The Qur’anic Root W Ṣ Y
Enjoining, entrusting responsibility, and passing on a commitment: from individual instructions to mutual exhortation
The three-consonant root W Ṣ Y is used in the Qur’an for enjoining something, entrusting another person with an instruction or responsibility, and conveying words that the recipient is expected to observe or carry out. A waṣiyyah can be a person’s instructions concerning property and affairs after death, but this is only one of the root’s Qur’anic uses. Abraham’s charge to his children, The God’s commands concerning human rights, a bequest made as death approaches, and believers’ mutual exhortation to truth and patience all belong to this linguistic family.
The principal Qur’anic forms include waṣṣā (وَصَّىٰ), waṣṣaynā (وَصَّيْنَا), waṣṣākum (وَصَّاكُمْ), yūṣīkum (يُوصِيكُمْ), yūṣī (يُوصِي), yūṣīna (يُوصِينَ), tūṣūna (تُوصُونَ), yūṣā (يُوصَىٰ), awṣānī (أَوْصَانِي), tawāṣaw (تَوَاصَوْا), a-tawāṣaw (أَتَوَاصَوْا), waṣiyyah (وَصِيَّة), tawṣiyah (تَوْصِيَة), and mūṣin (مُوصٍ). Some differ in person, number, tense, or attached pronoun and are not separate new derivatives. Waṣiyy (وَصِيّ), a person entrusted with executing a will, and wiṣāyah (وِصَايَة), guardianship or executorship, are also known in Arabic, but these particular forms do not occur in the Qur’an.
Qur’anic forms
1. The semantic core and the root in early Arabic
Arabic lexicographical sources also record joining and connecting under W Ṣ Y. Waṣaytu al-shayʾa bi-l-shayʾi (وَصَيْتُ الشَّيْءَ بِالشَّيْءِ) is recorded for joining one thing to another, and arḍun wāṣiyah (أَرْضٌ وَاصِيَةٌ) describes land whose vegetation grows densely and continuously. These uses concern connection and continuity, rather than moral counsel or a financial bequest.
An example appears in a line attributed to the pre-Islamic poet Ṭarafah ibn al-ʿAbd, recorded in the appendix to his collected poems:
«يَرْعَيْنَ وَسْمِيًّا وَصَى نَبْتُهُ»
“They graze on pasture produced by the seasonal rain, its vegetation growing thick and continuous.”
Here waṣā (وَصَى) describes the growth of vegetation. The plants have grown so close together that they form a continuous cover. This witness illustrates connection in a nonreligious setting, although the line’s attribution and its inclusion in an appendix must be distinguished from its presence in the main collection.
Enjoining and passing on instructions are also attested in early Arabic poetry. Addressing his son, ʿAbd Qays ibn Khufāf al-Burjumī says:
«أُوصِيكَ إِيصَاءَ امْرِئٍ لَكَ نَاصِحٍ
طَبِنٍ بِرَيْبِ الدَّهْرِ غَيْرِ مُغَفَّلِ»
“I counsel you with the counsel of a man who wishes you well, familiar with the vicissitudes of time and no heedless fool.”
In this line, ūṣīka (أُوصِيكَ), “I counsel you,” and īṣāʾ (إِيصَاء), “giving counsel,” express the passing of experience and guidance from father to son. The poem presents a father sensing that his life is drawing to a close, yet his counsel extends beyond distributing property to conduct, mindfulness, human relationships, and how to live.
A poem attributed to ʿAntarah ibn Shaddād also says:
«وَلَقَدْ حَفِظْتُ وَصَاةَ عَمِّي بِالضُّحَى
إِذْ تَقَلَّصُ الشَّفَتَانِ عَنْ وَضَحِ الْفَمِ»
“I indeed upheld my uncle’s charge in the daylight, when the lips drew back in the heat of battle and the teeth stood exposed.”
Waṣāh (وَصَاة) in this line belongs to the same field of counsel and an entrusted commitment. The speaker is not merely recalling words: he stresses carrying them out in a difficult situation.
These witnesses show that giving counsel in early Arabic was not confined to financial bequests. It could involve passing on experience, entrusting a responsibility, recalling a commitment, or asking the recipient to behave in a particular way.
