Surveying and Criticizing the Present Definitions on the Subject of «Ghinā»

This article aims at surveying the subject of "Ghinā". The commandment of illegalness of Ghinā is agreed by all Shiite Jurisprudence Ulamā but what has still been a subject of disagreement is the clarification of its limits. This article first quotes some pioneers of Islamic Jurisprudence on the illegalness of Ghinā to prove its undeniability as well as its being a fundamental necessity of Islam. Then, mentioning the fact that Ghinā, unlike some other assignments such as Fasting and Praying, needs not to be defined by Jurisprudencial authority, it considers some of the definitions of Ghinā by a number of Ulamā as a guidance for making it understandable for the common people with no Imitation function. In addition, it surveys some of definitions on the subject of Ghinā by a number of prominent Ulamā, exploring the ambiguities in some of their key words that are still non-discussed despite the attempts done so far. Finally it presents a definition regarding an old Arabic proverb as well as some text clues testifying that. The last part of the article also analyzes Feiz, s definition of Ghinā, mentions the two paraphrases by Sheikh Ansāri on that, and comes up with a third one to conclude all discussions by the former.