

Everything is lawful unless prohibited

The basic principle in the matter of all restrictive ordinances is that a thing which is not disallowed is deemed to be lawful, as the well-known juridical dictum has it: Al-ibāḥa aṣl-un fi-l-ashyā’8 i.e., “Lawfulness is a recognized principle in all things.” In other words, everything (in which is included every free act of man) is presumed to be lawful, unless it is definitely prohibited by law. This dictum is in fact based on the plain words of the Holy Qur’ān: “He it is Who created for you all that is in the earth” (2:29). There are some jurists who have held the contrary view that everything is unlawful unless the law declares it to be lawful, but this view is, on the face of it, absurd and impossible; moreover it is against the clear principle laid down in the Holy Qur’ān, that everything has been created for the benefit of man, which leads to the only possible presumption that everything can be made use of by him, unless a limitation is placed, by law, on that use.

Importance of the marriage institution

The most important of the restrictive regulations of Islām are those relating to marriage, which institution is, in fact, the basic principle of human civilization. The Arabic word for marriage is nikāḥ which originally means ‘aqd or uniting. Marriage in Islām is a sacred contract which every Muslim must enter into, unless there are special reasons why he should not. Thus in the Holy Qur’ān it is said: “And marry those among you who are single and those who are fit among your male slaves and your female slaves. If they are needy, Allāh will make them free from want out of His grace.9 And Allāh is Ample-giving, Knowing. And let those who do not find a match keep chaste until Allāh makes them free from want out of His grace” (24:32, 33). In another verse, marriage relationship is given the same importance as blood-relationship: “And He it is Who has created man from water, then He has made for him blood-relationship and