Halak (destruction of property and its legal effect)

هَلاك

Halak in the legal sense is the loss of a thing's intended benefit, whether or not it survives, and it is also used of death. ¹ If a sold article perishes before delivery it is at the seller's risk; if it perishes with the buyer and a defect is later found, the buyer recovers the arsh (compensation for the defect), except that the Malikis hold that if the destruction was caused by a defect the seller concealed, the buyer recovers the whole price. ² ³ If the property perishes before a year is complete, or before the owner can pay, the zakat falls away; if it perishes after the owner could pay, the zakat stands as a debt. ³ If a sheep or camel is designated as a sacrifice and dies before the day of sacrifice, the owner owes nothing; if it perishes through his negligence he is liable. ³ ⁴ The Shafi'is and Hanbalis treat the pledgee's possession as a trust, so he is not liable for loss without fault; the Hanafis treat it as a liability. ⁴

Summary

Halak is the loss of a thing's intended benefit, whether or not it survives; the word is also used of death. ¹

Destruction of a sold article

If a sold article perishes before delivery, it is at the seller's risk. If it perishes with the buyer and a defect is later found, the buyer recovers compensation for the defect; the Malikis hold that where the destruction followed a defect the seller concealed, the buyer recovers the whole price. ² ³

Destruction of property and zakat

If the property perishes before a year is complete, or before the owner can pay, the zakat falls away; if it perishes after the owner could pay, the zakat stands as a debt. ³

Destruction of a sacrifice

If a sheep designated for sacrifice dies before the day of sacrifice without the owner's negligence, he owes nothing; if it perishes through his negligence, he is liable. ³ ⁴

Pledge and loan

The Shafi'is and Hanbalis treat the pledgee's possession as a trust and do not hold him liable for loss without fault; the Hanafis treat it as a liability. ⁴

Sources

al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.16548

al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.16549

al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.16550

al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.16551

God's debt (dayn Allah): obligations owed to God that remain in the liability

God's debt is a right of God that stays in the liability of the obligated person, with no human claimant: vows, expiations, the zakat of fast-breaking, pilgrimage, fasting, and a prayer whose time has passed, all of which must be made up. A right of God becomes a debt in the liability when its time passes before performance, when the due property is destroyed, or when the person was unable to perform it when it fell due. Financial debts to God may be paid by a proxy by agreement; bodily worship may not be done for the living, and the schools differ on proxies for the dead. The schools also differ on whether it binds the estate of the dead, whether it blocks zakat, and whether it lapses through hardship, apostasy or death.