Hazl (jest in speech, and its effect on contracts, acts and belief)

هَزْل

Hazl is jest, the opposite of seriousness; technically it is when a word is used without intending its meaning, literal or figurative. ¹ It is distinct from play (la'ib), banter (mizah), error (khata') and forced compliance (talja'). ¹ ² Jest does not affect capacity or choice of the act, but it does affect choice of the legal effect, so the act is taken as valid cause while the ruling is not desired. ² ³ For contracts that can be cancelled, the Hanafis disagree: Abu Hanifa gives priority to the party who claims the jest was dropped, while the two companions hold the contract void when both agreed to proceed in jest. ⁴ ⁵ ⁶ ⁷ The Shafi'is hold a jester's sale valid in the sounder view, and the Hanbalis in the prevailing view void. ⁸ For contracts that cannot be cancelled, such as divorce, manumission, return to a wife and vows, most jurists hold that jest and seriousness are equal, relying on the saying 'three things, in jest or earnest, are binding: marriage, divorce and return'. ⁹ ¹⁰ ¹¹ The Malikis differ in some cases. ¹¹ Most jurists hold a jester's marriage valid, while the Malikis hold it binding, and some hold it not binding where proof of jest exists. ¹² ¹³ On khul' (divorce for compensation), Abu Hanifa and the two companions differ on whether the divorce takes effect and the compensation is due. ¹⁴ ¹⁵ ¹⁶ ¹⁷ The Hanbalis hold a gift or endowment made in jest void, and the Hanafis hold a bequest void for jest. ¹⁸ ¹⁹ ²⁰ Jest in admission: the Hanafis void it; the Shafi'is and Hanbalis hold the admission binding even if made in jest. ²⁰ ²¹ ²² In belief, a Muslim who speaks words of unbelief in jest is held to have apostatised by the majority, and a non-Muslim who professes Islam in jest is held a Muslim in the view of the Hanafis and Shafi'is; Ibn al-Qayyim holds the speaker bound by the words outwardly. ²³ ²⁴ Slander made in jest is punished by hadd according to the Shafi'is, and by discretionary punishment according to the Hanafis if the speaker habitually jests in that way. ²⁴

Depth

At a glance

Era: The Early Abbasid Caliphate
Region: Arabia
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Contested: This record includes matters on which scholars differ. The speaker's views are labelled as his, and other views are marked where no cited source yet exists.

Ethics and character Law and courts Dissent, heresy and freethought

Summary

Hazl is jest, the opposite of seriousness; technically a word is used without intending its meaning, literal or figurative. ¹

Distinct notions

Hazl differs from play, banter, error and forced compliance. ¹ ²

Effect on capacity and choice

Jest does not affect capacity or the choice to perform the act, but it does affect the choice of the legal ruling; in contracts that can be cancelled, the cause is taken as valid while the ruling is not. ² ³

Contracts that can be cancelled

The Hanafis differ on a contract made when both parties agreed to proceed in jest: Abu Hanifa gives priority to the claim that the jest was dropped, while the two companions hold the contract void. ⁴ ⁵ ⁷ The Shafi'is hold a jester's sale valid in the sounder view, and the Hanbalis void it in the prevailing view. ⁸

Contracts that cannot be cancelled

Most jurists hold that jest and seriousness are equal in divorce, manumission, return, oath and vow, relying on the saying 'three things, in jest or earnest, are binding'. ⁹ ¹⁰ ¹¹ In marriage, most jurists hold a jester's marriage valid; the Malikis hold it binding, and others do not bind it where proof of jest exists. ¹² ¹³

Khul', gifts and admissions

Abu Hanifa and the two companions differ on whether a divorce for compensation takes effect when jest is involved. ¹⁴ ¹⁵ ¹⁶ ¹⁷ The Hanbalis hold a gift made in jest void, and the Hanafis hold a bequest void for jest. ¹⁸ ¹⁹ In admissions the Hanafis hold jest voids them, while the Shafi'is and Hanbalis hold them binding. ²⁰ ²²

Belief

Most jurists hold that a Muslim who utters words of unbelief in jest becomes an apostate, and a non-Muslim who professes Islam in jest is treated as a Muslim by the Hanafis and Shafi'is. ²³ ²⁴ Slander in jest is punished as slander by the Shafi'is; the Hanafis apply discretionary punishment to one who habitually jests with ugly words. ²⁴

People and things also explored

Hadhayan (delirium: its effect on acts and testimony)· Hadiyya (gift)· Hadr (blood and value wasted: no retaliation, no compensation)· Hajr (abandonment and shunning: its rules for a believer, a sinner, an innovator and a wife)· Hamm (resolve or intention of the heart, and its legal effect)· Hawa (desire, and the duty to resist it)· Hay'a (the recommended forms of prayer, and the dignified offenders)· Hiba (gift: its pillars, the parties, the thing given, possession, return and conditions)

Sources

al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.16525
al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.16526
al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.16527
al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.16528
al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.16529
al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.16530
al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.16531
al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.16532
al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.16533
al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.16534
al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.16535
al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.16536
al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.16537
al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.16538
al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.16539
al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.16540
al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.16541
al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.16542
al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.16543
al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.16544
al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.16545
al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.16546
al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.16547
al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.16548

Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Hazl (jest in speech, and its effect on contracts, acts and belief)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/hazl-fiqh/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-23.

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

Hadhayan (delirium: its effect on acts and testimony)

Hadhayan in the lexical sense is speech without sense, in illness or otherwise; technically it is speaking without reflection. It differs from lagh, speech with no legal weight, and from laghat, noisy talk whose meaning is intended. All scholars agree that the divorce of one who has lost his reason, without intoxication, does not take effect; the Hanafis hold that the words of one whose speech is mostly delirious carry no weight. The Malikis hold that one who divorces in delirium and later says he did not notice is not bound, unless evidence shows his reason was sound; if he says something happened that he did not understand, Ibn Naji holds the divorce binds him, and al-Dardir objects that a sick man may imagine things and speak accordingly. Among the conditions of uprightness, the Hanafis require little idle talk and delirium; a man given to lying or delirium is not accepted as a witness.