Disjunctive obligation
Disjunctive obligation or al-wājib al-takhyīrī (Arabic: الواجِب التَخْییری) is a type of obligation in which the accountable person (mukallaf) can choose from among a number of actions to do, such as the expiation for fasting. It is contrasted to the non-disjunctive obligation (al-wajib al-ta'yini). Obligations in Islam are mainly non-disjunctive. Disjunctive obligations are usually concerned with rulings related to expiations and punishments.
Technical Definition
In sources of usul al-fiqh, an obligation is of two types with respect to its object:
- If the object of the obligation is specific and irreplaceable, such as the prayer, it counts as "al-wajib al-ta'yini" (non-disjunctive obligation).
- And if the object of the obligation is one of a number of things among which the accountable person can choose, it counts as "al-wajib al-takhyiri" (disjunctive obligation), such as the expiation of the fast for which one can choose between the emancipation of a slave, two months of fasting, or feeding 60 people in need.
Some Disjunctive Obligations
Obligations are mainly non-disjunctive. Here are some disjunctive obligations:
- The expiation for fast (emancipation of a slave or two months of fasting or feeding 60 people in need)
- Expiation for plucking one's hair while in ihram or injuring one's face after facing a catastrophe for women.
- Expiation for breaking one's oath (feeding 10 people in need or clothing 10 people who are in need of clothes or emancipating a slave)
- Expiation for ila' (feeding 10 poor people or clothing them, or emancipating a slave, or fasting for three consecutive days).
- Having an option for saying full or broken prayers in four places (Mecca or Masjid al-Haram, Medina or Masjid al-Nabi, al-Ha'ir al-Husayni, the Mosque of Kufa).
- Having an option in reciting Sura al-Fatiha or al-Tasbihat al-Arba'a in rak'as 3 or 4 of prayers.
- During the Occultation of the Twelfth Imam (a), many Imami faqihs (jurists) maintain that one has the option to say either the Friday Prayer or the Noon Prayer at noon on Fridays.
See Also
References
- The material for this article is mainly taken from واجب تخییری in Farsi WikiShia.