Nakth (breaking a covenant or contract)

Nakth (breaking) is, in the lexicon, the undoing of what has been tied or agreed, and in the term, breaking covenants and contracts. It is forbidden by the law, and the lawgiver made it the cause of rejecting a treaty when the polytheists break it. ^{1 2}

Nakth in the lexicon is the masdar of nakatha, to undo a covenant or a rope; the Qur'an says "if they break their oaths after their covenant". It is the undoing of what has been made and arranged, such as a pledge of allegiance. ¹ Naqd (undoing). A wider term: it applies to undoing any firm thing, whether contract or building; nakth applies to contracts only. ¹ Nabdh (rejection). Wider than nakth: every nakth is a nabdh, not every nabdh a nakth. ¹ Ghadr (treachery). Breaking a covenant and not keeping it; shared with nakth in breaking the covenant. ² Ahd (covenant). Nakth occurs only after a covenant, since its object is the covenanted matter. ²

Its binding ruling. Breaking is forbidden by the law, on the verses "if they break their oaths after their covenant and mock your religion, fight the leaders of unbelief", "those who break God's covenant after its binding", and "whoever breaks it breaks it against himself". The hadiths cited: "no faith for one without trust, and no religion for one without a covenant"; "whoever gives his pledge and breaks it will meet God with no oath"; and "four qualities make a pure hypocrite: when he speaks he lies, when he promises he breaks it, when he covenants he betrays, and when he disputes he is foul". ^{2 3} Its effect in law. The lawgiver made breaking a covenant the cause of rejecting it and abandoning it: the polytheists' breaking and their attack on the religion made the fighting of the leaders of unbelief and the rejection of their covenant lawful. He made the mere fear of betrayal by an outside people a cause for rejecting their covenant, on the verse "if you fear betrayal from a people, reject their covenant on equal terms". ³ Open questions. The jurists differ on starting to fight the polytheists before informing them that the covenant is broken, on the ruling when those under a truce break it, and likewise when the protected people break their covenant. These are detailed under the entries on protected people, treachery, breaking and truce. ³ Breaking in oaths. The ruling varies with the kind of oath: the false oath (ghamus), the vain oath (laghw) and the binding oath. Cross-reference: oaths and the breaking of oaths. ³