Discover the meaning of the term Ahsr (أحصر) in Islamic vocabulary.
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Updated on 11 April 2026 at 1:05 AM
📖 2 min readAhsara the camel: to hobble it (hasarahu). Ahsara someone: to confine and prevent him; it is said: illness prevented him (ahsarahu), fear prevented him. In the Noble Quran: 'If you are constrained (uhsirtum), then make whatever offering is feasible' (Al-Baqarah, 196). Al-ihsar: prevention from reaching what is sought. Most philologists teach that ihsar occurs only through illness, while prevention by an enemy is hasr; others say the term applies to everything that prevents a person from acting. In legal terms: the prevention from performing the rites, from the outset or durably, in whole or in part (al-Bajirmi). In legal terms: the prevention from a pillar of the rites or from several, by an enemy, illness, the death of a muhrim, or the loss of means of subsistence (al-Haskafi). In the Shari'ah: the prevention from proceeding with the acts of pilgrimage, whether by an enemy, confinement or illness (al-Jurjani). In the view of many Companions: whatever detains the pilgrim or the lesser pilgrim (mu'tamir), by an enemy, illness or otherwise; this is the position of the Hanafis, Hanbalis, Zahiris and Zaydis. In the view of Ibn 'Abbas and the Shafi'is: it is prevention by an enemy. Al-hasur: one who refrains from plunging into lusts; in the Noble Book: 'Allah gives you good tidings of Yahya, confirming a word from Allah, a chief, a chaste man and a prophet among the righteous' (Al 'Imran, 39). Al-hasir: narrow-minded; miserly; what holds back and prevents movement. In the Noble Quran: 'We have made Hell a collar (hasira) for the unbelievers' (Al-Isra', 8). Hasara the land: to level its surface.