Wathiqa (documentary security for a right: witness, writing, pledge and surety)

وَثِيقة

Wathiqa in the lexical sense is the making firm of a matter; technically it is what is taken to secure a right against loss through denial, forgetting, insolvency or other hazards. ¹ ² Its basis is the Qur'anic verses on debt and the Prophet ﷺ's saying 'the guarantor is liable'. ² There are three kinds: witness against denial, pledge and surety against insolvency, and writing against forgetting. ² ³ Most jurists hold the command to write a recommendation, not an obligation, since Muslims sell on deferred prices without writing or witness, while some, including al-Tabari, hold it obligatory. ³ The purpose of writing and witness is that a debt whose payment is deferred suffers forgetting and denial. ³ ⁴ A pledge is property held as security for a debt, to be paid from its price if the debtor cannot pay; a surety joins the guarantor's liability to that of the debtor, so the right holds against both. ⁴

Depth

At a glance

Era: The Early Abbasid Caliphate
Region: Arabia
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Law and courts Ethics and character Family, marriage and kinship

Summary

A wathiqa is what is taken to secure a right against loss through denial, forgetting, insolvency or other hazards. ¹ ²

Basis and kinds

Its basis is the Qur'anic verses on debt in Surat al-Baqara and the Prophet's saying that the guarantor is liable. ² There are three kinds: witness against denial, pledge and surety against insolvency, and writing against forgetting. ² ³

The ruling on writing

Most jurists hold the command to write a recommendation, since Muslims sell on deferred prices without writing or witness; some, including al-Tabari, hold it obligatory. ³ The purpose of writing and witness is that a debt whose payment is deferred suffers forgetting and denial. ³ ⁴

Pledge and surety

A pledge is property held as security for a debt, to be paid from its price if the debtor cannot pay. ⁴ A surety joins the guarantor's liability to the debtor's, so the right holds against both, and the creditor may claim from either. ⁴

People and things also explored

Hadiyya (gift)· Hiba (gift: its pillars, the parties, the thing given, possession, return and conditions)· Joy and gladness (al-farah wal-surur)· Allusion to a proposal during the waiting period· Hardship and fear of sin ('anat) in marrying a slave-woman· Awl (proportional reduction of shares in inheritance)· Breastfeeding and weaning· 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.16615
al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.16616
al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.16617
al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.16618

Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Wathiqa (documentary security for a right: witness, writing, pledge and surety)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/wathiqa-fiqh/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-23.

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Hadiyya (gift)

Hadiyya in the lexical sense is a thing of value sent to another as an honour; technically it is the transfer of a thing to another without return, a kind of gift (hiba) that differs in that it is carried to the recipient as a courtesy. It is complete when the giver sends it and the recipient takes it; no formula is required. The giver may retract before receipt, in the view of the majority. Where a gift comes in a container, the container is returned or held in trust depending on custom. At a circumcision or wedding, gifts suited to children go to the child, and others follow the kinship of the giver to the father or the mother. Gifts that officials and judges receive by virtue of office are forbidden; the Prophet's saying 'the gifts of officials are plunder' is cited. The imam may not accept gifts, according to the jurists. The mufti, preacher and teacher may accept, though it is better to refrain.