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Umm al-dimagh (the membrane over the brain, and wounds reaching it)

أم الدماغ

Umm al-dimagh is the membrane under the bone above the brain. A wound that reaches it without piercing it is called amma and ma'muma, and carries a third of the diya, with no retaliation according to the jurists. 12 A wound that pierces it is called damigha, and the jurists give several views on it; the membrane also bears on the fast, if something reaches it. 23

Depth

At a glance

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

Definition

Umm al-dimagh in the lexical sense is the skull, or the thin skin that encloses the brain. For the jurists it is the membrane under the bone above the brain, called umm al-ra's (mother of the head) and khurita al-dimagh (the sac of the brain). 1

Ruling

A wound that reaches the membrane without piercing it is called amma and ma'muma, carries a third of the diya, and has no retaliation, following the hadith of Abbas that there is no retaliation for a ma'muma, a jaifa or a munqila. 1 A wound that pierces it is called damigha; the jurists differ: some hold it carries the same as an amma, some add a fixed compensation, and some hold it carries the full diya for a life. 2 On the fast, some jurists hold that anything reaching the membrane breaks it, and others only if it reaches the brain itself. 23

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.3401
  2. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.3402
  3. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.3403
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Umm al-dimagh (the membrane over the brain, and wounds reaching it)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/umm-al-dimagh/. 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.