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

Saved on this device only — nothing is sent anywhere.

Hadm (demolition, real and legal)

هَدْم

Hadm in the lexical sense is tearing down a building, destruction or collapse; the technical sense does not depart from this. 1 It is of two kinds: real demolition of a structure, and figurative demolition of something else, such as a contract, meaning annulment. 2 Real demolition is required in several cases: a church built by People of the Book in a city the Muslims founded, a building within a river's buffer, a projecting structure over a public road that harms passers-by (the judge orders it removed), and a leaning wall, whose demolisher bears no liability. 2 3 Real demolition has legal effects: demolishing a mosque wall obliges its restoration, a buyer who demolishes part of the house confirms the sale, and one who demolishes a house decorated with figural images owes its value. 3 The figurative case is triple divorce: a woman divorced three times returns to her husband, after another marriage, under a new marriage, the earlier divorce being demolished. 3

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Early Abbasid Caliphate
Region
Arabia
Review
Draft Completeness 1/5 · Help complete it

Law and courtsDevelopment of law, theology and institutionsHalal and haram

Summary

Hadm in the lexical sense is tearing down a building, destruction, or collapse; the technical sense does not depart from this. 1

Real and figurative demolition

Demolition is of two kinds: real, of a structure, and figurative, of something else such as a contract, meaning annulment. 2

Cases where demolition is required

A church built by People of the Book in a city the Muslims founded must be demolished; so must a structure within a river's buffer, and a projecting structure over a public road that harms passers-by, which the judge orders removed. A leaning wall may be demolished without liability on the demolisher. 2 3

Effects of real demolition

Demolishing a mosque wall obliges its restoration; a buyer who demolishes part of the house confirms the sale; one who demolishes a house decorated with figural images owes its value. 3

Figurative demolition

An example is triple divorce: a woman divorced three times returns to her husband after another marriage under a new marriage contract, the earlier divorce being demolished. 3

People and things also explored

Dahri (the naturalist who holds that time is eternal)· Da'wa (the fiqh article: call, invitation and summons)· The state (in fiqh and siyasa shar'iyya)· Diwan (the state register: the office books of troops, taxes, judges and governors)· Halak (destruction of property and its legal effect)· Halal (the lawful)· Himyan (money belt: pilgrim's wearing, spoils and theft)· Haqiqa (literal sense)

Sources

  1. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.16458
  2. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.16459
  3. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.16460
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Hadm (demolition, real and legal)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/hadm-fiqh/. 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

Dahri (the naturalist who holds that time is eternal)

As a term the Dahriyya are a group of disbelievers who held that time is eternal and attributed events to it, denying the existence of a Creator who chooses, and denying the Hereafter, resurrection and recompense. The jurists distinguish the Dahri from the zindiq, the mulhid, the hypocrite and the apostate, though all of them share disbelief with him; an original disbeliever of this kind is treated as a harbi, a musta'min or a dhimmi according to his residence.