LessonsParticles Hatta, Ila and Ala: Scope, Limits and Legal ConsequencesQuiz

«عَبْدِي حُرٌّ إِنْ لَمْ أَضْرِبْكَ حَتَّى يَشْفَعَ فُلَانٌ»
“My slave is free if I do not beat you until so-and-so intercedes.”

Here the action of beating can be continued or repeated, and intervention can be its terminus. The statement concerns an act continuing toward a stated endpoint, rather than merely a single isolated performance.

The same reasoning applies when the event is dawn or nightfall. Stopping before the endpoint differs from stopping when the specified endpoint actually arrives.

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An oath involving continued action

Particles Hatta, Ila and Ala: Scope, Limits and Legal Consequences

«عَبْدِي حُرٌّ إِنْ لَمْ أَضْرِبْكَ حَتَّى يَشْفَعَ فُلَانٌ»
“My slave is free if I do not beat you until so-and-so intercedes.”

Here the action of beating can be continued or repeated, and intervention can be its terminus. The statement concerns an act continuing toward a stated endpoint, rather than merely a single isolated performance.

The same reasoning applies when the event is dawn or nightfall. Stopping before the endpoint differs from stopping when the specified endpoint actually arrives.