Discover the meaning of the term Al-ghṣb (غصب) in Islamic vocabulary.
Contents :
Updated on 11 April 2026 at 1:05 AM
📖 3 min readIn the language: to take a thing wrongfully, whether wealth or other. In the Law: to take property of value, protected, without the permission of its owner, without secrecy. The seizure does not obtain in the carcase, for it is not property; likewise in the free man, nor in the wine of the Muslim, for it is not of appraisable value, nor in the property of the man of war, for it is not protected. The phrase 'without the permission of its owner' is a safeguard against the deposit, and the phrase 'without secrecy' is to exclude theft.
In the manners of disputation: to bar a premise of the argument by denying it before the arguer establishes the proof of its existence, whether the affirmation of the disputed judgement follows from it implicitly or not.
Language: to take a thing from another by coercion and wrong, without open war. According to the Law: to take property of value, protected, without the owner's permission, in a manner that removes his hand, without secrecy. It is a verbal noun: ghasabahu; also said are ightasabahu, ghasabahu minhu and ghasabahu 'alayhi, and the thing: gha s ib and magh sub. The seizure does not obtain in the carcase for it is not property, nor in the wine of the Muslim for it is neither of appraisable value nor protected, nor in the man of war for he is not protected. The phrase 'without the permission of its owner': a safeguard against the deposit. The phrase 'without secrecy': to exclude theft. Ibn Arafa said: the seizure is the taking of the benefit of another wrongfully and by coercion, without fear of combat. Benefit: what is common between seizure and destruction is the depriving of the owner of the benefit; they differ in that seizure is realized only by the ceasing or failing of the hand, while destruction may be realized even with the hand remaining; they differ also in their legal effects and the arising of liability. Theft: the taking of the threshold from its secured place covertly. Brigandage: the seizing of a thing when escape is impossible. Treachery: the denial of what one was entrusted with.
The thing, in the form gha sban: to take it by coercion and wrong; he is gha s ib. (plural) ghasab. The thing is magh sub; gha sb is used as a verbal noun. The woman: to commit adultery with her by force. Such a one upon a thing: to subdue him to it.
The wrongful laying hold of the right of another.
Language: to take a thing wrongfully.