Nominalism, Functionalism, and Identity in Fiqh of Art Ayatollah

What should a faqih (jurisprudent) rely on, when trying to find the jurisprudential rule of matters: name, function and/or identity? The results obtained from these three approaches are obviously different. Likewise, it is necessary to first review and look deep down into these three approaches in order to attain an awareness of the approach of Fiqh and its resources and finally to understand what position religious texts and Shi’i jurisprudence take in this regard. Consequently, we will be able to adopt the correct and complete inference method by adherence to these texts in accordance with jurisprudential rules.
Having examined the existing texts, we come across two matters which seem to have apparent inconsistency at first sight. There are some rules in religious texts which can be interpreted and looked upon from a functionalist perspective, for example: (God Almighty forbade wine not for its name but for its effects; so that which results in drunkenness is wine). On the other hand, there are some traditions from which nominalism can be interpreted. In this case, the most important obligation incumbent upon faqih is to know the correct case, that is, to know if the tradition refers to a label or a name. In Shi’i jurisprudence (fiqh), most jurisprudents apply themselves to nominalism unless, due to certain reasons, a faqih quits nominalism and turns to functionalism with respect to the dominant jurisprudence and jurisprudential principles and procedures. In this case, the issue of the relation between judgment and subject is raised in fiqh. Also, the current article on functionalism and nominalism aims to address music and ghena as one of the artistic definitions. The author presents a new approach to jurisprudential researches through defining identity, illustrating its difference with functionalism and explaining some of its jurisprudential aspects. Accordingly, due to the change in the identity of some definitions using this method, their rule also changes.
Finally, the present study focusing on the principle of nominalism in Shi’i jurisprudence (fiqh) shows that the criterion for the use of functionalism or identity is subject to Shari’ah’s explanation, the understanding of the custom, or the perception of reason.