Discover the meaning of the term Al-qḍaʾ (قضاء) in Islamic vocabulary.
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Updated on 11 April 2026 at 1:05 AM
📖 2 min readIn language: judgment; technically: it is the universal divine judgment upon the existents, according to the states befalling them, from eternity to eternity, as in qadar; and with the imams of usul and the jurists: qada is acquittal, as the obligatory by means of its cause.
In language: judgment. Technically: it is the universal divine judgment upon the existents, according to the states befalling them, from eternity to eternity, as in qadar; also qada is acquittal, and sudden death, and passing, and performing the missed prayer. And with the imams of usul and the jurists: acquittal, as the obligatory by means of the cause. Also: the release from the obligatory by means of the cause, by its like from the legally obligated, which is his right; that is, by the like that is the obligated's right, for when he prays outside the time his prayer is supererogatory (nafl); and the nafl is the obligated's right, for the nafl, at other times, is instituted as a right of the servant, that the doors of the ways of gaining goods and attaining felicities be opened to him. The nafl being thus the obligated's right, when he wills to make up the missed prayer and prays, his supererogatory prayer is directed to the acquittal of what was due him; it is thus established that qada is a release by the like that is his right of it.
In language: it has the sense of obligation and judgment, as God Most High says: 'and your Lord has decreed (qada) that you worship none but Him'.
God Most High's knowledge of the existents, from eternity to eternity, in a general way.
The measured thing's realization; mentioned by al-Hurali.