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Intihab (taking by force what is grabbed or distributed)

الانتهاب

Intihab is taking a thing by force and contest. It differs from stealth, from usurpation and from pilfering the booty before division. 12 It has three kinds: taking what the owner has not permitted, which is forbidden by agreement; taking what has been thrown open, such as the sweets thrown at a wedding, where the jurists differ between disliked and forbidden; and taking what the owner allowed to be shared equally, such as a banquet, which is forbidden because it goes beyond the permitted share. 23

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At a glance

Era
The Prophetic Era
Region
Global / Diaspora
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Law and courts

Definition

Intihab in the lexical sense is taking a thing by raid and plunder; the jurists define it as taking a thing by force in contest. 1 It differs from theft by stealth, which relies on speed and concealment; from usurpation, which applies only to a thing that may not be taken; and from pilfering the booty before division. 12

Kinds and rulings

  • Taking what the owner has not allowed: forbidden by agreement, and it carries discretionary punishment, as a kind of usurpation. 2
  • Taking what the owner has thrown open, such as the sweets thrown over a bride: the jurists differ; al-Shawkani forbids it, others dislike it, and the Hanafis, al-Sha'bi and al-Hasan al-Basri allow it while holding that leaving it is better. 23
  • Taking what the owner allowed to be shared equally, such as food at a banquet: forbidden, since taking more than one's share is unlawful eating. 3
  • Effect: one who takes what the owner has allowed owns it by taking it. 3

People and things also explored

Ahliyya (legal capacity: to have rights and duties, and to act; its stages from the womb to full maturity, and what impairs it)· Democracy and the Sharia — compatibility and conflict· Fatwa on the satellite channels — its benefit and harm· Secularism and Islam — conflict or concord· Stoning (rajm) as a penalty for zina· Allusion to a proposal during the waiting period· Aman (safe-conduct granted to enemies in war)· Amana (trust, deposit and what is entrusted)

Sources

  1. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.3456
  2. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.3457
  3. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.3458
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Intihab (taking by force what is grabbed or distributed)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/intihab/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-23.

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Ahliyya (legal capacity: to have rights and duties, and to act; its stages from the womb to full maturity, and what impairs it)

Ahliyya is lexically suitability, and it is of two kinds: capacity to have rights and duties, the capacity of liability; and capacity to act, that is to perform acts recognised by the law. Its bearer passes through the stages of the foetus, childhood, discernment, puberty and maturity. Liability is complete from birth and incomplete for the foetus; the capacity to act is partial at discernment and full with puberty and reason. It is affected by heavenly impediments such as madness, imbecility, sleep, fainting, illness, slavery, menstruation, childbirth and death, and by acquired ones such as ignorance, drunkenness, jest, folly, travel, error and coercion.