Book of Interdiction (Ḥajr)
Chapter One: The Categories of Those Placed Under Interdiction
The material of this book will be examined under three chapters:
- The categories of persons upon whom interdiction is imposed;
- When they emerge from interdiction, when it is newly imposed, and the conditions for its removal;
- The legal status of their actions with respect to annulment and ratification.
Chapter One
The Categories of Those Placed Under Interdiction
The scholars are unanimously agreed that interdiction is obligatory for orphans who have not yet reached puberty, on the basis of the Almighty’s words:
“Put the orphans to the test until they reach marriageable age.” (Q. 4:6)
They disagree, however, regarding sane adults when they are seen to squander their wealth. Mālik, al-Shāfiʿī, the scholars of Madinah, and many scholars of Iraq maintain that the judge may initiate interdiction against such adults once their profligacy is proven, after he has admonished them and they have no valid defence. This is also the view of Ibn ʿAbbās and Ibn al-Zubayr.
Abū Ḥanīfah and a group of Iraqi jurists hold that interdiction is not to be initiated against adults; the same is reported from Ibrāhīm al-Nakhaʿī and Ibn Sīrīn. These scholars divide into two sub-groups:
• Some say that, after reaching majority, no interdiction is ever permissible, even if the person wastes his wealth.
• Others say that if wastefulness has accompanied a person since childhood, the existing interdiction continues; but if he showed sound judgment after puberty and later reverted to profligacy, no new interdiction is imposed. Abū Ḥanīfah further limits continued interdiction—despite evident profligacy—to twenty-five years of age.
Those who require interdiction for adults argue that the reason interdiction was obligatory for minors is their frequent wastefulness; therefore, anyone in whom that same reason is found must likewise be interdicted, even if he is not a minor. They add that, for this very reason, the Law makes the restoration of property to minors conditional not merely on their attaining majority but also on manifesting sound judgment. The Almighty says:
“If you perceive in them sound judgment, then hand over to them their property.” (Q. 4:6)
This indicates that the underlying cause necessitating interdiction is profligacy.
The Ḥanafī position rests chiefly on the ḥadīth of Ḥibbān b. Munqid, in which he told the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—that he was cheated in transactions