Discover the meaning of the term Al-ʿlaqa (علاقة) in Islamic vocabulary.
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Updated on 11 April 2026 at 1:05 AM
📖 2 min readWith kasra of the 'ayn: used for sensibles; with fatha: for meanings; and in al-Sihah: 'al-'ilaqa', with kasra: the string of the bow and the lash and their like; with fatha: the bond of enmity and love and their like.
A thing whereby the second is necessarily entailed by the first, as illiyya (causality) and tadaff (co-fraternity).
With fatha: used for the intelligibles; with kasra: for the sensibles; it is the love adhering to the heart; it was named 'alaqa for the heart's hanging upon the beloved. Among the logicians: a thing by which one matter entails another; what is meant by it in defining the luZumi connection is a thing whereby the antecedent necessarily entails the consequent, as illiyya and tadaff. As for illiyya: that the antecedent be the cause of the consequent, or the reverse, or that both be effects of one cause, as our saying: 'if the sun is risen, the day exists,' and the reverse: 'and if the day exists, the earth is lit.' As for tadaff, its explanation is in tadaff, such as: 'if Zayd is the father of 'Amr, then 'Amr is his son.'
A thing whereby the second is necessarily entailed by the first, as illiyya and tadaff (Ta'rifat al-Jurjani, p. 162).
A thing whereby the second is necessarily entailed by the first, as illiyya and tadaff; with kasra of the 'ayn it is used for sensibles and with fatha for meanings; al-'alaqa is also the dower (mahr).