84 MOHAMMAD HASHIM KAMALI

before his disappearance. The certainty here shall prevail, and no claim of his death would validate distribution of his assets among his heirs until his death is proven by clear evidence. A doubtful claim of his death is thus not allowed to overrule what is deemed to be certain.⁸

Other supplementary maxims of a more specified scope that are subsumed by the maxim under review include the following: "The norm (of Sharī'a) is that of non-liability" (al-aṣlu barā'at al-dhimma). This is an equivalent, although perhaps a more general one, to what is known as the presumption of innocence. This latter expression implies that it relates primarily to criminal procedure, whereas the non-liability maxim of fiqh also extends to civil litigation, and to religious matters generally. The normative state, or the state of certainty, for that matter, is that people are not liable, unless it is proven that they are, and until this proof is forthcoming, to attribute guilt to anyone is treated as doubtful. Certainty can, in other words, only be overruled by certainty, not by doubt. Another supplementary maxim here is the norm that presumes the continued validity of the status quo ante until we know there is a change: "The norm is that the status quo remains as it was before" (al-aṣlu baqā' mā kāna 'alā mā kāna), and it would be presumed to continue unless it is proven to have changed. An example of this is the wife's right to maintenance which the Sharī'a has determined; when she claims that her husband failed to maintain her, her claim will command credibility. For the norm here is her continued entitlement to maintenance for as long as she remains married to him. Similarly, when one of the contracting parties claims that the contract was concluded under duress, and the other denies this, this latter claim will be upheld because absence of duress is the normal state, or status quo, which can only be rebutted by evidence.⁹ According to yet another supplementary maxim: "The norm in regard to things is that of permissibility" (al-aṣlu fi'l-ashyā' al-ibāhah). Permissibility is, in other words, the natural state and will therefore prevail until there is evidence to warrant a departure from that position. This maxim is also based on the general reading of the relevant evidence of the Qur'ān and Sunna. Thus, when we read in the Qur'ān that God Most High "has created all that is in the earth for your benefit" (2:29), and also the hadith: "whatever God has made ḥalāl is ḥalāl and whatever that He rendered ḥaram is ḥaram, and whatever concerning which He has remained silent is forgiven"—the