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Detention and retention (ihtibas)

احتباس

Ihtibas in the lexicon is restraint and holding back. It differs from hajr, interdiction, in that restraint serves the one who holds back, while interdiction serves the person interdicted. 1 It differs from hasr, confinement with constriction, in that restraint need not include constriction. 1 Whoever detains a person or an animal owes its maintenance; this is why a wife held back is owed maintenance, and a private worker is owed his wage simply by being held available. 2 Prayer with wind or excrement held back is disliked, and the rain prayer is sunna when rain is withheld. 2

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Prophetic Era
Region
Global / Diaspora
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Development of law, theology and institutions

Summary

Ihtibas in the lexicon is restraint and holding back. It differs from hajr, interdiction, in that restraint serves the one who holds back, while interdiction serves the person interdicted. 1 It differs from hasr, confinement with constriction, in that restraint need not include constriction. 1 Whoever detains a person or an animal owes its maintenance; this is why a wife held back is owed maintenance, and a private worker is owed his wage simply by being held available. 2 Prayer with wind or excrement held back is disliked, and the rain prayer is sunna when rain is withheld. 2

People and things also explored

Biting and the liability for injury it causes (add)· Justice and uprightness (adl)· Contagion (adwa)· Pardon (afw) in purity, worship, contracts and penalties· Covenant (ahd) and the duty to keep it; oath by the covenant of God· Term, deadline (ajal)· Hired worker (ajir)· Stranger, outsider (ajnabi)

Sources

  1. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.1716
  2. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.1717
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Detention and retention (ihtibas)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/ihtibas/. 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

Biting and the liability for injury it causes (add)

In the lexicon, add is gripping a thing with the teeth and holding it. If a person bites another without right and a wound results, the biter must pay the damages for the wound, assessed as a just award by experts. If one man bites another's hand and the bitten man pulls it free so that the biter's front teeth fall out, most jurists hold that there is no liability, relying on a prophetic judgement in such a case; the Shafi'is limit this to a bitten man who chose the easiest means of release, and the preferred Maliki view requires compensation.