The meaning of connection also suggests an explanatory relationship between the root’s branches: in a waṣiyyah, one person’s words and wishes are entrusted to another so that they may endure and be observed after they are spoken. This explanation should not, however, be treated as an established history of how all the root’s meanings arose. The available witnesses attest both connection and enjoining, but do not by themselves establish when or how one developed from the other.
2. Entrusting a way of life and a commitment
One of the clearest Qur’anic uses occurs in the account of Abraham and Jacob:
«وَوَصَّىٰ بِهَا إِبْرَاهِيمُ بَنِيهِ وَيَعْقُوبُ يَا بَنِيَّ إِنَّ اللَّهَ اصْطَفَىٰ لَكُمُ الدِّينَ فَلَا تَمُوتُنَّ إِلَّا وَأَنْتُمْ مُسْلِمُونَ»
“And Abraham enjoined it upon his children, as did Jacob: ‘My children, The God has chosen this religion for you, so do not die except in a state of submission.’”
(Al-Baqarah 2:132)
Here waṣṣā (وَصَّىٰ) refers to Abraham’s and Jacob’s charge concerning the way in which they wish their children to remain steadfast. The pronoun in bihā (بِهَا), “with it,” refers back to what precedes concerning Abraham’s way and his submission to the Lord. The charge concerns neither transferring property nor conferring an office, but continuing a way of life that is fundamental to them.
The expression fa-lā tamūtunna illā wa-antum muslimūn (فَلَا تَمُوتُنَّ إِلَّا وَأَنْتُمْ مُسْلِمُونَ) calls for steadfast submission until the end of life. This charge cannot be confined to a ceremonial instruction at the point of death: its recipients are to observe it throughout their lives.
The same use appears in a broader passage concerning the prophets:
«شَرَعَ لَكُمْ مِنَ الدِّينِ مَا وَصَّىٰ بِهِ نُوحًا وَالَّذِي أَوْحَيْنَا إِلَيْكَ وَمَا وَصَّيْنَا بِهِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَمُوسَىٰ وَعِيسَىٰ أَنْ أَقِيمُوا الدِّينَ وَلَا تَتَفَرَّقُوا فِيهِ»
“He has prescribed for you of religion what He enjoined upon Noah, what We have revealed to you, and what We enjoined upon Abraham, Moses, and Jesus: establish religion and do not become divided in it.”
(Al-Shūrā 42:13; first part of the verse)
Here waṣṣā (وَصَّىٰ) and waṣṣaynā (وَصَّيْنَا) concern different prophets. The shared content of the charge is stated in an aqīmū al-dīna wa-lā tatafarraqū fīhi (أَنْ أَقِيمُوا الدِّينَ وَلَا تَتَفَرَّقُوا فِيهِ): “establish religion and do not become divided in it.” In this context, the divine injunction is more than optional advice: it concerns establishing religion and avoiding division.
The verse connects sharaʿa (شَرَعَ), “prescribed,” awḥaynā (أَوْحَيْنَا), “We revealed,” and waṣṣā (وَصَّىٰ), “enjoined,” without making them lexically identical. Prescribing concerns laying something down; revelation concerns conveying a message through revelation; and enjoining concerns entrusting a charge or requirement that is to be observed. These concepts concern a common subject in the verse, but each retains its own linguistic function.
Al-Nisāʾ 4:131 also says:
«وَلَقَدْ وَصَّيْنَا الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ مِنْ قَبْلِكُمْ وَإِيَّاكُمْ أَنِ اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ»
“We enjoined upon those who were given the Book before you, and upon you yourselves, that you remain mindful of The God.”
(Al-Nisāʾ 4:131; part of the verse)
Here the injunction is not confined to one people or period. The same command of taqwa, mindfulness of The God, is addressed to earlier and present recipients. The root still expresses enjoining; the injunction’s value and binding force are understood from its speaker, content, and context.
The form awṣānī (أَوْصَانِي) also occurs in Jesus’ words:
«وَجَعَلَنِي مُبَارَكًا أَيْنَ مَا كُنْتُ وَأَوْصَانِي بِالصَّلَاةِ وَالزَّكَاةِ مَا دُمْتُ حَيًّا»
“He has made me blessed wherever I may be, and has enjoined upon me salat and zakat for as long as I live.”
