Discover the meaning of the term Al-akhtlas (اختلاس) in Islamic vocabulary.
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Updated on 11 April 2026 at 1:05 AM
📖 2 min readIt is the taking from the hand openly and with speed.
One says: he took the thing secretly (khalasaha) or akhtalasaha: stole it in hiding and snatched it quickly by surprise; one says: he is a khallas man: brave and vigilant. Al-mukhtalis: he who takes property openly relying on speed of escape. Ikhtilas in language: taking a thing by guile, unawares.
Ikhtilas is swifter than khilas; it is said: ikhtilas is the snatching (istilab), and the jurists extend its use beyond that lexical sense: it is taking a thing in the owner's presence, openly, fleeing with it, whether the mukhtalis acts openly or secretly; for example, reaching for another's kerchief and taking it. Benefit: the difference between theft (sariqa) and ikhtilas: theft rests on concealment, ikhtilas on open action; hence the hadith: 'No amputation for the betrayer, the plunderer, or the mukhtalis.' (Related by Ibn Majah, 26) (Mujmal al-Lugha, 1/272; al-Misbah al-Munir, 1/242; Mukhtar al-Sihah, p. 184; al-Mu'jam al-Wasit, 1/258; al-Matla', p.
375; al-Nazm al-Musta'dhab, 2/277; al-Sharh al-Saghir, 2/476; Tabyin al-Haqa'iq, 3/217; Qalyubi wa-'Umayra, 3/26; al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya, 24/288, 293).
To take a thing with speed. With the jurists: to beguile the owner of the property and carry it off (al-Dasuqi). With the Shafi'is: to take a thing wrongfully, openly, and flee with it.
Al-khulsa: what is taken by akhtalasa. The occasion. Al-mukhtalis: he who carries off property in the manner of khilsa.
He who takes property by force and defiance. He who snatches a thing without overpowering and flees, even if the owner sees him. With the Malikis: he who snatches the property in the owner's presence, during his heedlessness, and departs quickly in the open.