Fard - Your Art History Reference Guide!

ArtHistoryClub Information Site on Fard Art History Art History Search        Art History Browse             News        Gallery        Forums        Articles        Weblinks        welcome to our free resource site for all art history lovers!

Fard

Fard also farida (arabic فرض "obligation, duty") is an Islamic term which denotes a religious duty. The word is also used in Urdu and Hindi (spelled farz) in the same meaning (i.e. ye mera farz hai).

fard or its synonym wajib is one of the five qualifications (al-ahkam al-khamsa) into which Fiqh, the Islamic religious law, categorizes every human act (obligatory, recommended, indifferent, reprehensible, forbidden).

The law distinguishes two sorts of duties: individual (fard ayn) and collective (fard kifaya). The first relates to tasks every Muslim is required to perform like the daily prayer (salat) or the pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in a lifetime (hajj). The second is a duty which is imposed on the whole community of believers (umma). The classic example for the fard kifaya is jihad: the individual is not required to perform it as long as a sufficient number of community members fulfills it.

Last updated: 10-21-2005 17:41:20
Last updated: 01-04-2007 01:18:57
The contents of this article are licensed from Wikipedia.org under the
GNU Free Documentation License. See original document.
Art History Search | Art History Browse | Contact | Legal info