Islam Museum Islam Museum islam.museum
Search ⌕ ARENUR
Accessibility
Text size 100%

Saved on this device only — nothing is sent anywhere.

Aqal al-jam' (the least number that counts as plural)

أقل الجمع

The least number of plural in the grammarians' sense is contested, and in the jurists' view most hold it to be three. 12 In inheritance most scholars take two as the least, against Ibn Abbas, and the Hanafis take two for bequests; elsewhere the jurists build their rulings on three. 23 The point affects oaths, endowments and acknowledgements. 3

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Prophetic Era
Region
Global / Diaspora
Review
Draft Completeness 1/5 · Help complete it

Law and courts

Definition

Jam' in the lexical sense means gathering what is scattered and bringing things close. 1 In the grammarians' sense it is a noun that denotes several units meant together, with a change in the letters of the singular. 1

Views on its least number

  • Grammarians: the plural is not applied to one or two; the paucal range runs from three to ten. 1
  • Jurists and usulis: most companions, jurists and language scholars hold the least plural to be three; al-Ghazali and Sibawayh held it two in fact. 12 The dispute is about the forms that carry the name, not the word itself. 2
  • Experts in inheritance: apart from Ibn Abbas, they take two as the least, and al-Farra' is reported to have said that the plural begins with the dual. 23

Consequences

  • In fiqh outside inheritance, rulings are built on three; for example a bequest of expiation for oaths. 23
  • In endowments the income goes to three of the nearest persons, and the list is completed beyond the first rank if fewer are found. 3
  • An acknowledgement of "dirhams" owed obliges three dirhams. 3
  • An oath to abstain for days, months or years binds for three. 3
  • In inheritance the least is two; two siblings reduce the mother to a sixth. Ibn Abbas disagreed, and the exchange with Uthman is reported. 3
  • In usul, a general term that is an indefinite plural may be restricted down to three. 4

People and things also explored

Ahliyya (legal capacity: to have rights and duties, and to act; its stages from the womb to full maturity, and what impairs it)· Democracy and the Sharia — compatibility and conflict· Fatwa on the satellite channels — its benefit and harm· Secularism and Islam — conflict or concord· Stoning (rajm) as a penalty for zina· Allusion to a proposal during the waiting period· Aman (safe-conduct granted to enemies in war)· Amana (trust, deposit and what is entrusted)

Sources

  1. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.3229
  2. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.3230
  3. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.3231
  4. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.3232
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Aqal al-jam' (the least number that counts as plural)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/aqal-al-jam/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-23.

Improve this page on GitHub · Report an error · JSON

Wing

Ideas

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

Ahliyya (legal capacity: to have rights and duties, and to act; its stages from the womb to full maturity, and what impairs it)

Ahliyya is lexically suitability, and it is of two kinds: capacity to have rights and duties, the capacity of liability; and capacity to act, that is to perform acts recognised by the law. Its bearer passes through the stages of the foetus, childhood, discernment, puberty and maturity. Liability is complete from birth and incomplete for the foetus; the capacity to act is partial at discernment and full with puberty and reason. It is affected by heavenly impediments such as madness, imbecility, sleep, fainting, illness, slavery, menstruation, childbirth and death, and by acquired ones such as ignorance, drunkenness, jest, folly, travel, error and coercion.