A shari’a maxim or rule (in Arabic: qa’edah shar’iyyah) that is often interpreted to mean that an indispensable necessity may result in severe hardship if not met. Shari’a distinguishes between dharurah/ darurah (pl. darurat) or compulsive necessity and hajah (pl. hajat) or need. An unmet indispensable necessity may cause unbearable suffering, be it probable or actual, such as loss of life, disease, destruction of property, etc. In contrast, hajah is a need which doesn’t lead to hardship if not met or satisfied.

Necessities may arise in situations that pose considerable danger to one’s survival, progeny, intellect, or wealth. The concept of justifying the impermissible provides a basis for derivation of auxiliary rules as it constitutes an all-important tool by which scholars can go around any bottleneck or stalemate that may hinder the practical application of shari’a precepts and principles. For instance, at times of starvation, people are not forbidden to eat non-halal food such as dead animals’ meat or pork. Also, some fuqaha are of the opinion that borrowing from a conventional bank is permissible in case of severe necessity and where no shari’a-compatible channels of obtaining cash are available.

This maxim, per se, is a subsidiary rule of a broader general maxim known as “removal of harms” (al-dharar yuzal). It’s original form in Arabic is: