Duress and its legal consequences in Islam

• Main Author: Amanullah, Muhammad
• Format: Conference or Workshop Item
• Language: English
• Published: Islamic Business School, Universiti Utara Malaysia 2023
• Subjects: BPK Islamic law. Shari'ah. Fiqh
• Online Access: http://irep.iium.edu.my/102900/1/102900_Duress%20and%20its%20legal%20consequences%20in%20Islam.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/102900/

Individuals either act with their choice and with intention, or because of their habit without having any intention, or by mistake. Sometimes they also act due to duress or being forced by others without having choice and real intention. Now the question arises: will a person be legally responsible for the actions that he does due to being forced by another person? Islamic law provides the answer to this question through considering the types of actions done by the above person and categories of coercion used by the coercing person. Analyzing the Qur’anic verses, ahadith of the Prophet (pbuh) and opinions of Muslim jurists, this paper aims to discuss the concept and categories of duress. Likewise, it intends to investigate how these categories of coercion lead to some Islamic legal consequences based on the types of actions done by the coerced person. An important finding of this research is that in the incomplete duress, if a compelled person complies to the order of the compeller and commits a forbidden action, he will be completely responsible for his action. On the other hand, in the complete duress, if a compelled person complies to the order of the compeller and commits a forbidden deed, he will be responsible for his action in some cases, such as killing and committing zina, but in some other cases such as doing a deed of kufr, he will be not responsible.