mustahabb

{{Short description|Islamic term for religiously recommended acts}}

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Mustahabb ({{Langx|ar|مُسْتَحَبّ|lit=beloved thing}}) is an Islamic term referring to an action or thing that is recommended and favoured.

Mustahabb actions are those whose ruling (ahkam) in Islamic law falls between mubah (neutral; neither encouraged nor discouraged) and wajib (compulsory). One definition is "duties recommended, but not essential; fulfilment of which is rewarded, though they may be neglected without punishment".Reuben Levy, The Social Structure of Islam, p. 202 Synonyms of mustahabb include masnun and mandub. The opposite of mustahabb is makruh (discouraged).

Parallels have been drawn between the concept of mustahabb in Islamic law and the concept of supererogatory acts in the Western philosophical tradition.{{Cite journal|last=ZAROUG|first=ABDULLAHI HASSAN|date=1985|title=THE CONCEPT OF PERMISSION, SUPEREROGATORY ACTS AND ASETICISM [sic] IN ISLAMIC JURISPRUDENCE|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20847307|journal=Islamic Studies|volume=24|issue=2|pages=167–180|jstor=20847307 |issn=0578-8072}}