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Rukhsa (the concession: a ruling eased for a reason, set against the strict ruling 'azima)

الرخصة

Rukhsa in the lexicon is ease and permission after a prohibition; in usage it is what is made lighter for the person in doing something, for a cause that prevents him from the strict ruling while the forbidding cause remains. It is set against 'azima, and is close to permission and to lifting hardship. 1 2 3 Its causes are necessity, need, travel, illness, forgetting and compulsion; its kinds are obligatory, recommended, permitted and against the better course for the Shafi'is, and real and figurative for the Hanafis. 4 5 6 7 Some jurists hold that the strict ruling is better in some cases, such as compelled unbelief when refusing would mean death, and fasting on a journey. 7 8 Analogy from a concession is allowed by the majority and refused by the Hanafis, except Abu Yusuf. 9 10 Taking up concessions merely to escape duty is condemned; taking them for a lawful cause is permitted. 10 11

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Prophetic Era
Region
Global / Diaspora
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Worship and the pillarsLaw and courts

Summary

Rukhsa in the lexicon is ease and permission after a prohibition; in usage it is what is made lighter for the person in doing something, for a cause that prevents him from the strict ruling while the forbidding cause remains. It is set against 'azima, and is close to permission and to lifting hardship. 1 2 3 Its causes are necessity, need, travel, illness, forgetting and compulsion; its kinds are obligatory, recommended, permitted and against the better course for the Shafi'is, and real and figurative for the Hanafis. 4 5 6 7 Some jurists hold that the strict ruling is better in some cases, such as compelled unbelief when refusing would mean death, and fasting on a journey. 7 8 Analogy from a concession is allowed by the majority and refused by the Hanafis, except Abu Yusuf. 9 10 Taking up concessions merely to escape duty is condemned; taking them for a lawful cause is permitted. 10 11

Where to look further

The strict ruling ('azima), permission and the lifting of hardship are treated in their own entries. 2 3

People and things also explored

God's debt (dayn Allah): obligations owed to God that remain in the liability· Slaughter (dhaba'ih): the lawful killing of animals for food in fiqh· Gold (dhahab) in the rulings· Taste (dhawq) in the rulings: fasting, injury to it, and oaths· Halak (destruction of property and its legal effect)· Hay'a (the recommended forms of prayer, and the dignified offenders)· The no-harm maxim· The Prophet's written charge to Amr ibn Hazm on sending him to Yemen

Sources

  1. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.8675
  2. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.8676
  3. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.8677
  4. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.8678
  5. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.8679
  6. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.8680
  7. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.8681
  8. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.8682
  9. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.8687
  10. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.8688
  11. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.8689
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Rukhsa (the concession: a ruling eased for a reason, set against the strict ruling 'azima)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/rukhsa-usul/. 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

God's debt (dayn Allah): obligations owed to God that remain in the liability

God's debt is a right of God that stays in the liability of the obligated person, with no human claimant: vows, expiations, the zakat of fast-breaking, pilgrimage, fasting, and a prayer whose time has passed, all of which must be made up. A right of God becomes a debt in the liability when its time passes before performance, when the due property is destroyed, or when the person was unable to perform it when it fell due. Financial debts to God may be paid by a proxy by agreement; bodily worship may not be done for the living, and the schools differ on proxies for the dead. The schools also differ on whether it binds the estate of the dead, whether it blocks zakat, and whether it lapses through hardship, apostasy or death.