Discover the meaning of the term Al-ābq (آبق) in Islamic vocabulary.
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Updated on 11 April 2026 at 1:05 AM
📖 3 min readIt is the slave who flees his owner deliberately.
It is a slave who fled his master deliberately and defiantly.
From abaqa (to make flee): flight and rebellion against the right. In the Sharia: the slave who flees his owner deliberately, whether a qina (slave under a contract of manumission), a mudabbar (slave to be freed at the master's death) or an umm walad (mother of a child); seizing him is more beloved than leaving him; and seizing the strayed one: it has also been said; and it has been said that leaving him is preferable; the strayed one (da'll) is he who lost the way to his master's dwelling. In Kunz al-Daqa'iq: whoever returns him within a journey's distance has forty dirhams due to him, even if his value is less, that is, less than forty; and whoever returns him for less than that, reward is reckoned by his appraisal; and whoever spends on the fugitive without the judge's permission acts as a voluntary donor.
In language: the active participle of the ibaq (flight); its verb: 'abaqa', 'ya'biqu'; 'ya'biqu abaqan' and 'abaqa abaqan': he is then 'abiq'; its plural: 'ibbaq' and 'abq'; 'tabbaqa': to hide oneself then depart, as Ibn Sidah said. The ibaq is specific to human beings, whether slave or free. It has been restricted precisely to one who flees his master without fear or hardship, which is al-Tha'alibi's view. Al-Azhari said: 'Al-abiq: the slave's flight from his master.'
Of the slave: 'abaqa-hu abaqan', 'abaqan' and 'ibaqan': he fled. In the noble Quran: 'when he fled to the laden ship' (al-Saffat, 40). 'Abaqa': he fled; the fatha on the ba is the more eloquent form.
It is the slave who flees his owner; thus said al-Sayyid in 'al-Ta'rifat.'
The fugitive. (Plural): ibaq. According to al-Tha'alibi's saying: the fugitive who has not been wronged by his master. Among the Malikis: one who went into hiding without cause; al-harib (the fleer): one who went into hiding for a cause; this distinction holds according to the root; custom: that whoever goes into hiding absolutely, whether for a cause or otherwise, is both abiq and harib. Among the Hanafis: it is the slave who flees his owner deliberately; and: the fleeing slave in rebellion. Among the Zahiris: one who fled from the community of Allah, the Most High, and from the abode of Allah's religion to the abode of Allah's enemies, the wagers of war against Allah and His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).