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Junun (insanity in law)

الجنون

In law, insanity is a disorder of the mind that prevents acts and words from having their proper legal effect. The Kuwaiti encyclopedia sets out its effect on bodily acts of worship (prayer and fasting, including what a madness that begins or ends in the middle of a prayer or of Ramadan does), on zakat, on the validity of gifts, bequests and agency, on guardianship over marriage and waqf, on the jizya, on retaliation and the hadd punishments. It distinguishes madness from mental weakness (ta'ah), from foolishness (sufah) and from epilepsy. It records that the intentional act of a child or a madman counts as accidental for blood-money purposes. 1 2 3 4 5 6

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Health, body and death

Overview

In law, insanity is a disorder of the mind that stops acts and words from having their proper effect. 1

Effect on worship and transactions

The madman is not accountable, so his spoken transactions such as gifts, bequests and endowments are not valid, and he is not bound by bodily worship such as prayer. The majority also hold that no jizya is due from him. Zakat is due on his property, and his guardian pays it. 4 5 7

Retaliation and punishment

No retaliation is due from a madman who kills; the liability falls on his property, and the intentional act of a child or a madman counts as accidental for blood-money. 3 6

People and things also explored

Bone (adhm): purity, use and retaliation· Fleshy growth in the wife's womb and the right to annul (afal)· Grief and worry (al-huzn)· The clot stage of the embryo (alaqa) and the rulings on its loss· Alya (the rump, and its rulings)· Anf (the nose, and its rulings in purification, prayer, fasting and retaliation)· Anthayan (the two testicles, and rulings on them)· Reason as the basis of legal capacity and of the blood-money (aql)

Sources

  1. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.6558
  2. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.6559
  3. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.6561
  4. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.6564
  5. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.6566
  6. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.6574
  7. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.6567
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Junun (insanity in law)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/junun/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-23.

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Bone (adhm): purity, use and retaliation

In the lexicon, adhm is the bone that has flesh on it, plural 'idham and 'izam. Most jurists hold that a human bone is pure, whether living or dead, of a Muslim or not; that a fish bone stays pure after death; and that the bone of a lawfully slaughtered edible animal is pure and may be used. The bone of carrion, or of a non-edible animal, is impure according to the Malikis, Shafi'is, Hanbalis and Ishaq, and cannot be purified; the Hanafis hold it pure, and 'Umar disliked oiling in ivory. On cleansing after excretion with a bone, the Shafi'is and Hanbalis forbid it; the Hanafis dislike it as forbidden but accept that it suffices; the Malikis forbid a carrion bone and allow a pure bone with disapproval. Most jurists allow retaliation for a bone only at a joint, since equality cannot be achieved elsewhere.