The Application of the Principle of Necessity in Sharīʿah Legal Rulings by Abdulah Ajni Bušatlić, Mehmed Ali Ćerimović, Mehmed Begović, and Abdulah Škaljić

Abstract

UDK
28-74: 348 Bušatlić A. A.”19”
28-74: 348 Ćerimović M.A. ”19”
28-74: 348 Begović M. ”19”
28-74: 348 Škaljić A. ”19”

This paper examines the contributions of four Bosniak jurists—Abdulah Ajni Bušatlić, Mehmed Ali Ćerimović, Mehmed Begović, and Abdulah Škaljić—to the interpretation and practical application of the principle of necessity (ḍarūrah) in Sharīʿah legal issues during the first half of the twentieth century. Bušatlić, relying on juristic maxims such as legal rulings change with the change of time (and circumstances) and necessity permits what is otherwise prohibited, advocates normative adaptations “in the spirit of the time,” while clearly distinguishing between form and substance. Ćerimović, in his role as fatwā authority, refines legal norms according to the degree of threat to essential religious interests and carefully differentiates between core doctrinal truths (uṣūl al-dīn) and legal rulings (aḥkām) subject to exceptions in cases of necessity. Begović, with a modernist orientation, bases changes primarily on rational arguments and social necessity, though with less formal grounding in classical legal sources. Škaljić, responding to extraordinary wartime circumstances, employs the concept of ḍarūrah to protect public interest and the family (e.g., the status of missing persons), while cautioning against encroachment upon essential provisions of Sharīʿah law. Despite differing starting points, these scholars collectively shaped a domestic, problem-oriented approach that preserved core values of religion and community while seeking solutions aligned with changing social realities.