(Maryam 19:31)
Mā dumtu ḥayyan (مَا دُمْتُ حَيًّا), “for as long as I live,” clearly concerns ongoing conduct during life. Thus awṣā (أَوْصَى), like waṣṣā (وَصَّى), can concern an enduring religious commitment, not only a will made as death approaches.
3. Divine injunctions: from counsel to binding commands
“Advice” and “recommendation” can suggest something optional and nonbinding. When this root describes commands of The God in the Qur’an, however, that implication is not always appropriate.
In three consecutive verses of Al-Anʿām, a set of fundamental commands is associated with waṣṣākum bihi (وَصَّاكُمْ بِهِ), “He has enjoined it upon you.” These include avoiding shirk, treating parents well, refraining from killing children, avoiding indecencies, respecting human life, protecting orphans’ rights, maintaining justice in measure and weight, speaking justly, fulfilling commitments, and following the straight path.
The endings of these three verses read:
«ذَٰلِكُمْ وَصَّاكُمْ بِهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَعْقِلُونَ»
“These are the things He has enjoined upon you, so that you may use reason.”
(Al-Anʿām 6:151; end of the verse)
«ذَٰلِكُمْ وَصَّاكُمْ بِهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَذَكَّرُونَ»
“These are the things He has enjoined upon you, so that you may take heed.”
(Al-Anʿām 6:152; end of the verse)
«وَأَنَّ هَٰذَا صِرَاطِي مُسْتَقِيمًا فَاتَّبِعُوهُ وَلَا تَتَّبِعُوا السُّبُلَ فَتَفَرَّقَ بِكُمْ عَنْ سَبِيلِهِ ذَٰلِكُمْ وَصَّاكُمْ بِهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ»
“And this is My path, straight, so follow it; do not follow other ways, which would separate you from His way. This is what He has enjoined upon you, so that you may remain mindful.”
(Al-Anʿām 6:153)
In these verses, waṣṣākum (وَصَّاكُمْ) refers to explicit requirements and prohibitions. The word itself therefore cannot establish that the injunction is merely a nonbinding moral suggestion. Expressions such as ḥarrama rabbukum (حَرَّمَ رَبُّكُمْ), “your Lord has forbidden,” lā taqtulū (لَا تَقْتُلُوا), “do not kill,” awfū (أَوْفُوا), “fulfill,” and fa-ttabiʿūhu (فَاتَّبِعُوهُ), “so follow it,” clarify the force and nature of the commands.
The different endings also deserve attention: taʿqilūn (تَعْقِلُونَ), tadhakkarūn (تَذَكَّرُونَ), and tattaqūn (تَتَّقُونَ) concern reasoning, taking heed, and mindfulness. Their differences should not be turned into three independent meanings of W Ṣ Y. In all three verses the verb expresses enjoining; the intended purpose or result is supplied by what follows.
The injunction concerning parents and its limits
Several verses use this root to express a person’s responsibility toward their parents:
«وَوَصَّيْنَا الْإِنْسَانَ بِوَالِدَيْهِ حُسْنًا وَإِنْ جَاهَدَاكَ لِتُشْرِكَ بِي مَا لَيْسَ لَكَ بِهِ عِلْمٌ فَلَا تُطِعْهُمَا إِلَيَّ مَرْجِعُكُمْ فَأُنَبِّئُكُمْ بِمَا كُنْتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ»
“We enjoined upon the human being good treatment of their parents. But if they strive to make you associate with Me something of which you have no knowledge, do not obey them. To Me is your return, and I shall inform you of what you used to do.”
(Al-ʿAnkabūt 29:8)
This verse helps establish the limits of the injunction. Good treatment of parents does not mean unconditional obedience to them. The verse itself distinguishes treating parents well from refusing their demand to engage in shirk. Luqmān 31:14, 31:15 addresses the same issue, emphasizing the mother’s hardship, gratitude, and proper conduct toward parents. Al-Aḥqāf 46:15 likewise joins wa-waṣṣaynā al-insāna bi-wālidayhi iḥsānan (وَوَصَّيْنَا الْإِنْسَانَ بِوَالِدَيْهِ إِحْسَانًا), the injunction to treat parents well, with a reminder of the hardships of pregnancy and childbirth.
