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Finishing off (ijhaz)

إجهاز

In the lexicon ijhaz means haste, and to finish off a wounded man is to complete his killing; jurists use the word in this sense. ¹ Finishing off wounded enemy combatants is lawful, and that of wounded rebels is lawful where they have a group; it is obligatory for one sentenced to death for a fixed penalty or retaliation. ¹ For an animal that may not be killed at the outset, such as a donkey, the Hanafis and Malikis allow ending its suffering after injury, and the Shafi'is and Hanbalis forbid it. ²

Depth

At a glance

Era: The Prophetic Era
Region: Global / Diaspora
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Development of law, theology and institutions

Summary

In the lexicon ijhaz means haste, and to finish off a wounded man is to complete his killing; jurists use the word in this sense. ¹ Finishing off wounded enemy combatants is lawful, and that of wounded rebels is lawful where they have a group; it is obligatory for one sentenced to death for a fixed penalty or retaliation. ¹ For an animal that may not be killed at the outset, such as a donkey, the Hanafis and Malikis allow ending its suffering after injury, and the Shafi'is and Hanbalis forbid it. ²

People and things also explored

Biting and the liability for injury it causes (add)· Justice and uprightness (adl)· Contagion (adwa)· Pardon (afw) in purity, worship, contracts and penalties· Covenant (ahd) and the duty to keep it; oath by the covenant of God· Term, deadline (ajal)· Hired worker (ajir)· Stranger, outsider (ajnabi)

Sources

al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.1704
al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.1705

Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Finishing off (ijhaz)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/ijhaz/. 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

Biting and the liability for injury it causes (add)

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. 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.