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Simhaq (a head wound reaching the membrane over the skull)

السِّمْحاق

The simhaq is a thin membrane above the skull bone that separates flesh from bone. In the usage of most jurists it is a head wound that reaches that membrane, cutting the flesh without reaching the bone; the Malikis call it mulatta. 1 Among the wounds of the head it has no fixed blood-money or fixed arsh for the majority, so a just assessment (hukuma) is owed for it, whether intentional or by error. 2 The Malikis, and a view among the Shafi'is and a report from a Hanafi jurist named Muhammad, hold that retaliation (qisas) is due for it when intentional, since it can be measured. 2

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The Prophetic Era
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Health, body and death

Definition

The simhaq is a thin membrane above the skull bone that separates the flesh from the bone. In the usage of most jurists it is a wound to the head that reaches that membrane, cutting the flesh without reaching the bone; the Malikis call it mulatta, and their simhaq is a wound that strips the skin from the flesh. 1

Other head wounds

Wounds to the face or head, the shijaj, vary by severity. Some do not reach the bone, such as the haritha (scratch), the dami'a (weeping), the damiya (bleeding), the ba'ida (incision), the mutalahima (deep flesh-tearing) and the simhaq; others reach the bone, such as the mudiha (which exposes the bone), the hashima (which breaks it), the ama (which reaches the brain lining) and the munaqqila (which displaces the bone pieces). 2

Ruling

For most jurists the simhaq carries no fixed blood-money and no fixed arsh; a just assessment (hukuma) is owed for it, whether intentional or by error, because no text governs it and it is hard to measure. 2 The Malikis, and a view among the Shafi'is and a report from a Hanafi jurist named Muhammad, hold that retaliation is due for it when intentional, since it can be measured. 2 See the entries on blood-money and retaliation. 2

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.9823
  2. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.9824
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Simhaq (a head wound reaching the membrane over the skull)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/simhaq/. 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.