Ilgha' (annulment or cancellation, and the principle of removing a difference)

Ilgha' in the lexical sense means annulment. Ibn Abbas is reported to have annulled the divorce of a compelled man, meaning he treated it as void. ¹ The usulis define it as the existence of a ruling without the attribute that caused it, that is, the attribute has no effect. ¹ For the jurists it means removing, dropping, spoiling or rescinding, and it only happens where the right or ownership to be annulled exists. ¹

• Ibtal (nullification): a ruling that a thing is void; it may happen before the thing exists, while ilgha' happens only after it exists or is done. ²
• Isqat (waiver): removing ownership or a right without transferring it to anyone, as divorce and manumission do. ²
• Fasakh (rescission): undoing the link of a contract and returning each consideration to its owner; it can apply to acts of worship, as with turning a pilgrimage into an umra. ²

The jurists allow annulment of transactions and contracts that bind only one side. A binding contract may be annulled after it takes effect only by the consent of both parties, as in iqala (mutual cancellation), or by a bar such as a discovered foster relation between the spouses. ²

• Conditions that annul the contract because they contradict a text, such as a condition of usury in a loan. ²
• Conditions that are void but leave the contract standing, such as a condition that the buyer may not sell or give the thing; the sale stands and the condition is voided, in the Hanafi view. ³
• Conditions that are valid because they secure the contract, such as a pledge or a surety demanded in a sale. ³

Transactions the Law does not approve are annulled, such as pledging wine, selling carrion, or vowing disobedience; so are transactions of one who lacks capacity. ³ An acknowledgement is annulled when the outward facts contradict it, or when the maker denies it, or when he retracts in a matter that allows retraction, namely rights of God. ³