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Jahala (uncertainty in a contract or claim)

الجهالة

Jahala in contracts and claims is ignorance of the thing contracted for, of the person in whose favour an acknowledgement is made, or of the claim itself. The encyclopedia divides it into three degrees. The gross kind, which leads to dispute, voids a contract; examples are the sales of touching and throwing, and the sale of goods by lot without weighing, which is allowed out of need. The schools differ on an unknown term, on guarantees, agency, acknowledgement and claims. 1 2 3 4 5 6

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Overview

In contracts, jahala is ignorance of the thing contracted for, of the person in whose favour an acknowledgement is made, or of the claim. The encyclopedia gives three degrees; the gross kind, which leads to dispute, voids the contract. 1 2

Sales

The sales of touching and throwing are forbidden and void. The sale of goods by lot without weighing is allowed out of need, despite the uncertainty. 3 4

Term, acknowledgement and claim

Most jurists hold that an unknown term voids the contract. An acknowledgement needs a known beneficiary, and a claim needs a known object. 7 8 6

People and things also explored

The abjad letters named for Madyan's kings· Intellectual invasion (al-ghazw al-fikri) in the Sheikh's view· Islamic management· Media and the responsibility of its producers· al-Anwāʾ (Star Rains)· Jahiliyya names of days and months· The ill-omened days· Divining Arrows

Sources

  1. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.6626
  2. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.6628
  3. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.6630
  4. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.6632
  5. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.6636
  6. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.6638
  7. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.6633
  8. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.6637
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Jahala (uncertainty in a contract or claim)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/jahala/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-23.

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The abjad letters named for Madyan's kings

al-Mas'udi's etymology of the abjad numeral letters — the 29 letters of the abjad order named after six kings of Shu'ayb's people: Abjad of Mecca and the Hijaz, Hawwaz and Hutti of Wajj (the Ta'if and Najd lands), and Kalamn, Sa'fas and Qursht of Madyan or Egypt.