By Imam Wahba Az-Zuḥaylī
Translated by Mahdi Lock
Linguistically, ḍarūra, as Al-Jurjānī has said in his Taʿrīfāt, is derived from the word ḍarar[1], and it is something that befalls one and cannot be repelled.
Terminologically, it has many approximate meanings, including what has been stated by Al-Jaṣāṣ, Abū Bakr Ar-Rāzī: ‘It is fear of harm or the destruction of oneself or some of one’s limbs as a result of not eating.’[2]