Chapter: The Legal Rulings of ḥajr (interdiction)

Islam was revealed to safeguard wealth and protect people’s rights. For that very reason it prescribes ḥajr for those who merit it, so that other people’s property and entitlements are not lost.

Lexically, ḥajr means “prevention.” From this root, the unlawful (ḥarām) is sometimes called ḥajr because people are prevented from it. The Almighty says, “and they will say, ‘A barrier forbidden!’” (Q 25:22).

Reason, too, is termed ḥajr; the Exalted says, “Is there in that an oath for one possessed of ḥajr?” (Q 89:5)—that is, sound intellect—because reason restrains its possessor from shameful deeds whose consequences are harmful.

In the technical usage of the law, ḥajr is the act of preventing a person from disposing of his wealth.

The proof from the Qur’an is the verse: “Do not give the incapable your property…” followed by, “If you perceive in them sound judgment, then hand over their property to them” (Q 4:5–6). These two verses establish the interdiction placed on the prodigal and the orphan regarding their wealth, lest they squander and ruin it, and they show that the property is not to be entrusted to them until their prudence has been verified.