Discover the meaning of the term Al-nqḍ (نقض) in Islamic vocabulary.
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Updated on 11 April 2026 at 1:05 AM
📖 5 min readIn language: breaking. In technical usage: showing that the ruling whose establishment or negation is claimed fails to obtain, in some of the forms, in relation to the causal argument attesting it; if it occurs by barring one of the argument's premises in an unrestricted way, it is called ijmali (summary) naqd, since its upshot reduces to barring one of the argument's premises in an unrestricted way; if it occurs by bare denial, or with support (sanad), it is called tafsili (detailed) naqd, since it is the barring of a specific premise.
The presence of the ratio legis ('illa) without the ruling.
In prosody ('arud): the deletion of the seventh unvowelled letter of 'mafa'ilun' and the silencing of the fifth, by removing its nun and silencing its lam, so that 'mafa'il' remains and the form shifts to 'mafa'il'; it is then called 'manqus' (truncated).
In language: breaking. In technical usage: showing that the ruling for which an argument attesting its establishment or negation has been adduced fails to obtain in some of the forms. In the terminology of disputation (munazara): the invalidation of the opponent's causal argument after its completion, by holding to an indicator proving it unworthy of being argued from, either because of a fallacy of greater generality: that the argument exists in a place while the thing argued for does not exist there; or for another fallacy, such as the entailment of the impossible upon the supposition of the thing argued for being realized. Just as the name of unrestricted naqd is applied to it, so is naqd restricted by indeterminacy applied, and it is called ijmali naqd, because it reverts to barring one of the argument's premises in an unrestricted way; and since it is a claim of invalidating the argument, an indicator of the flaw and invalidation is required there, for a claim without argument and witness is not heeded, as is not hidden, especially before the judge.
In language: corrupting what has been concluded: a contract, a building or a covenant; it also means demolishing: one says 'naqd al-bina'', meaning its demolition. In technical usage: that the attribute sued upon exists while the ruling fails to obtain from it. An example is our saying: 'Whoever does not pass the night forming the intention, the first of his fast is devoid of it, and it is not valid,' for fasting denotes abstention throughout the day with the intention; the absence of the intention at the fast's start is then made the cause of its nullity; the opponent says: what you mentioned is refuted by the voluntary fast, which is valid without passing the night on it. In 'Ahkam al-Fusul': the presence of the ratio legis and the absence of the ruling. In 'al-Mujaz fi usul al-fiqh': the presence of the attribute claimed to be the ratio legis in another locus together with the ruling's failure in this locus. (Ihkam al-Fusul, p. 53; al-Mujaz fi usul al-fiqh, p. 252; al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya, 28/341).
'Naqada al-shay' naqdan': he corrupted it after firming it. One says: 'naqd al-bina'': its demolition; and 'naqd al-yamin aw al-'ahd': its violation. In the noble Quran: 'and do not break oaths after their confirmation' (al-Nahl, 91); and therein: 'and those who break the covenant of Allah after its solemn pledge, and cut asunder what Allah has commanded to be joined, and spread corruption on earth: upon them is the curse, and for them is the evil abode' (al-Ra'd, 25).
Showing the attribute without the ruling, the ruling failing the argument.
In language: the undoing of a thing's parts one from another; it is said: annulling (faskh) and unbinding the composition.
With fatha on the fa and a sukun: the masdar of naqada; 'yanqudu al-'ahd': he violates it, casts it off and corrupts it.
The presence of the ratio legis together with the absence of the ruling; it is also the demonstration that the ruling whose establishment or negation is claimed fails to obtain, in some of the forms, in relation to the causal argument attesting it; if it occurs by barring one of the argument's premises in an unrestricted way, it is called ijmali (summary) naqd; if it occurs by bare denial, or with support, it is called tafsili (detailed) naqd.