What does Al-irada mean?

Islam > Glossary > Al-irada

Discover the meaning of the term Al-irada (إرادة) in Islamic vocabulary.

Updated on 11 April 2026 at 1:05 AM

📖 2 min read

Definition Al-irada

Al-irada according to Kitab at-Ta'rifat (Al-Jurjani)

An attribute necessitating upon the Living a state from which the act proceeds one way rather than another; in truth it never attaches except to the nonexistent, for it is an attribute that particularizes a thing toward its happening and existence, as God said: 'His command, when He wills a thing, is but to say to it: Be, and it is.'

Al-irada according to Kitab at-Ta'rifat (Al-Jurjani)

An inclination that follows the belief in benefit.

Al-irada according to Kitab at-Ta'rifat (Al-Jurjani)

The heart's demand, the food of the spirit, from the goodness of the soul; it has been said: irada is the soul's veiling itself from its objects of will and its turning to God's commands with acceptance; it has been said: irada is a coal from the fire of love in the heart, disposing one to answer the calls of reality.

Al-irada according to At-Tawqif (Al-Munawi)

An attribute necessitating upon the Living a state from which the act proceeds one way rather than another, attaching only to the nonexistent: an attribute that particularizes a thing toward its happening and existence; mentioned by Ibn Kamal (cf. al-Ta'rifat, p. 15).

Al-irada according to At-Ta'rifat al-Fiqhiyya (Al-Barkati)

An attribute necessitating upon the Living a state from which the act proceeds one way rather than another.

Related terms: Al-irada

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