Discover the meaning of the term Astrq (استرق) in Islamic vocabulary.
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Updated on 11 April 2026 at 1:05 AM
📖 2 min readIstaraqa the thing: the opposite of istaghlaza (to make it fine and delicate). Istaraqa the slave: to acquire him as property. Istaraqa the free man: to treat him like a slave. Istaraqa the thing: to steal it. In the Noble Quran: 'And We placed in the heaven constellations and adorned them for the beholders, and We guarded them from every stoned satan, except him who steals a hearing (istaraqa), whereupon a bright flame pursues him' (Al-Hijr, 16-18). As-saraqah: what was stolen; one says: this is the saraqah of so-and-so: what he stole from him. As-saraqah: a white piece of silk cloth (plural: siraq). Abu 'Ubaydah said: it appears to be a Persian word. As-sariqah: taking the thing of another secretly; the stolen thing. In the Shari'ah it has two definitions: the first, insofar as it is forbidden: taking the thing of another secretly, without right, whether the threshold (nisab) is met or not. The second, insofar as it entails the legal penalty of amputation: taking, by a legally responsible person (mukallaf), of sound speech and sight, ten dirhams of good quality or their equivalent, targeted by the taking, manifest upon removal, secretly, from one who rightfully possesses it, from a place of safekeeping (harz), without ambiguity or any possible interpretation, in the abode of justice (dar al-'adl) (al-Haskafi). Al-mustariq: one deficient and weak in character; mustaraq al-'unq: short-necked; one who listens while hiding.