Islam Museum Islam Museum islam.museum
Search ⌕ ARENUR
Accessibility
Text size 100%

Saved on this device only — nothing is sent anywhere.

General affliction ('umum al-balwa) and the rulings built on it

عُمُوم البَلْوَى

General affliction is a situation or event that touches many people and cannot easily be avoided; some jurists call it general necessity 1. On it the jurists built concessions, such as overlooking small impurities such as the blood of sores and the droppings of birds, the purity of a leather sock or shoe cleaned by rubbing, the contract for manufacture (istis'a) and the hire of a water channel 2 3. In legal theory, the usulis disagreed on a single report in matters of general affliction; most accept it when the chain is sound, while the Hanafis refuse a report that contradicts what general affliction would make widely known 3 4. They also differ on the statement of a companion in such matters 5.

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Prophetic Era
Region
Global / Diaspora
Review
Draft Completeness 1/5 · Help complete it

Development of law, theology and institutions

Summary

General affliction is a situation or event that touches many people and cannot easily be avoided; some jurists call it general necessity 1. On it the jurists built concessions, such as overlooking small impurities such as the blood of sores and the droppings of birds, the purity of a leather sock or shoe cleaned by rubbing, the contract for manufacture (istis'a) and the hire of a water channel 2 3. In legal theory, the usulis disagreed on a single report in matters of general affliction; most accept it when the chain is sound, while the Hanafis refuse a report that contradicts what general affliction would make widely known 3 4. They also differ on the statement of a companion in such matters 5.

People and things also explored

Biting and the liability for injury it causes (add)· Justice and uprightness (adl)· Contagion (adwa)· Pardon (afw) in purity, worship, contracts and penalties· Covenant (ahd) and the duty to keep it; oath by the covenant of God· Term, deadline (ajal)· Hired worker (ajir)· Stranger, outsider (ajnabi)

Sources

  1. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.11876
  2. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.11877
  3. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.11878
  4. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.11879
  5. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.11880
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “General affliction ('umum al-balwa) and the rulings built on it”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/umum-al-balwa/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-23.

Improve this page on GitHub · Report an error · JSON

Wing

Ideas

Beliefs, concepts, sciences and schools, explained in plain words. Related

Biting and the liability for injury it causes (add)

In the lexicon, add is gripping a thing with the teeth and holding it. If a person bites another without right and a wound results, the biter must pay the damages for the wound, assessed as a just award by experts. If one man bites another's hand and the bitten man pulls it free so that the biter's front teeth fall out, most jurists hold that there is no liability, relying on a prophetic judgement in such a case; the Shafi'is limit this to a bitten man who chose the easiest means of release, and the preferred Maliki view requires compensation.