Abstract:

It has been accepted by general scholars that the presumptive khabar wāḥid is more favourable than the presumptive qiyās. However, Imām Mālik's (d. 179/795) opinion on the subject is not unanimous among the Mālikī scholars who quoted him. In addition, no narration from Imām Mālik himself about the scientific and practical value of khabar wāḥid has survived to the present day. Also, there is no direct reference to the concept of "khabar wāḥid" in Muwatta’. On the other hand, his opinion about the khabar wāḥid can be reached by analysing the narrations that can be evaluated within the scope of the khabar wāḥid. For the aforementioned reason, it is important to accurately determine his opinion on which of the two he favoured in case of a contradiction between the khabar wāḥid and qiyās. He evaluated the news from a jurisprudential (fiqhī) point of view and preferred the ones that conformed to his principles and did not prefer the ones that did not. The fact that Imām Mālik did not reject the news that he did not act upon, and even narrated it, shows his sensitivity to the issue of khabar wāḥid. As a matter of fact, even though Imām Mālik did not act on the hadīth about the the right of opinion in trade, he narrated the hadīth from Ibn 'Umar. Although Imām Mālik gave priority to the marfū‘ hadīth, in some cases, he did not act on the marfū‘ hadīth. In such cases, the fact that he made a judgement other than the ruling of the marfū‘ hadīth does not mean that he did not care about the actual Sunnah of the Prophet (p.b.u.h). Imām Mālik explained this situation by the absence of a rule that would require the necessity of this hadīth and the absence of a situation in which it was acted upon. The opinion that what is meant by the qiyās expressed in Imam Malik's discussion of qiyās and news is not reformative qiyās, and that what is meant by this qiyās is the rules and principles that are valid everywhere, is predominant. In the Mālikī madhhab, three different views have emerged on which of the two should be preferred in cases where the news is in conflict with the qiyās and it is not possible to combine the two: 1. According to the ‘Irāqiyyūn scholars of the madhhab, in the case of a conflict between the khabar wāḥid and the qiyās, the qiyās is preferred to the khabar wāḥid. 2. According to the 'Ulema of Madaniyyūn, in the case of the conflict between the khabar wāḥid and the qiyās, the khabar wāḥid is preceded to the qiyās. 3- According to Abu Bakr Muhammad b. ‘Abdillah b. Muhammad al-Abharī (d. 375/986), one of the scholars, Imām Mālik preferred the absolute qiyās to the khabar wāḥid. Imām Mālik did not abandon the khabar wāḥid except when it conflicts with a absolute principle and is not supported by another principle, and when it conflicts with an absolute principle based on the rules derived from the Qur'ān or authentic hadīths. In this study, it has been tried to determine what Imam Mālik's opinion is in the case of the conflict between the khabar wāḥid and qiyās from both Mālikī sources and other works. While doing this, the document analysis method was used. Also, in this study, the definition of khabar wāḥid, its grades and the definition of qiyās, the arguments of those who prefer the khabar wāḥid to qiyās and the arguments of those who prefer qiyās to khabar wāḥid are examined.

Keywords: