In general, it refers to all sources of damage, detriment, harm, or loss inflicted by an individual on others or even on one’s self. In the context of contracts, it is any such infliction that arises from a contract between two parties or more. More specifically, dharar constitutes all factors that negatively affect another party’s rights associated with the contract.

Dharar is more intense and permeated than azha (minor damage). The Prophet (pbuh) outspokenly prohibited dharar in the hadith: “la dharara wa la dhirar” (meaning: neither inflict injury nor repay one injury with another) (Al-Nawawi, Hadith no. 32). Based on this principle, contracting parties are allowed to terminate a contract in which they have been inflicted with serious prejudices as a result of execution.