Arabic (عوارض الأهلية) for impediments to legal competence. More specifically, awarid (plural of aridah) are all emerging shortcomings or deficiencies that deprive a competent person of his/ her legal rights and responsibilities. These impediments are anything that can eliminate one’s legal competence, narrow it, restrict it, or alter any of its respective rules.

Impediments to legal competence come in two distinct types: (1) impediments that arise due to act of God (qadhaa’ and qadar), in which case a person is simply not to blame for (impediments are inflicted on a person unwillingly such as insanity or idiocy), and (2) self-inflicted or acquired impediments which a person is to blame for such as ignorance or stupidity.