Discover the meaning of the term Al-astḥdad (استحداد) in Islamic vocabulary.
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Updated on 11 April 2026 at 1:05 AM
📖 3 min readShaving the pubic region. Abu 'Ubayd said: we hold that the origin of al-istihdad, and God knows best, is the istif'al form from al-hadida (iron), meaning shaving with it; that is because the people did not know the nura (the depilatory). (Al-Mughni, p. 29-30.)
Shaving the pubic region; called istihdad for the use of the blade (musa). In the noble hadith: 'Five are of the fitra: shaving the pubis (al-istihdad), circumcision, trimming the mustache, plucking the armpits, and clipping the nails.' Al-hidad: mourning garments. Al-hadd: prevention (plural hudud). The barrier between two things. A thing's encompassing description, that which distinguishes it from another. Of everything: its sharp fine edge; of everything: its utmost end. God's command and prohibition; as in the Qur'an: 'these are the limits (hudud) of God, so do not approach them' (al-Baqara, 187). Disobedience; hence the noble hadith from Anas: 'I was with the Prophet (peace and blessings upon him) when a man came and said: Messenger of God, I have committed a hadd, so apply it upon me; and he did not question him. Anas said: the prayer came and he prayed with the Prophet; when the Prophet finished, the man stood and said: Messenger of God, I have committed a hadd, so apply upon me what is in God's Book. He said: did you not pray with us? He said: yes. He said: God has forgiven your sin, or (state) your hadd.' An-Nawawi said: this hadd means a disobedience among those warranting discretionary punishment (ta'zir), here among the minor sins since the prayer erased it. Others said: what is meant is the known hadd; he did not apply it because the man did not explain the cause of the hadd, and the Prophet did not press the inquiry, preferring concealment. In the Law: a fixed punishment, a right owed to God Most High, by way of deterrence (at-Tamartashi). In legal usage: any punishment for a disobedience, major or minor; the restriction belongs to the jurists' terminology (Ibn al-Qayyim). Ash-Shawkani said: it is clear that the Law applies hudud to the specific punishments; supported by 'Abd ar-Rahman b. 'Awf's word on the drunkard's hadd: the lightest of the hudud is eighty lashes. With the Shafi'is: what God Most High has delimited and legislated of rulings.