Waṣṣaynā (وَصَّيْنَا) therefore expresses entrusting a moral responsibility to the human being. Its content comes from ḥusnan (حُسْنًا), iḥsānan (إِحْسَانًا), gratitude, and the verse’s other expressions. These do not all become components of the lexical meaning of waṣṣā (وَصَّى).
Attributing an injunction to The God without evidence
Another use occurs in Al-Anʿām 6:144, where the Qur’an challenges the attribution of fabricated rules to The God:
«أَمْ كُنْتُمْ شُهَدَاءَ إِذْ وَصَّاكُمُ اللَّهُ بِهَٰذَا»
“Or were you witnesses when The God enjoined this upon you?”
(Al-Anʿām 6:144; part of the verse)
The question occurs in a rejection of unsupported claims about certain livestock being lawful or forbidden. The verse does not report and confirm such a divine injunction; it asks those making the claim what evidence they have for attributing it to The God. The continuation also speaks of fabricating lies against The God.
This use reminds us that the presence of waṣṣā (وَصَّى) in a sentence does not by itself establish that an injunction actually occurred. The sentence must be identified as a statement, a question, or a challenge to someone else’s claim.
4. Wills at the approach of death and the rights of others
A familiar use of waṣiyyah (وَصِيَّة) is a person’s instructions concerning what should be done after their death. The Qur’an clearly includes this use:
«كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمْ إِذَا حَضَرَ أَحَدَكُمُ الْمَوْتُ إِنْ تَرَكَ خَيْرًا الْوَصِيَّةُ لِلْوَالِدَيْنِ وَالْأَقْرَبِينَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ حَقًّا عَلَى الْمُتَّقِينَ»
“It is prescribed for you that, when death approaches one of you, if they leave property, they should make a bequest for parents and close relatives in a recognized, proper manner—a duty upon the mindful.”
(Al-Baqarah 2:180)
Here al-waṣiyyah (الْوَصِيَّةُ) concerns property and the rights of survivors as death approaches. Khayran (خَيْرًا) in this context relates to the wealth and property the person leaves, while bi-l-maʿrūf (بِالْمَعْرُوفِ) qualifies how the bequest is to be made.
The following verse concerns those who alter a will after hearing it. Verse 182 then says:
«فَمَنْ خَافَ مِنْ مُوصٍ جَنَفًا أَوْ إِثْمًا فَأَصْلَحَ بَيْنَهُمْ فَلَا إِثْمَ عَلَيْهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ»
“But whoever fears partiality or wrongdoing on the part of a testator and brings about reconciliation among them incurs no sin. The God is forgiving and merciful.”
(Al-Baqarah 2:182)
Mūṣin (مُوصٍ) here refers to the person making the will. Janafan aw ithman (جَنَفًا أَوْ إِثْمًا), “partiality or wrongdoing,” shows that a will can depart from justice or involve sin. The mere fact that a person has issued a will therefore does not guarantee the correctness of all its provisions.
These three verses distinguish making a will, the prohibition on altering it wrongfully, and the possibility of correcting it when it departs from justice. Although a will expresses a person’s wishes, it is also assessed in relation to the rights of others.
In Al-Nisāʾ 4:11, 4:12, wills appear alongside debts and the division of inheritance. For example:
«يُوصِيكُمُ اللَّهُ فِي أَوْلَادِكُمْ لِلذَّكَرِ مِثْلُ حَظِّ الْأُنْثَيَيْنِ»
“The God commands you concerning your children: the male shall have a share equal to that of two females.”
(Al-Nisāʾ 4:11; opening of the verse)
Yūṣīkumu Allāhu (يُوصِيكُمُ اللَّهُ) here concerns specific inheritance provisions. Translating it as “The God recommends to you,” if “recommends” is understood as an optional suggestion, can fail to convey the force and standing of the ruling.
