Intimidation (takhwif) and coercion

Takhwif is causing a person to fear. It counts as coercion (ikrah) when it threatens killing, severe beating or long imprisonment, according to the Hanafis and Malikis; it can also cause a death or a miscarriage, which carries liability. ^{1 2}

In Arabic, takhwif is making a person fear, or putting him in a state that people fear; the Qur'an speaks of Satan causing his followers to fear his allies. Inindhar is takhwif with a notice of the source of the fear, so it is narrower. ¹

The Hanafis and Malikis, and a narration among the Shafi'is and Hanbalis, hold that coercion occurs through a threat of killing, severe beating or long imprisonment. For lesser beating or imprisonment the rank of the person decides: a stick or a day's detention is no coercion to one who does not mind it, but is coercion to a man of standing, such as a judge or a leading figure of a town. ² Al-Qadi of the Hanbalis, and a view among the Shafi'is as reported by al-Hanati, hold that coercion occurs only through a threat of killing. Another Shafi'i view says that a threat of imprisonment is not coercion. ²

The Hanafis, and a view among the Malikis, hold that coercion occurs by a threat to take property. Their example: an overpowering man tells someone to sell his house or he will hand it to his adversary, and the sale that follows is the sale of a coerced man. Al-Qahastani among the Hanafis requires that the threat be to destroy all the property. ³ A Shafi'i view and the Hanbali school hold that coercion occurs with the taking or destruction of a large amount of property; another Shafi'i view holds that a threat to take property is not coercion. ³

No jurist disputes that death can result from a threat, as when a man is terrified by a sword raised at him and dies of the fright. ³ Jurists hold a person liable who frightens a woman so that she miscarries, with disputes and detail about which miscarriage is punishable. ³ The full treatment of coercion, its kinds and conditions is under its own entry. ³