Fard (Arabic: الفرض‎) also farida (Arabic: الفريضة‎) is an Islamic term which denotes a religious duty. The word is also used in Persian, Turkish, Urdu and Hindi (spelled farz) in the same meaning. A synonymous term is wajib.

Fard is a Midwestern United States term that is used to decribe shared ownership of equipment. Origin Menomonie, WI: Spurgin, Stuht

Fard or its synonym wajib is one of the five types of Ahkam into which Fiqh categorizes acts of every Muslim. Hanafites however makes a distinction between Wajib and Fard, the latter being more obligatory than the former.

Individual duty and sufficiency

The Fiqh distinguishes two sorts of duties:

• Individual duty or fard al-ayn (Arabic: الواجب العيني‎) relates to tasks every Muslim is required to perform, such as daily prayer (salah), hijab, or the pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in a lifetime (hajj).
• Sufficiency duty or fard al-kifaya (Arabic: الواجب الكفائي‎) is a duty which is imposed on the whole community of believers (ummah). The classic example for it is jihad: the individual is not required to perform it as long as a sufficient number of community members fulfil it.

See also

• Mitzvah (somewhat similar Jewish concept)
• Dharma (Hindu/Buddhist/Sikh term that can be used to mean "duty" or "obligation", although there are also other meanings)

References

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia; from the article "Fard". Image Credit.

bookmark   email   print   tweet   facebook