Non-Verbal Digital Indications and Their Jurisprudential Rulings: A Fundamental and Applied Study in the Light of the Rule of "The Intelligible Sign" (Al-Isharah Al-Mufhimah)

Abstract

This study examines a contemporary jurisprudential issue (Nāzilah): the use of emojis, expressive reactions, and digital symbols as substitutes for spoken language in financial transactions and criminal acts, amidst existing legislative and practical gaps, as well as a lack of comprehensive jurisprudential grounding. The research aims to clarify the Islamic legal rulings concerning these digital signifiers and to determine their legal characterization (Takyīf) by linking them to the jurisprudential maxim: "An understandable sign is equivalent to verbal speech." The significance of this study lies in addressing the urgent need of the judicial and fatwa issuing bodies for a reference framework that regulates the legal impact of these symbols on contracts and criminal liabilities. The research adopts an integrative approach by surveying practical scenarios, analyzing the jurisprudential maxim, and applying it to modern contexts. The findings conclude that digital signifiers acquire the status of "comprehensibility" through virtual custom (ʿUrf), thereby granting them the evidential weight of judicial presumptions in commercial and personal status contracts. Furthermore, they establish the jurisprudential characterization of cyber offenses—such as defamation and intimidation—subject to discretionary punishment (Taʿzīr), provided they are free from technological tampering, hacking, or forgery.