and • Collective duty (farḍ kifāyah): an act whose performance is required from the body of legally accountable people as a whole, not from each individual in particular—such as acquiring beneficial knowledge and skills, giving the call to prayer, enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong, and the like.

These five rulings vary greatly in their circumstances, degrees, and consequences. Whatever brings about pure or predominant benefit the Lawgiver commands, either as an obligation or a recommendation; and whatever entails pure or predominant harm the Lawgiver forbids, either as a strict prohibition or a matter of dislike. This principle therefore encompasses every command and every prohibition.