Reappraisal of Renunciation of Ownership in Jurisprudence and Law

The issue of renunciation (i‘rāḍ) is not discussed separately among the jurists and is only implicitly referred to in some instances. It is also neglected in statutes; and most of legal experts, following the laws and like jurists, have not talked in detail on this issue. Discussing the nature of renunciation, we seek here to elucidate a rather complicated issue, namely, the impact of renunciation. As far as we know, the dominant view among the Imāmī jurists is that renunciation as a legal act is not confirmed by the lawmaker. However, in nearly all instances, the legal experts have opined for the legitimacy of renunciation without having mentioned any justified basis. We presume that renunciation is a legitimate unilateral obligation (īqā‘) and results in the termination of ownership. In this case, the property in instances other than spoils of war is subsumed under the permissible (mubāḥāt).