هَزْل

هَزْل

Hazl is jest, the opposite of seriousness; technically it is when a word is used without intending its meaning, literal or figurative. ¹ It is distinct from play (la'ib), banter (mizah), error (khata') and forced compliance (talja'). ^{1 2} Jest does not affect capacity or choice of the act, but it does affect choice of the legal effect, so the act is taken as valid cause while the ruling is not desired. ^{2 3} For contracts that can be cancelled, the Hanafis disagree: Abu Hanifa gives priority to the party who claims the jest was dropped, while the two companions hold the contract void when both agreed to proceed in jest. ^{4 5 6 7} The Shafi'is hold a jester's sale valid in the sounder view, and the Hanbalis in the prevailing view void. ⁸ For contracts that cannot be cancelled, such as divorce, manumission, return to a wife and vows, most jurists hold that jest and seriousness are equal, relying on the saying 'three things, in jest or earnest, are binding: marriage, divorce and return'. ^{9 10 11} The Malikis differ in some cases. ¹¹ Most jurists hold a jester's marriage valid, while the Malikis hold it binding, and some hold it not binding where proof of jest exists. ^{12 13} On khul' (divorce for compensation), Abu Hanifa and the two companions differ on whether the divorce takes effect and the compensation is due. ^{14 15 16 17} The Hanbalis hold a gift or endowment made in jest void, and the Hanafis hold a bequest void for jest. ^{18 19 20} Jest in admission: the Hanafis void it; the Shafi'is and Hanbalis hold the admission binding even if made in jest. ^{20 21 22} In belief, a Muslim who speaks words of unbelief in jest is held to have apostatised by the majority, and a non-Muslim who professes Islam in jest is held a Muslim in the view of the Hanafis and Shafi'is; Ibn al-Qayyim holds the speaker bound by the words outwardly. ^{23 24} Slander made in jest is punished by hadd according to the Shafi'is, and by discretionary punishment according to the Hanafis if the speaker habitually jests in that way. ²⁴