Discover the meaning of the term Al-wajb (واجب) in Islamic vocabulary.
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Updated on 11 April 2026 at 1:05 AM
📖 2 min readWhat is established by a proof containing some doubt. Its ruling is that of the fard in practice, not in belief, so that its denier is not declared an unbeliever.
That for whose doing one is rewarded and whose neglect is punished.
With the jurists: what is established by a religious proof that is only probable (zanni) and thus open to doubt, whether from revealed texts or otherwise. Its ruling: reward for doing and punishment for deliberate omission, without disbelief for denying it. This is the wajib al-'amal (obligation of action), the name of what binds us by the proof mentioned. The term wajib is also applied to the fard, as is obvious to any reader of the books of fiqh.
What one is blamed for deliberately omitting; what its own essence requires to exist in the external world.
With the jurists: what is established as obligatory by a proof admitting some doubt, whether in its signification (zanni al-dalala) or in its authentication (zanni al-thubut).