Shuru' (commencing an act and its binding effect in worship and contracts)

Shuru' is the verbal noun of "to begin": taking up an act and entering it. The word sharia, meaning what God has laid down for His servants in belief and rule, comes from the same root, and the technical sense does not depart from the linguistic one. ¹

In worship, shuru' is made by the act joined to the intention, real or constructive, according to each act: prayer begins with the opening takbir with intention, and fasting with intention and abstaining. ^{1 2}

In transactions it is made by words or what takes their place, such as giving and taking without a formula (for those who accept it), writing or gesture. Intention alone is not a beginning of a sale, marriage, hire, gift, endowment, bequest or loan, because these rest on offer and acceptance. ²

In crimes and prescribed penalties, shuru' is made by the act alone, not by words or intention. ²

An obligation laid by God on a person must be completed once begun, by agreement, and may not be broken off except by a necessity that prevents completion, such as the breaking of wudu' during prayer, fainting, or a woman's menses during prayer. Every obligatory act, such as fasting, zakat or the pilgrimage, is treated alike; leaving it unfinished is a sin, and it can bring a penalty, such as expiation for one who breaks the fast in Ramadan on purpose without excuse, or the sacrificial offering and the repetition of a pilgrimage that is spoiled. ²

Al-Zarkashi divides the case of one who begins a communal duty and then wants to stop into three: a stop that undoes what has been done, which is forbidden, as with the funeral prayer; a stop that undoes nothing and loses no purpose, which is allowed, as with one who begins to rescue a drowning man and another arrives to rescue him; and a stop that undoes the main purpose in general terms, on which there is a dispute. Al-Futuhi of the Hanbalis holds that a communal duty becomes binding by beginning it and must be completed in the more likely view, citing the memorising of the Qur'an as the example. ^{2 3}

The pilgrimage and the lesser pilgrimage, once begun, must be completed by agreement, on the basis of the Qur'anic command in the surah of the Cow (verse 196). For other voluntary acts the jurists differ. The Hanafis hold that completion is required, so a voluntary act becomes obligatory by beginning it, and making it up is required whether one left it with or without excuse. The Malikis require no making up for one who left with an excuse, and do require it for one who left without. The Shafi'is do not require completion, nor making up. The Hanbalis recommend continuing, and hold that there is no sin or making up for one who leaves. ^{3 5}

It is disliked to break off recitation of the Qur'an to speak to people. A menstruating woman or one in postpartum bleeding who has begun to recite must stop. A woman with istihada, or someone with a continual excuse such as incontinence, may recite after wudu' for prayer, and need not complete a surah or a section. One who stops for a necessity may stop where he is; one who stops without necessity is advised to finish the story he is reading. Other formulae of remembrance need not be completed. ⁵

A permissible act, once begun, may be completed or left: the choice is the same, because God left the person free to do or leave it. ⁵

• Sale: an offer begins it; acceptance completes it. If the offerer withdraws before acceptance, that is a withdrawal from the beginning; if acceptance comes before he withdraws, the sale is complete. ^{5 4}
• Gift: begun by words such as "I gave" or "I bestowed". Most jurists hold that it is not complete until possession, and that it does not bind by being begun. ⁴
• Endowment: begun by "I endowed" or "I confined". Most jurists hold that it binds. Abu Hanifa holds that it does not bind by itself: the founder may withdraw unless he bequeaths it after death or a judge rules it binding; his two disciples held that it binds and transfers ownership. ⁴
• Bequest: made by word or writing and completed by the named beneficiary's acceptance after the testator's death. ⁴
• Loan: like other contracts that rest on offer and acceptance; either party may withdraw before acceptance, and by the majority view either may end it afterwards. ⁴

Obligatory acts of worship need no leave, since their obligation on the person does not require anyone's permission. For other voluntary acts of worship and for transactions, the law requires leave from the person who holds the right, such as a husband over his wife, and a guardian over a minor or an incompetent. So a husband may stop his wife from some voluntary acts if she does not ask leave. If she goes on a voluntary pilgrimage without his leave, he may break her journey, and she must make it up. Likewise, if she fasts a voluntary fast without his leave, he may make her break it, following the hadith in the two authentic collections forbidding a woman to fast while her husband is present except with his leave. ^{4 6}