Wajib (the obligatory: kinds, grades and how it is discharged)

وَاجِب

The obligatory (wajib) in the technical sense is, for the Hanafis, what is required by evidence that admits doubt, and for the majority what the law blames one for omitting in some respect. ¹ The Hanafis hold the fard to be what is established by certain evidence and the wajib by probable evidence, such as the alms of the breaking of the fast and the sacrifice; for the majority the two terms are synonymous in the law. ² ³ The grades of obligation differ, for the Shafi'is by the blame attached to omission, and for the Hanafis by the strength of the evidence. ³ An obligation is individual or collective, specific or optional, timed or untimed; a timed one is narrow or broad, and is immediate or may be delayed. ³ ⁴ ⁵ ⁶ ⁷ If an obligation is missed through delay it must be made up, or repaired by expiation; the insane, the menstruating and the child are excused the making up for reasons of mercy. ⁷ ⁸ On exceeding an obligation, the schools differ: the Hanafis rule on what the law specifies, the Malikis dislike the excess, and the Shafi'is and Hanbalis distinguish an excess that can be separated from one that cannot. ⁸ ⁹ ¹⁰ For the Shafi'is an obligation may arise and then fall away when the cause and the bar conflict. ¹¹

Depth

At a glance

Era: The Early Abbasid Caliphate
Region: Arabia
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Worship and the pillars Law and courts Ethics and character

Summary

For the Hanafis the wajib is what is required by evidence that admits doubt; for the majority it is what the law blames one for omitting in some respect. ¹

Fard and wajib

The Hanafis hold the fard established by certain evidence and the wajib by probable evidence, such as the alms of the breaking of the fast and the sacrifice; for the majority the two terms are synonymous in the law. ² ³

Grades of obligation

The Shafi'is grade obligations by the blame attached to omitting them; the Hanafis by the strength of the evidence. ³

Kinds

An obligation is individual or collective, specific or optional, timed or untimed; a timed one is narrow or broad, and an obligation may be immediate or delayed. ³ ⁴ ⁵ ⁶ ⁷

Missed obligations

If an obligation is missed through delay it must be made up or repaired by expiation; the child, the insane and the menstruating are excused making up, out of mercy. ⁷ ⁸

Exceeding an obligation

On exceeding an obligation the schools differ: the Hanafis judge by the evidence, the Malikis dislike excess over what the law fixed, and the Shafi'is and Hanbalis distinguish excess that can be separated from excess that cannot. ⁸ ⁹ ¹⁰

Dropping of obligations

For the Shafi'is an obligation may arise and then fall away where the cause and a bar conflict. ¹¹

People and things also explored

Hay'a (the recommended forms of prayer, and the dignified offenders)· Openness as against secrecy in acts of worship, charity and public notice (alaniya)· Deliberate act (amd), as against error, and its rulings· Wounding an animal that cannot be taken (aqr) and its effect on lawfulness and liability· Honey: its medicinal use and zakat (asal)· Resolve and its legal effect (azm)· God's debt (dayn Allah): obligations owed to God that remain in the liability· Shahwa (desire: its effect on touch and ablution, on fasting and pilgrimage, on looking, on marriage by touch and on the breaking of the marriage bond)

Sources

al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.16584
al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.16585
al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.16586
al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.16587
al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.16588
al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.16589
al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.16590
al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.16591
al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.16594
al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.16596
al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.16597

Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Wajib (the obligatory: kinds, grades and how it is discharged)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/wajib-fiqh/. 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

Hay'a (the recommended forms of prayer, and the dignified offenders)

Hay'a in the lexical sense is the outward state a thing is in, sensed or understood. In prayer the Shafi'is divide its acts into pillars (arkan), sunan that sahw prostration repairs, and hay'at that it does not repair and to which the worshipper does not return; they liken the prayer to a person, the pillar to the head, the condition to life, the sunan to the limbs and the hay'at to the hair. By the Shafi'i count there are more than fifteen hay'at, including raising the hands at the opening takbir, at bowing and at rising from it, placing the right palm on the left, seeking refuge before recitation, saying amin, the glorification in bowing and prostration, and the postures of sitting. The Hanbalis list hay'at as matters of manner: the fingers, the placing of the right hand over the left below the navel, the gaze at the place of prostration, and measured recitation. In discipline, most jurists lighten the punishment for the dignified, the people of religion and piety, relying on the saying 'pardon the lapses of the dignified except in the hadd punishments'. The jurists differ: some admonish but do not discipline a first lapse; Ibn Abd al-Salam holds the dignified are not punished at all, and al-Adhra'i disputes him.