Tarjih (preponderance): choosing the stronger of two conflicting evidences, between two reports and between two analogies

الترجيح

Tarjih in the lexicon is strengthening one of two alike things over the other. The Hanafis define it as showing an excess in one of two alike items that is not independent, and the Shafi'is as one of two valid proofs being preferred to its opponent. ^{1 2} When two conflicting proofs cannot be reconciled, the stronger must be acted upon and the weaker set aside, and the Companions and the early scholars did so by the strength of the opinion. ^{2 3} Among the rules for two reports are those about the chain, such as more transmitters, a senior Companion, earlier Islam, and mutawatir over single reports; and those about the text, such as a prohibition over a command, and the literal over the figurative. ^{4 5} For two analogies, one prefers the analogy whose root ruling is stronger, whose cause is more clearly stated, or whose branch is of the same kind as its root. ⁵