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Biting and the liability for injury it causes (add)

العَضّ

In the lexicon, add is gripping a thing with the teeth and holding it. If a person bites another without right and a wound results, the biter must pay the damages for the wound, assessed as a just award by experts 1. If one man bites another's hand and the bitten man pulls it free so that the biter's front teeth fall out, most jurists hold that there is no liability, relying on a prophetic judgement in such a case; the Shafi'is limit this to a bitten man who chose the easiest means of release, and the preferred Maliki view requires compensation 1 2.

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Era
The Prophetic Era
Region
Global / Diaspora
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Ethics and characterDevelopment of law, theology and institutions

Summary

In the lexicon, add is gripping a thing with the teeth and holding it 1.

Liability for a bite without right

A person who bites another without right and causes a wound must pay the damages for the wound, assessed as a just award by experts 1.

When the bitten man pulls free and the biter's teeth fall out

Most jurists hold that there is no liability in that case, relying on a prophetic judgement in such a case. The Shafi'is limit this to a bitten man who used the easiest means of release; the preferred Maliki view requires compensation 1 2.

People and things also explored

Pardon (afw) in purity, worship, contracts and penalties· Covenant (ahd) and the duty to keep it; oath by the covenant of God· Action (amal) and the five rulings that govern it· The practice of the people of Medina ('amal ahl al-Madina) as evidence· Warranty (uhda) in sale and in pre-emption, and the defect· Ada' al-dayn (paying a debt: its ruling, the manner of payment, insolvency and the debts of the dead)· Ada' al-shahada (performing testimony: the duty on request, the excused witness, and the wording)· Manners of the Qur'an bearer

Sources

  1. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.11648
  2. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.11649
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Biting and the liability for injury it causes (add)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/add/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-23.

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Ideas

Beliefs, concepts, sciences and schools, explained in plain words. Related

Pardon (afw) in purity, worship, contracts and penalties

In the lexicon, afw means removing or pardoning, and also abundance, going away and giving; the jurists use it mainly for dropping or overlooking a right. It is distinguished from pardon by forgiveness of the wrong (safh) and from the forgiveness of sins (maghfira), dropping a right (isqat) and settlement (sulh). Its ruling depends on the right: pardon is recommended where the right is purely the individual's; where the right belongs to God, as in the fixed punishments, there is no pardon once the matter is before the judge. In worship, the schools disagree on pardon for small amounts of impurity, such as blood, pus and street mud, on the interval between the two thresholds of the camel and the cattle tax, on some things that do not break the fast, and on forgotten wearing of sewn clothes or perfume during pilgrimage. In contracts, pardon of pre-emption, of a debt, and of a dower are treated. In retaliation, pardon is lawful and recommended; if one of several heirs pardons, the retaliation falls and the others' shares become money, by the consensus the text reports; the schools differ on the effect of pardon during injury, on the capacity of the pardoner, and on settlement for money. There is no pardon for the fixed punishments of adultery and theft; the jurists differ on slander, and pardon in discretionary punishment (ta'zir) is allowed where it concerns a person's right or the ruler's discretion.