Ahd wa w’ad

This entry examines the concepts of ‘ahd and w’ad as two interrelated terms that play similar and complementary roles in Islamic finance and economics, more broadly, in Islamic laws of obligations. Closely related to the concepts within the context of contracts and conventions, the two concepts underline utterance of a binding promise to be performed in the future. However, it should be noted that there are subtle differences between the concepts, particularly in terms of the degree of the binding attached to each term. In general, it is possible to argue that ‘ahd is stronger than the latter, as it features a stronger and a more explicit commitment. However, in practice, they are used almost interchangeably in the conclusion of contracts that fall within the scope of law of obligations.