Ruju' (return or retraction): in judgment and fatwa, in contracts, in testimony and confession, in apostasy and in the rules of travel

الرجوع

Ruju' in the lexicon is turning back; in the law it is a return to what was, or the undoing of an act. ^{1 2} It may be obligatory, as a return to the Qur'an and the Sunna when people dispute; recommended, as the mutual cancellation of a sale; permitted in revocable contracts; forbidden, as taking back a charity; or disliked, as taking back a gift in the Hanafi view. ^{2 3} A judge or mufti may change his ruling when his ijtihad changes; a few Malikis disagreed, but most held that the earlier judgment is not annulled by a later ijtihad. ^{4 5 6} Revocable contracts, such as loan of use, bequest, partnership, agency and deposit, may be revoked; binding contracts may be revoked only by mutual consent. ^{7 8 9} A return is lost by remission, by the death of a party, or by the waiver of a right. ^{9 10} In testimony, witnesses who retract after judgment pay the money, and the penalty is not carried out; in confession, a retraction removes the hadd penalty by the majority. ^{11 12 13}