Imam Ḥusayn (A.S.) and Commitment to Contract Law in Moments of Isolation and Extreme Necessity: A Case Study of the Release of Ḍaḥḥāk ibn ʿAbd Allāh

Mohaghegh Damad, SeyyedMostafa; Darvishzadeh, Mohammad

doi:10.22034/jpl.2026.737965

Imam Ḥusayn (A.S.) and Commitment to Contract Law in Moments of Isolation and Extreme Necessity: A Case Study of the Release of Ḍaḥḥāk ibn ʿAbd Allāh

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Authors

SeyyedMostafa Mohaghegh Damad ¹

Mohammad Darvishzadeh ²

¹ Professor, Faculty of Law, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran

² Former justice of the Supreme court and the head of the Iranian Law and Legal Research Institute , Tehran, Iran

10.22034/jpl.2026.737965

Abstract

This article examines one of the lesser-studied legal dimensions of the Battle of Karbalāʾ by analyzing the release of Ḍaḥḥāk ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Mashriqī by Imam Ḥusayn (A.S.) during the final hours of ʿĀshūrāʾ. Rather than approaching this event merely as a historical narrative, the study treats it as a legal case through which fundamental principles of contract law can be explored. Using a descriptive-analytical method and relying primarily on the reports of Abū Mikhnaf as transmitted by al-Ṭabarī, the article first evaluates the historical credibility of the narrative through source criticism, chain-of-transmission analysis, the evidentiary value of an admission narrative, and the consistency of the report with the established conduct of Imam Ḥusayn (A.S.).The legal analysis then focuses on the contractual relationship between Imam Ḥusayn (A.S.) and Ḍaḥḥāk ibn ʿAbd Allāh, emphasizing the binding force of mutual consent, the legal effect of conditional commitments, the concept of discharge from obligation (barāʾat al-dhimmah), and the legal implications of the Imam's statement, "Anta fī ḥillin" ("You are released from your obligation"). The study argues that, even at the most critical moment of military isolation and existential necessity, Imam Ḥusayn (A.S.) remained fully committed to the contractual rights arising from a voluntarily concluded agreement and refrained from subordinating contractual autonomy to military expediency.
To provide a broader legal perspective, the article also compares this conduct with principles found in military law, international humanitarian law, and contemporary legal theories concerning human dignity and individual autonomy. It concludes that the Imam's conduct represents an exceptional model of contractual fidelity, demonstrating that contractual obligations derive their legitimacy from free will rather than coercion, and that legal authority reaches its highest ethical expression when it respects individual autonomy even under the most extraordinary circumstances.

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