Self-Affirmation in Light of Islamic Law: A Foundational Jurisprudential Study

Abstract

The research provides a legal basis for the topic of self-affirmation and its exercises, aiming to employ them in a manner that is legally sound. It also helps in using legitimate self-affirmation exercises in the fields of psychological counseling, education, advocacy, and others, in a way that achieves the benefit of the individual and society. Its importance is manifested in clarifying the legal position on self-affirmation exercises, through its jurisprudential foundation and its return to its legal principles and general rules. The descriptive method was followed in describing self-affirmation and its exercises, the inductive method by examining the texts of Sharia from the Qur’an and Sunnah and other evidence on self-affirmation, and the foundational method by returning the particulars to their generalities, and linking the issue to the legal evidence, the considered objectives, and the jurisprudential rules. What distinguishes this research from previous studies is its connection between the psychological aspect and its jurisprudential foundations. This is achieved through a foundational jurisprudential study of self-affirmation exercises in light of Islamic law. The study concludes that self-affirmation practices are consistent with established legal objectives, the principle of public interest (maslaha mursala), and a number of jurisprudential rules, such as the principle that things are permissible unless proven otherwise, and the principle that custom is authoritative. Furthermore, the research establishes the permissibility of self-affirmation practices, subject to a set of legal and behavioral guidelines.

Keywords: Self-affirmation – The self in Islamic law