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

Saved on this device only — nothing is sent anywhere.

Hisba: enjoining good and forbidding wrong

الحسبة

Hisba (the office of enjoining good and forbidding wrong) is, for most jurists, enjoining good when it is seen to be neglected and forbidding wrong when it is seen to be done. 1 It differs from judgeship in that the muhtasib deals with acknowledged rights and not with denial; it adds the power to act on wrong without a plaintiff, and judgeship calls for patience while hisba calls for awe. 2 It is distinct from fatwa, from testimony, and from the redress of grievances (mazalim), which ranks above it, and hisba comes after judgeship. 3 4 Hisba is a duty in general: when it concerns an obligation or a prohibition it is obligatory for the able, and when it concerns a recommended or disliked matter it is recommended. 5 It is an individual duty of the ruler, and a communal duty for others as far as they are able and safe. 4 6 7 The conditions of the muhtasib: Islam, legal capacity, knowledge, justice (which the majority require of the office-holder but not of the volunteer), capacity, and maleness for many. 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 The office-holder is paid from the public treasury. 16 The etiquette: refusing gifts, touring the markets, gentleness and patience, and concealing faults where possible. 17 18 Good is what is known to be right; wrong is what the law forbids, including the disliked forbidden. 19 20 21 Good concerns God's rights, such as the Friday prayer, congregational prayer and the call to prayer, and concerns human rights, such as the public water supply and the rights of debtors. 19 22 23 24 A wrong that the muhtasib may act on must be forbidden and visible to him without spying. 21 25 26 Concealing the faults of those who slipped is preferred by most jurists except where God's penalties apply, and the innovators of misleading heresies may be confronted. 25 27 28 26

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Early Abbasid Caliphate
Region
Global / Diaspora
Review
Draft Completeness 0/5 · Help complete it

Ethics and character

Summary

Hisba (the office of enjoining good and forbidding wrong) is, for most jurists, enjoining good when it is seen to be neglected and forbidding wrong when it is seen to be done. 1 It differs from judgeship in that the muhtasib deals with acknowledged rights and not with denial; it adds the power to act on wrong without a plaintiff, and judgeship calls for patience while hisba calls for awe. 2 It is distinct from fatwa, from testimony, and from the redress of grievances (mazalim), which ranks above it, and hisba comes after judgeship. 3 4 Hisba is a duty in general: when it concerns an obligation or a prohibition it is obligatory for the able, and when it concerns a recommended or disliked matter it is recommended. 5 It is an individual duty of the ruler, and a communal duty for others as far as they are able and safe. 4 6 7 The conditions of the muhtasib: Islam, legal capacity, knowledge, justice (which the majority require of the office-holder but not of the volunteer), capacity, and maleness for many. 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 The office-holder is paid from the public treasury. 16 The etiquette: refusing gifts, touring the markets, gentleness and patience, and concealing faults where possible. 17 18 Good is what is known to be right; wrong is what the law forbids, including the disliked forbidden. 19 20 21 Good concerns God's rights, such as the Friday prayer, congregational prayer and the call to prayer, and concerns human rights, such as the public water supply and the rights of debtors. 19 22 23 24 A wrong that the muhtasib may act on must be forbidden and visible to him without spying. 21 25 26 Concealing the faults of those who slipped is preferred by most jurists except where God's penalties apply, and the innovators of misleading heresies may be confronted. 25 27 28 26

Who may act, the grades of action, and the liability of the muhtasib

A person may enjoin good on children, on parents, a pupil on his teacher, a wife on her husband, and subjects on rulers, with gentleness and no more than need requires. 29 30 31 Acting on non-Muslims is for evident wrongs they are not allowed to commit, while they may display their religion within what they agreed. 31 32 The grades of action are: reminder, exhortation, rebuke, action with the hand, punishment, and reference to the ruler. 32 33 The muhtasib may impose discretionary punishment for any offence that has no fixed penalty or expiation. 34 If an overreach causes loss, the Hanafis and Hanbalis hold him free of liability, while the Malikis and Shafi'is hold him liable for what exceeds the need. 34 35 Whether the blood-money falls on the kin or the public treasury is disputed. 36

People and things also explored

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· Biting and the liability for injury it causes (add)· Adha (harm of a slight kind: removing harmful things and the duty not to harm)· Justice and grace (adl wal-fadl)· Pardon (afw) in purity, worship, contracts and penalties· Covenant (ahd) and the duty to keep it; oath by the covenant of God

Sources

  1. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.7036
  2. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.7037
  3. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.7038
  4. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.7042
  5. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.7041
  6. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.7043
  7. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.7053
  8. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.7047
  9. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.7048
  10. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.7049
  11. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.7050
  12. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.7051
  13. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.7052
  14. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.7054
  15. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.7055
  16. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.7056
  17. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.7057
  18. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.7058
  19. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.7059
  20. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.7063
  21. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.7064
  22. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.7060
  23. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.7061
  24. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.7062
  25. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.7065
  26. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.7068
  27. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.7066
  28. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.7067
  29. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.7075
  30. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.7076
  31. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.7077
  32. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.7078
  33. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.7079
  34. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.7080
  35. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.7081
  36. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.7082
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Hisba: enjoining good and forbidding wrong”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/hisba-enjoining-good/. 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

Ada' al-dayn (paying a debt: its ruling, the manner of payment, insolvency and the debts of the dead)

Paying a debt in the form owed is obligatory by consensus. A debt due now must be paid on demand when the debtor can pay; a deferred debt is not due before its term. Payment is made in like items, with value owed where there is no like; a better payment is allowed when unconditioned. Remission, gift, assignment, set-off and settlement take the place of payment. A solvent debtor who refuses is compelled, imprisoned and his apparent property sold; the majority hold that a bankrupt is put under interdiction and his property divided among creditors, against Abu Hanifa. The insolvent is given respite, and his debt may be paid from zakat if he borrowed for himself in a lawful matter. A dead person's debt attaches to his estate and takes precedence over bequests and inheritance.