At a glance
- Era
- The Prophetic Era
- Region
- Global / Diaspora
- Review
- Draft Completeness 1/5 · Help complete it
Tradition versus cultureEthics and character
Summary
In the lexicon, iyafa means disliking food or drink, and also the augury of birds: reading omens of good or ill from their names, cries and flight paths 1. Augury by birds was an Arab custom in the pre-Islamic era; Islam abolished it, returned the matter to God's absolute will and to the fixed laws of creation 1. A report counts augury, bird-omens and the drawing of lines as a form of falsehood, a matter treated under the heading of omens 2. In the sense of aversion to food, a report from Khalid ibn al-Walid tells of a dish of lizard set before the Prophet, which he withdrew from because it was not common in his people's land and he was not used to it; Khalid then ate it in his presence and he did not forbid it, which shows it is lawful and that his withdrawal was from unfamiliarity 2.
People and things also explored
Media and the responsibility of its producers· The abjad letters named for Madyan's kings· 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)
Sources
- al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.11950
- al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.11951
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “Iyafa: augury by birds, and the aversion to food”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/iyafa/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-23.