The Maxim of Harm Must Be Removed: Zakat, Fasting, and Financial Obligations

The fourth foundational maxim in Al-Ashbah wan-Naza'ir — 'harm must be removed' (ad-darar yuzal) — derives from the famous prophetic hadith: 'There shall be no harm and no reciprocating harm' (la darar wa la dirar). Recorded in Ibn Majah and other collections, this hadith was recognized by scholars as a comprehensive legal principle covering both private disputes and broad matters of public welfare. Ibn Nujaym treats this maxim and its applications across numerous areas of Islamic law, with particular relevance to financial obligations such as zakah.

The maxim ad-darar yuzal produces two subsidiary principles that Ibn Nujaym develops carefully: ad-daruru tubih al-mahzurat (necessity permits prohibitions) and ad-daruru tuqaddar bi-qadriha (necessity is measured according to its extent). The first permits a starving person to eat prohibited food; the second prevents that permission from expanding beyond what the necessity actually requires. Together, they define a constrained zone of dispensation that protects life and welfare without undermining the general framework of Islamic obligations.

In zakah, the harm-removal maxim operates in several ways. A person whose entire wealth would fall below the nisab after paying zakah is still obligated to pay — zakah does not create harm in the legally relevant sense, since it is an established divine obligation. However, the maxim governs cases where zakah payment would cause harm to dependent third parties: if paying zakah would leave a man unable to support his wife and minor children at the minimum required level, scholars debate whether the payment must be delayed or his immediate family obligations take priority. Ibn Nujaym examines these edge cases with characteristic precision.

The obligation to fast in Ramadan is subject to the harm-removal maxim in cases of serious illness. If fasting would demonstrably worsen a person's medical condition — not merely cause discomfort, but cause genuine harm — they are permitted to break the fast and make it up later. If the illness is chronic and they will never be able to make it up, they pay fidyah (an expiation of feeding one poor person for each day missed). Ibn Nujaym notes that the harm must be real, not merely feared, and that a physician's informed assessment is relevant.

The maxim also applies to the timing of fasting for pregnant and nursing women. If fasting poses a genuine risk to the mother or infant, they may break the fast. The Hanafi school holds that they owe qada (make-up fasting) but not kaffarah, distinguishing their case from someone who breaks the fast with no excuse. Ibn Nujaym explains this ruling through both the harm-removal maxim and the maxim that 'hardship brings ease.'

In broader financial law, the maxim ad-darar yuzal is the basis for a range of rulings: a seller may withdraw from a defective sale (khiyar al-ayb) because the undisclosed defect causes harm; a creditor may not demand repayment from a debtor during genuine financial hardship (i'sar) — the Quran commands 'give respite until ease comes' (al-Baqarah 2:280); a person coerced into a transaction may void it because the coercion (ikrah) constitutes harm. Through these examples, Ibn Nujaym demonstrates that harm-removal is not a narrow principle but a thread running through the entirety of financial and contractual law.