أصول السرخسي · Uṣūl al-Sarakhsī: debate map, reading version

This is the plain reading version of the debate map, for e-ink readers and slow devices. It records Sarakhsī's exposition, including what he reports of others; it does not verify those reports or say where the madhhab later settled. Lines tagged [Editorial] are not the book. Page refs = al-Afghānī ed. (Hyderabad), vol/page. Quotes are verbatim, checked against two witnesses. The interactive map is here.

  1. Start here · ابدأ هنا · How to use this map, and the book in one page
  2. B1 · مقدمة · The author's introduction: why this book exists (v1/9–11)
  3. B2 · باب الأمر · Command (amr): what it is, what it obliges, when and how often (v1/11–78)
  4. B3 · باب النهي · Prohibition (nahy), the causes behind rulings, the grades farḍ to nafl, and strict rules and concessions (v1/78–124)
  5. B4 · باب أسماء صيغة الخطاب في تناوله المسميات · How far a word reaches: specific, general, equivocal and interpreted words (v1/124–163)
  6. B5 · باب أسماء صيغة الخطاب في استعمال الفقهاء · How clear a word is, literal or figurative, explicit or allusive (v1/163–200)
  7. B6 · باب بيان معاني الحروف المستعملة في الفقه · The small words: "and", "or", "if", "in" and others, on which many rulings turn (v1/200–236)
  8. B7 · باب بيان الأحكام الثابتة بظاهر النص دون القياس والرأي · What a text gives besides its plain words, and the readings Sarakhsī rejects (v1/236–277)
  9. B8 · باب بيان الحجة الشرعية وأحكامها · The binding proofs: the Qurʾān, mass-transmitted and well-known reports, and consensus (v1/277–321)
  10. B9 · باب الكلام في قبول أخبار الآحاد والعمل بها · Single reports: when one narrator's report binds, which narrators count, and how reports are tested (v1/321–v2/26)
  11. B10 · باب البيان · Explanation (bayān): how a text's meaning is made clear, and when a later clarification is really abrogation (v2/26–53)
  12. B11 · باب النسخ جوازا وتفسيرا · Abrogation: what it is, what it can touch, what can abrogate what, and why adding to a text counts as abrogation (v2/53–86)
  13. B12 · باب الكلام في أفعال النبي وما يتصل به · The Prophet's acts and reasoning, earlier prophets' law, and the Companions' and Followers' opinions (v2/86–118)
  14. B13 · باب القياس · Qiyās: why it is valid, what it needs, what it produces, istiḥsān, and why a cause has no exceptions (v2/118–215)
  15. B14 · باب وجوه الاحتجاج بما ليس بحجة مطلقا · Arguments that are not proof: "there is no proof", assuming a past state continues (istiṣḥāb), and other empty moves (v2/215–232)
  16. B15 · باب وجوه الاعتراض على العلل · Objections to a cause whose effect is shown: which fail, which work, and how to answer a counter-case (v2/232–249)
  17. B16 · باب الترجيح · Preferring one proof over another: what counts as extra weight, and what does not (v2/249–265)
  18. B17 · باب وجوه الاعتراض على العلل الطردية · Objections to a cause that merely goes along with its ruling (ṭard), and when a debater is "cut off" (v2/266–289)
  19. B18 · باب أقسام الأحكام وأسبابها وعللها وشروطها وعلاماتها · Kinds of rulings, and the causes, effective causes, conditions and signs they hang on (v2/289–332)
  20. B19 · باب أهلية الآدمي لوجوب الحقوق له وعليه · Legal capacity: being able to owe, and being able to perform (v2/332–353)
  21. Key terms · مصطلحات · The words of the book in plain language (the fifteen core words are in Start here)