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Imhal (granting time or respite)

الإمهال

Imhal in the lexical sense is granting delay and postponing a demand; it is the opposite of hastening. 1 One whose poverty is proven must be given time until he is able to pay, citing the Quranic verse in al-Baqara (2:280). 12 A man impotent with his wife is given a year by most jurists, the one who swore off intercourse four months, and a claimant is given time to bring his proof, while respite is refused where immediacy is required, such as the option to return a defective sale or pre-emption. 12

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At a glance

Era
The Prophetic Era
Region
Global / Diaspora
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Law and courts

Definition

Imhal in the lexical sense is granting respite and postponing a demand; the jurists use it in the same sense, and it is the opposite of hastening. 1

Related terms

  • I'dhar: the judge asks one who is liable whether he has anything that cancels the liability. 1
  • Tanjim: postponing a payment to two or more dates. 1
  • Tallum: waiting and patience, as when the judge gives a husband a time before dissolving the marriage for poverty. 1
  • Tarabbus: waiting. 1

Ruling

  • A man whose poverty is proven must be given time until he is able to pay, and may not be jailed, following al-Baqara (2:280). 1
  • The impotent husband is given a year by most jurists, as Umar did, in case the obstacle passes with the season. 1
  • The one who has sworn off intercourse has four months, following al-Baqara (2:226). 1
  • A claimant who asks for time to bring his proof is granted it by most jurists; some fixed three days, and others left it to the judge. 2
  • Respite is refused where immediacy is required: the husband who divorced one of two wives and must name her, the buyer who wants to return a defective sale, and the pre-emptor. 2

Related places

Suretyship, maintenance, dower, and judging and claims. 2

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.3418
  2. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.3419
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Imhal (granting time or respite)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/imhal/. 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

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.