Glossary

What does gharar mean?

غرر

In short

Gharar means excessive uncertainty in a contract. It is one reason scholars debate conventional insurance and some trading.

Gharar (غرر) means excessive uncertainty or ambiguity in a deal, where one side cannot know what they are getting. Minor uncertainty is tolerated, but excessive gharar makes a contract invalid.

It is one of the main reasons scholars debate conventional insurance, options and some forms of trading. See Is insurance halal?

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Written by the Halal Check Online editorial team. Last reviewed 2026-10-06. How we write these answers · Suggest a correction