Intisab (ascription to parents, clients, crafts and places)

الانتساب

Intisab in the lexical sense is ascribing oneself to a father, a tribe, a town or a craft. 1 Ascription to one's true father is obligatory when true, and to any other is forbidden; adoption is forbidden. 12 A freed slave is ascribed by clientage, and the Hanafis allow a contract of allegiance by which a convert takes a patron; ascription to a craft, a tribe or a town is permitted. 2 The child of a lian is attached to his mother. 2

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Prophetic Era
Region
Global / Diaspora
Review
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Family, marriage and kinship

Definition

Intisab in the lexical sense is ascribing oneself to someone, to a father, a tribe, a town or a craft. 1

Kinds and rulings

  • Ascription to one's parents by birth is obligatory when true and forbidden when false, following the hadith that a woman who brings into a people a child not theirs is not in God's keeping. 1
  • Adoption is forbidden, citing the Qur'anic command to call adopted children after their fathers. 12
  • Ascription by freed-slave patronage gives inheritance and the share in a blood payment when there are no blood relatives. 2
  • The Hanafis recognise allegiance by agreement: a convert who is linked to a patron by agreement is inherited from and pays for his crimes. 2
  • Ascription to a craft, a tribe or a town is allowed, as with al-Qurashi, al-Tamimi, al-Bukhari and al-Qurtubi, and the community agrees. 2
  • The child of a mutual curse is attached to his mother after the ruler has denied the father's paternity. 2
  • Ascription through the mother has rulings on inheritance, guardianship, marriage, looking and travel. 2

People and things also explored

Taj Mahal· Abawan (the two parents)· Justice among co-wives· Obstructing a marriage (adl): the guardian and the husband· Fleshy growth in the wife's womb and the right to annul (afal)· Ahl al-Nasab (the kin by descent, and who counts as kin in bequests and endowments)· Akdariyya (a named inheritance case)· Brother (full, paternal and maternal) in law

Sources

  1. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.3434
  2. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.3435
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Intisab (ascription to parents, clients, crafts and places)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/intisab/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-23.

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