At a glance
- Era
- The Early Abbasid Caliphate
- Region
- Global / Diaspora
- Review
- Draft Completeness 1/5 · Help complete it
Development of law, theology and institutions
Definition
In the language, iqtida' means demanding a right and collecting it, from the same root as paying a debt. Jurists use it in this sense; the usul scholars use it for implication (dalala). 1
Implication
Implication (dalalat al-iqtida') is an unspoken element that a speech needs in order to be correct or true. A speech that cannot be correct without an addition is the muqtada, the addition is the muqtada, and seeking the addition is the iqtida'. 2 For correctness: "free your slave on my behalf for a thousand" is only valid if the sale is implied, since manumission follows ownership. For truth: the hadith that lifts error and forgetting requires the implied removal of the ruling on the act, since error itself cannot be lifted. 2
Qada' and istifa'
Qada' can mean delivering the thing owed or delivering a like thing, since its sense is to discharge, complete and settle. It also covers performing what a person owes to others; an executor who knows of a debt on the deceased and pays it does not sin. 2 Istifa' means demanding fulfilment, and is a kind of iqtida'. 2
Demanding a right
The common term for taking a right is istifa', whether the right is financial, such as a worker's wage, or not, such as the benefit of a thing or retaliation. Iqtida' also means asking for a right to be paid easily, as in the hadith of the generous seller, buyer and creditor. 3
Demand of an act
A definite demand of an act is an obligation, and a non-definite demand is a recommendation. A definite demand to abstain is a prohibition, and a non-definite one is a disapproval. Choice is the counterpart of iqtida': the act and its omission are equal. 3
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.3180
- al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.3181
- al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.3182
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “Iqtida' (implication, demand and claim of a right)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/iqtidaa/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-23.