Either it is obligatory ( wajib )...

Either it is obligatory ( wajib ), meaning that it must be done and must not be left undone, like the five daily ritual prayers, or it is forbidden ( haram ), meaning that it must not be performed and must be refrained from like lies, injustice, drinking alcohol and such like; or it is desirable ( mustahab ) meaning that it is good to do but leaving it undone is not a crime or sin, including such things as praying in a mosque; or it is undesirable ( makruh ), meaning that it is bad to do but if done no sin is committed, like talking about worldly affairs in a mosque which is a place of worship; or it is permissible ( mubah ), meaning that the doing of it and the not doing of it are exactly equal, and this includes most actions.

The laws regarding situation are not like the laws regarding duty. The laws regarding duty consist of "do's" and "don'ts", commands and prohibitions, or the giving of permissions, while the laws of situation regard situations like marriage and ownership and the rights thereof. Types of Obligation Another issue is that the obligations, the things that are obligatory, are divided into many different classifications. Firstly, they are divided into ta'abbudi and tawassuli.

Ta'abbodi means those things, the correct and valid performance of which depends upon the intention ( niyyat ) of nearness of God. That is, if the obligatory action is performed solely with the intention of approaching the Divine without any worldly, material motive, it is correct and valid, and if not, it is not valid.

Prayer and fasting are both " wajib ta'abbudi " Wajib tawassuli , however, is that in which, even if performed, imagine, without the intention of nearness to God, still the obligation has been met and one's duty fulfilled. Obeying one's parents, for example. Or the performance of responsibilities towards society, like if a person undertakes to do a certain work in return for a certain payment, the doing of that work. And, in fact, absolute loyalty to all one's promises is the same way.

Another way in which the obligations are divided is into ' aini and kafa'i . An ' aini obligation means that which is obligatory on each and every individual, like prayer and fasting, and kafa'i obligation is that which is obligatory on the general Muslim population, and which, when performed by one or a group of them, is no longer obligatory on any of them.