In this verse and the next, min baʿdi waṣiyyatin … aw daynin (مِنْ بَعْدِ وَصِيَّةٍ ... أَوْ دَيْنٍ) recurs: the distribution of shares is stated in relation to the deceased person’s bequest and debts. A passage at the end of Al-Nisāʾ 4:12 reads:
«مِنْ بَعْدِ وَصِيَّةٍ يُوصَىٰ بِهَا أَوْ دَيْنٍ غَيْرَ مُضَارٍّ وَصِيَّةً مِنَ اللَّهِ وَاللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ حَلِيمٌ»
“After any bequest that has been made or debt, without causing harm: an injunction from The God. The God is knowing and forbearing.”
(Al-Nisāʾ 4:12; end of the verse)
Within this passage, waṣiyyah (وَصِيَّة) has two different applications. The first concerns the deceased person and their property. Waṣiyyatan mina Allāhi (وَصِيَّةً مِنَ اللَّهِ), however, refers to the injunction and provisions stated by The God. This second use does not mean the will of a person approaching death.
The two applications in one verse clearly show that Qur’anic waṣiyyah cannot be restricted to a financial document taking effect after death.
In Al-Baqarah 2:240, waṣiyyatan li-azwājihim (وَصِيَّةً لِأَزْوَاجِهِمْ) concerns provision for surviving wives for a year without expelling them. In Al-Māʾidah 5:106, ḥīna al-waṣiyyati (حِينَ الْوَصِيَّةِ), “at the time of making a will,” concerns testimony as death approaches. These verses show that a will can involve family rights, financial obligations, and other people’s witnessing.
The relationship between provisions governing wills and inheritance, and later disagreements about their scope or the abrogation of some provisions, is a separate issue from the root’s lexical meaning. The word waṣiyyah (وَصِيَّة) alone cannot supply a complete legal ruling, determine individual shares, or establish the validity of a particular will.
Tawṣiyah: an opportunity that may be lost
Yā Sīn 36:50 uses the form tawṣiyah (تَوْصِيَة):
«فَلَا يَسْتَطِيعُونَ تَوْصِيَةً وَلَا إِلَىٰ أَهْلِهِمْ يَرْجِعُونَ»
“Then they will be able neither to leave any instructions nor to return to their families.”
(Yā Sīn 36:50)
The preceding verse describes a sudden cry overtaking people while they are disputing. In that situation, no opportunity remains to give instructions or return to their families.
Tawṣiyah (تَوْصِيَة) here can include a person’s final instructions about the affairs of those left behind, but the verse does not restrict their kind or content to financial matters. The clear sense is the inability to convey a final charge in the face of a sudden event.
5. Tawāṣī: mutual exhortation among people
Tawāṣaw (تَوَاصَوْا) is a Form VI verb, the pattern called tafāʿul. Its clear Qur’anic applications involve members of a group enjoining something upon one another. Whereas waṣṣā (وَصَّى) can describe one person’s charge to another, tawāṣaw draws attention to people participating in the act of exhortation.
Al-ʿAṣr says:
«إِلَّا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالْحَقِّ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالصَّبْرِ»
“Except those who believed and did righteous deeds, and enjoined truth upon one another, and enjoined patience upon one another.”
(Al-ʿAṣr 103:3)
Tawāṣaw (تَوَاصَوْا) occurs twice here, each time with a specific object: truth and patience. The content of the exhortation does not come from the root itself, but from bi-l-ḥaqq (بِالْحَقِّ), “to truth,” and bi-l-ṣabr (بِالصَّبْرِ), “to patience.”
The reciprocal construction matters because exhortation is not confined to one fixed speaker and one fixed listener. Members of the group can call on one another to uphold truth and remain steadfast in it. The Form VI pattern itself does not establish complete equality in everyone’s position, knowledge, or responsibility; the verse emphasizes their reciprocal conduct.
The same construction appears in Al-Balad:
«ثُمَّ كَانَ مِنَ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالصَّبْرِ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالْمَرْحَمَةِ»
“Then to be among those who believed and enjoined patience upon one another, and enjoined compassion upon one another.”
(Al-Balad 90:17)
Here marḥamah (مَرْحَمَة), “compassion,” appears alongside ṣabr (صَبْر), “patience.” The preceding verses speak of freeing an enslaved person and feeding, on a day of hunger, an orphaned relative or a destitute person. Mutual exhortation to compassion thus occurs in a context that also addresses practical conduct toward people in need.
