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In plain terms
Sabab
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Sabab names something the law treats as a marker that triggers a ruling once it exists, noticed or not.
What it means for me: Sabab explains why a ruling suddenly applies to you. Something happened: savings crossed a threshold, or a time of day arrived. From that point the rule attaches, noticed or not.
Example: A scholar says, 'the cause is met once your savings reach the threshold.' From that point the zakat ruling applies, whether or not you had been keeping track.
Do not confuse with: Shart, condition. A sabab brings a ruling into existence by itself appearing. A shart does not bring the ruling about; it only has to be present alongside the sabab.
If scholars differ: Legal theorists generally list sabab, shart, and mani' together as the situational rulings. They differ on finer points, such as whether a person must know of the sabab for its ruling to attach.
Related terms
Shart
Shart names something required for an act to count, standing outside the act itself rather than forming one of its essential parts.
Mani'
Mani' names something that blocks a ruling from applying, even when every other requirement for it has already been met.
Sihhah
Sihhah names an act or contract that met every pillar and condition required, so its intended legal effect applies in full.
Rukn
Rukn names a part so essential to an act or contract that without it, nothing recognizable as that act exists at all.
Zakat
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