الشَّرْط

الشَّرْط

In language shart is the binding of a thing and its obligation, and also a sign, as in the signs of the Hour; in the technical sense it is what the absence of which entails absence, while its presence entails neither presence nor absence in itself. ¹ The usulis distinguish a condition that acts as a cause, one that has the force of a cause, a condition that is a name and not a ruling, and a condition that is a plain sign, as ihsan in fornication. ^{2 3} A made condition is either conditional (ta'liq) or restricted (taqyid); a conditional one requires that the thing conditioned on be future and uncertain. ^{3 4} A valid restricted condition concerns an attribute of the object, what the contract requires, what suits it, what a text permits, or what custom has settled; a defective or void condition either voids the contract or leaves it valid, according to the school. ^{5 6 7 8 9 10}