Compassion, however, is not the lexical meaning of tawāṣaw (تَوَاصَوْا); it is the content connected to the verb by the preposition bāʾ. The same construction can concern truth, patience, or another subject.
Is mutual exhortation always positive?
Al-Dhāriyāt 51:53 provides a different application:
«أَتَوَاصَوْا بِهِ بَلْ هُمْ قَوْمٌ طَاغُونَ»
“Have they enjoined it upon one another? Rather, they are a rebellious people.”
(Al-Dhāriyāt 51:53)
The preceding verse describes earlier groups calling the messengers sorcerers or madmen. A-tawāṣaw bihi (أَتَوَاصَوْا بِهِ) presents this similarity as a question: have these separate groups enjoined such a saying upon one another?
The continuation, bal hum qawmun ṭāghūn (بَلْ هُمْ قَوْمٌ طَاغُونَ), directs attention to their rebelliousness. The verse therefore does not establish an actual historical chain of instructions linking all these groups.
This application matters for understanding the root. Tawāṣī does not intrinsically mean enjoining truth or goodness. In Al-ʿAṣr and Al-Balad, its positive value comes from the content and context. In Al-Dhāriyāt, the same construction appears in a critical question about the repetition of a false claim.
Thus tawāṣā (تَوَاصَى) linguistically expresses mutual exhortation; whether its content is right or wrong must be assessed separately.
7. Problems of understanding and translation choices for Forqan
The first limitation to avoid is always equating this root with “making a will at the approach of death.” That rendering is appropriate in Al-Baqarah 2:180 and Al-Māʾidah 5:106, but narrows the sense when the subject is Abraham’s charge to his children, The God’s injunctions to the prophets, or mutual exhortation to truth and patience.
A second limitation is rendering every form as “recommend,” with its potentially nonbinding implication. A recommendation may be understood as a suggestion whose acceptance is left to the recipient. In Al-Anʿām 6:151, 6:152, 6:153 and Al-Nisāʾ 4:11, however, the subject is explicit divine commands. Depending on sentence structure and subject, “command,” “enjoin,” or “prescribe” can be more appropriate.
The third point concerns waṣiyyah (وَصِيَّة) itself. In Al-Baqarah 2:180, “bequest” is natural and precise. In waṣiyyatan mina Allāhi (وَصِيَّةً مِنَ اللَّهِ) in Al-Nisāʾ 4:12, however, “a command from The God” or “an injunction from The God” conveys the sentence more clearly.
For tawāṣaw (تَوَاصَوْا), “they enjoined upon one another” preserves the reciprocal force. In some sentences, “they urged one another” can also read naturally, provided the sense of mutual exhortation remains. A-tawāṣaw bihi (أَتَوَاصَوْا بِهِ) in Al-Dhāriyāt 51:53 must likewise remain a question rather than a definite report that such exhortation occurred.
Mūṣin (مُوصٍ) in Al-Baqarah 2:182 is best rendered “testator,” the person making the will, because the context concerns wills and people’s rights. Tawṣiyah (تَوْصِيَة) in Yā Sīn 36:50 can be rendered “instructions” or “making a will,” but “instructions” preserves the scope without confining it to financial affairs.
In all these cases, a single translation is insufficient for the entire root family. The word’s basic meaning, its morphological construction, and the particular subject enjoined in the verse must be distinguished.
8. Conclusion
In early Arabic, W Ṣ Y has uses concerning connection and continuity as well as a family of meanings involving counsel, entrusting instructions, and passing on commitments. Qur’anic uses belong primarily to the second branch. A charge can pass from father to child, from The God to prophets and people, from someone approaching death to survivors, or reciprocally among members of a group.
The semantic core of this family’s Qur’anic use can be expressed as entrusting words, a wish, or an instruction to another person for them to observe, carry out, or preserve. This can be advice and guidance, a moral commitment, a binding command, or a will concerning rights and property after death. Its degree of obligation and its subject do not follow from the word alone; speaker, recipient, sentence structure, and context clarify them.
The central distinction is that waṣiyyah in the Qur’an does not name only a particular financial document, although it includes that application. It belongs to a broader family of injunctions and commitments, expressed reciprocally in tawāṣī. The lexical meaning of the act must be kept distinct from the moral and legal value of its content.