Abstract
Humans face myriads of challenges on this planet in the course of their life. There are issues where the Qur’an and the Sunnah issue very explicit directives. On the other hand, the issues where the first two primary sources of Islam are silent, the requisite details and specifics are missing, the scholarly consensus of the Muslim community (Ijma) guides. Another method of resolving the issues is recourse to qiyas (in Islamic law, analogical reasoning as applied to the deduction of juridical principles from the Qur’an and the Sunnah). But some new issues are identical to those whose injunctions are available in Shariah. In such a case, the new issues and the causes of the established commandments and precedents are searched. If the causes of the new and the old issues are analogous, the established injunction is applied to the new issue. If no Shariah injunction is found on an emerging issue, no similar problem-cum-solution exists, no precedents are existing, then the nature of the Qur’an and the Sunnah are observed in arriving at the solution; then Istihsan (among Muslim theologians, the use of one’s own judgment to determine the best solution to a religious problem that cannot be solved by citing sacred texts) or masalihamursala (considerations of public interest) are made guiding principles for laying down laws. Indeed, no man can survive alone, cut off from the entire society. Living with others, humans face problems which they must overcome to spend their life peacefully on the face of the earth. Islam, a complete code of life, presents effective solutions to such issues. The article on Ikrah (compulsion) given below is related to a situation which may crop up in one’s life. It guides us on how to behave when one is cornered and finds no way out.