---
title: "What is Dhimmah (legal capacity for obligations)? | IslamicOpenFinance™"
description: "The legal capacity in which rights and obligations are held, so that a debt can sit in a person's liability rather than in a specific asset."
url: https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/dhimmah/
lang: en-GB
source: "IslamicOpenFinance"
---

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Shariah fundamentals

# Dhimmah (legal capacity for obligations)

The legal capacity in which rights and obligations are held, so that a debt can sit in a person's liability rather than in a specific asset.

Dhimmah is the notion of a person's liability or legal capacity, the place where debts and obligations are held. AAOIFI's texts use it when a debt is described as keeping the debtor's liability engaged, and when an asset is described by specification and owed by the lessor rather than identified physically. That is why some contracts, such as a forward lease of a described asset, carry the phrase in their name. Data models need the same distinction between an obligation owed by a party and a specific asset that is owned.

## Sources

- [AAOIFI Shari'ah Standards, English edition (full text, PDF): Shari'ah Standard No. 9, ijarah mawsufah fi al-dhimmah, and No. 16, liability (dhimmah)](https://aaoifi.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Shariaa-Standards-ENG.pdf)

This entry explains a term; it is not a Shariah ruling. Approving a product is for each institution's own Shariah board and regulator.

## Related terms

[**Ijarah mawsufah fi al-dhimmah (forward lease)** A forward lease of an asset described by specifications, with use starting on a future date once it is delivered.](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/ijarah-mawsufah-fi-dhimmah/) [**Daman (liability for loss)** Possession or obligation that makes the holder answerable for an asset's loss, whatever the cause.](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/daman/) [**Salam** A forward sale: the full price is paid at signing for precisely specified goods to be delivered later.](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/salam/) [**Hawalah** Transfer of a debt: the obligation to pay moves from the original debtor to another party who accepts it.](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/hawalah/)

**Shariah fundamentals**

1. [Riba](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/riba/)
2. [Gharar](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/gharar/)
3. [Maysir](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/maysir/)
4. [Shariah](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/shariah/)
5. [Fiqh al-muamalat](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/fiqh-al-muamalat/)
6. [Maqasid al-Shariah](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/maqasid-al-shariah/)
7. [Riba al-nasiah](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/riba-al-nasiah/)
8. [Riba al-fadl](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/riba-al-fadl/)

[All 221 terms](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/)