Discover the meaning of the term Al-imhal- (إمهال) in Islamic vocabulary.
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Updated on 11 April 2026 at 1:05 AM
📖 2 min readIn language: a verbal noun from amhala: delay and gradualness, or granting respite and deferring the demand. Its technical meaning does not depart from that: it is used for granting respite and postponement; imhal opposes haste. Benefit: the difference between it and al-i'dhar: i'dhar may be with a fixed term or without; imhal occurs only with a fixed term; moreover imhal shows no exaggeration. (An-Nihaya 4/375; al-Misbah al-Munir, root mhl, p. 223; al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya 5/234, 6/279.) Al-amwal al-hashriyya: with fatha on the ha' and sukun on the shin: meaning the herded-together (muhshara), gathered for the Muslims and their interests; one says hashartu-hu (I herded him) ahsharu, and ahshartu-hu: I am then hashir and he is mahshur. (Tahrir at-Tanbih, p. 256.) Al-ummi: Ibn Batish said: al-ummi, with damma on the hamza; al-Azhari said: the ummi here is one who does not recite well; the ummi in the Arabs' speech: one who neither writes nor reads what is written. Al-Manawi said: one who cannot write well, ascribed to his mother because women customarily lack writing; Abu al-Baqa' mentioned it. It was said: ascribed to the mother because he remains as his mother bore him, reading and writing being acquired. (Al-Mughni li-Ibn Batish, p. 144; at-Tawqif, p. 95; al-Matla', p. 61; Talbat at-Talaba, p. 104; al-Qamus al-Qawim li-l-Qur'an al-Karim 1/33-34; al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya 6/270.)