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Shoulder blade (kataf)

كَتِف

In the lexicon kataf is the broad bone behind the shoulder, and in the law of injuries it names the rules on cutting the arm and breaking the bone. Most jurists allow retaliation for cutting the hand at the shoulder joint, provided a deep wound into the body is not feared; if it is feared, retaliation is at the elbow. Breaking the shoulder blade carries no fixed retaliation or fixed compensation, only an assessed sum. Related rules include the sadl and the idtiba' in circumambulation. 1 2

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At a glance

Era
The Prophetic Era
Region
Global / Diaspora
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Health, body and death

Summary

In the lexicon kataf is the broad bone behind the shoulder; it is feminine and applies to humans and other creatures 1. The legal sense does not depart from the lexical one 1.

Retaliation for cutting the arm at the shoulder

Most jurists hold that retaliation applies to cutting the arm at the shoulder joint, provided that a deep wound into the body is not feared. If it is feared, the injured party may take retaliation at the elbow, as the Shafi'is and Hanbalis hold, since he takes what is possible of his right and may take compensation 1 2.

Breaking the shoulder blade

There is no retaliation for breaking the shoulder blade, as for other bones, and no fixed compensation; an assessed sum is owed instead. Its detail belongs to the entries on injuries short of death 2.

Related rules

  • Sadl in prayer: according to the Hanbalis, it is throwing a cloth over both shoulders without bringing one end over the other shoulder; they dislike it, and require the worshipper to put some garment over one shoulder if able, which they make a condition of valid prayer in the preferred view 2.
  • Idtiba' in circumambulation: the pilgrim puts his upper garment under his right arm and throws it over his left shoulder, leaving the right shoulder bare; most jurists recommend it in the arrival circumambulation 2.

People and things also explored

Bone (adhm): purity, use and retaliation· Fleshy growth in the wife's womb and the right to annul (afal)· Grief and worry (al-huzn)· The clot stage of the embryo (alaqa) and the rulings on its loss· Alya (the rump, and its rulings)· Anf (the nose, and its rulings in purification, prayer, fasting and retaliation)· Anthayan (the two testicles, and rulings on them)· Reason as the basis of legal capacity and of the blood-money (aql)

Sources

  1. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.13211
  2. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.13212
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Shoulder blade (kataf)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/kataf/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-23.

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Bone (adhm): purity, use and retaliation

In the lexicon, adhm is the bone that has flesh on it, plural 'idham and 'izam. Most jurists hold that a human bone is pure, whether living or dead, of a Muslim or not; that a fish bone stays pure after death; and that the bone of a lawfully slaughtered edible animal is pure and may be used. The bone of carrion, or of a non-edible animal, is impure according to the Malikis, Shafi'is, Hanbalis and Ishaq, and cannot be purified; the Hanafis hold it pure, and 'Umar disliked oiling in ivory. On cleansing after excretion with a bone, the Shafi'is and Hanbalis forbid it; the Hanafis dislike it as forbidden but accept that it suffices; the Malikis forbid a carrion bone and allow a pure bone with disapproval. Most jurists allow retaliation for a bone only at a joint, since equality cannot be achieved elsewhere.