Mubah

{{Short description|Islamic jurisprudential term denoting an action that has no specific ruling}} {{Usul al-fiqh}} {{Italic title}} '''''Mubāḥ''''' (Arabic: مباح) is an Arabic word roughly meaning "permitted",<ref>{{Cite book|author=Hans Wehr, J. Milton Cowan| year=1976 | title=A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic|publisher=Spoken Language Services|edition=3rd|page=81}}</ref> which has technical uses in Islamic law. "Mubah" is an Islamic jurisprudential term that refers to an action for which a person has no specific obligation. Consequently, performing or abstaining from it is considered equally permissible, and neither action results in reward or punishment from the perspective of God in Islam.<ref> {{cite book |last = فراهیدی |first = خلیل |author-link = |date = |title = العین |trans-title = Al-Ayn |url = https://lib.eshia.ir/20006/1/1 |location = قم |publisher = |quote = تحقيق الدكتور مهدى المخزومي الدكتور ابراهيم السامرئي، ۱۴۰۵ق /۱۹۸۵م. |language = ar |volume = ۱ |page = ۱۱۹ |isbn = }} </ref><ref> {{cite book |last = ازهری |first = محمد |author-link = |date = |title = تهذیب اللغة |trans-title = Language refinement |url = https://lib.eshia.ir/40687/1/0 |location = |publisher = دار إحياء التراث العربي |quote = |language = ar |volume = ۲ |page = ۶۷ |isbn = }} </ref>

In uṣūl al-fiqh ({{Langx|ar|أصول الفقه|lit=principles of Islamic jurisprudence}}), ''mubāḥ'' is one of the five degrees of approval (ahkam): # {{transliteration|ar|farḍ/wājib}} ({{lang|ar|واجب / فرض}}) - compulsory, obligatory # {{transliteration|ar|mustaḥabb/mandūb}} ({{lang|ar|مستحب}}) - recommended # {{transliteration|ar|mubāḥ}} ({{lang|ar|مباح}}) - neutral, not involving God's judgment # {{transliteration|ar|makrūh}} ({{lang|ar|مكروه}}) - disliked, reprehensible # {{transliteration|ar|ḥarām/maḥzūr}} ({{lang|ar|محظور / حرام}}) - forbidden

Mubah is commonly translated as "neutral" or "permitted" in English.,<ref name="vikor">{{cite encyclopedia|first=Knut S.|last=Vikør|title=Sharīʿah|encyclopedia=The Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam and Politics|publisher=Oxford University Press|editor=Emad El-Din Shahin|year=2014|url=http://bridgingcultures.neh.gov/muslimjourneys/items/show/226|access-date=2017-05-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140604214623/http://bridgingcultures.neh.gov/muslimjourneys/items/show/226|archive-date=2014-06-04|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="hallaq">{{cite book|author=Wael B. Hallaq|author-link = Wael Hallaq|title=Sharī'a: Theory, Practice, Transformations|year=2009|publisher=Cambridge University Press (Kindle edition)|page=Loc. 2160}}</ref> "indifferent"<ref name="baber">{{cite encyclopedia|author=Baber Johansen|title=Islamic Law. Legal and Ethical Qualifications|encyclopedia=The Oxford International Encyclopedia of Legal History|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|year=2009|url=http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195134056.001.0001/acref-9780195134056-e-424|editor=Stanley N. Katz|url-access=subscription }}</ref> or "(merely) permitted".<ref name="baber" /><ref>{{cite encyclopedia|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Islam|title=Halal|editor= Juan Eduardo Campo|publisher=Infobase Publishing|year=2009|page=284}}</ref> It refers to an action that is not mandatory, recommended, reprehensible or forbidden, and thus involves no judgement from God.<ref name="vikor" /> Assigning acts to this legal category reflects a deliberate choice rather than an oversight on the part of jurists.<ref name="hallaq" />

In Islamic property law, the term ''mubāḥ'' refers to things which have no owner. It is similar to the concept ''res nullius'' used in Roman law and common law.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|author=Ersilia Francesca|title=Possession. Yad in Islamic Law|encyclopedia=The Oxford International Encyclopedia of Legal History|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|year=2009|url=http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195134056.001.0001/acref-9780195134056-e-642|editor=Stanley N. Katz|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

==Categorization== thumb|750px|center|Left diagram: ''Categorization of the deeds of an obliged person''.{{BR}}Right diagram: ''Quality of the deeds in Islam''.

== See also == {{Div col|colwidth=20em}} * {{annotated link|Adiaphora}}, a similar concept in Stoicism * {{annotated link|Halal}} * Ahkam * Baligh * Batil * Ghanimah * Hirabah * Ibadah * Khums * Zakat * Taqiyya * Thawab * Ulu'l-amr * Wakil * Makruh * Haram * Ghibah * Gunah * Islah * Istighfar * Qasd * Taghut * Tawbah * Tazkiah * Wasat * Maslaha * Qiyas * Ijazah * Ijma {{Div col end}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * [https://en.wikishia.net/view/Mubah Mubah] * [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mubah Mubah definition] * [https://www.thedeenshow.com/halal-mustahabb-mubah-makrooh-haram/ Halal, Mustahabb, Mubah, Makrooh & Haram] * [https://academic.oup.com/book/39928/chapter/340197539 The Permissible (Mubah, Also Halal, Ja'iz)]

Category:Arabic words and phrases Category:Sharia terminology