Honour (ird)

العِرْض

In the lexicon, ird means the self and the lineage: a person of clean honour is one free from blemish, and the plural is a'rad. When the word is paired with self, blood or property, it means only lineage, and lineage is the usual sense in the jurists' use of the word ^{1 2}. Lineage, for the jurists, is the distinction inherited from forebears and the nobility of descent ². The law protects life, honour and property, and prescribes punishments and retaliation for them; the jurists agree that defending self, honour and property against an aggressor is lawful ². They agree that defending honour in the sense of chastity is obligatory, and that whoever abandons it commits a sin ³. Where a man finds another committing adultery with his wife and kills him, the jurists hold that there is neither retaliation nor blood-money ³. On defence, the majority require defending oneself and permit defending property, while some permit both ^{3 4}.