Glossary of Islamic terms
‘Abbasid: A dynasty that reigned in the middle of the second century of the Islamic
calender through the eighth century. It dominated particularly Central Middle East
region: Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, Egypt, Iraq, Iran and the Arabian peninsula.
Abbyssinia: A strong kingdom that flourished in the fourth and sixth centuries in
Northeast Africa, in the region of modern Ethiopia and Eritrea.
‘Abd: Slave, servant; ‘Abd ma`dhun is a slave who has been authorised by his master
to handle business on his behalf.
Abdan: See sharikat al-‘Abdan.
Adab: Refinement, ethical norms and standards of behaviour. Connotes discipline,
proper etiquette, manners and training. Refers in general to the discipline that comes
from recognising ones proper place in relation to ones self and others. It also refers to
the proper etiquette or manner of carrying out particular actions. Loss of adab implies
loss of discipline and a failure to act with justice.
Adab al Qadi: The duties of and procedure followed by the judge (Qadi).
‘Adah: Custom, practice. A given community´s customs not going against the basic
principles of Islam. Admissible as part of Islamic law.
Adhan: The call to prayer
Adillah ijmaliyah: The general evidences for the law that contain within them the
specific evidences. The Qu‘ran, for example, is a general evidence, whilst a verse of the
Qu‘ran pointing to a hukm is a specific evidence or the dalil tafsili.
Adillah tafsiliyah: Specific evidence. See also adillah ijmaliyah.
‘Adil: A person of good reputation whose testimony is acceptable in court as they are
considered a morally upright witness.
‘Adl: Justice, equilibrium
‘Afw: Pardon. Pardon in the law of retaliation (qisas) that is the lex talionis.
‘Ahd: Covenant; here it is used in the context of dhimmah (personality) which is
considered by the jurists a covenant with the Creator.
Ahad: Solitary hadiths. A solitary hadith is a report narrated on the authority of the
Prophet by one or more individuals, but whose chain does not fulfil the requirements of
tawatur (See tawatur).
Ahadith: (sing. Hadith) The verbalised form of the traditions of the Prophet,
constitutive of his sunnah. A hadith narrative is divided into two parts; the isnad (chain
of transmission)and the matn (content of the narrative).
Ahkam: (sing. Hukm) Rules or laws directly taken from the Qur‘an and Sunnah; The
ahkam of a contract (legal effects) as distinguished from its huquq (rights of
performance of the contract). The Hanafi school of law makes a distinction between the
two.
Ahl al-Bayt: Literally, people of the house. Refers to the family and relations of the
Prophet who were Muslims.
Ahl al-Dhikr: Literally, people of rememberance. Refers to true scholars whose
knowledge springs from and is steeped in the remeberance of God.
Ahl al-Hadith: Literally, people of hadith. Refers to scholars who rely on authenticated
sayings of the Prophet and who are wary of using independent reasoning (ra‘i) in
making juristic judgements. Used in contradistinction to ahl al-Ra‘i).
Ahl al-Ra‘i: Literally, people of reasoning. Refers to the scholars who employ
independent reasoning to the solution of new problems, in contradistinction to scholars
who confine themselves mainly to hadith.
Ahl al-Sunnah: Literally, people of the Sunnah. Refers to the vast majority of Muslims
who follow the sunnah of the Prophet and the precedents of the rightly guided
successors. Used in contradistinction to the Shi‘ah who believe that Ali, the Prophets
cousin and son in law, should have been his immediate successor. Ahl al-Sunnah wa
Jama‘àh are the community united behind the Sunnah of the Prophet.
Ahliyah: Legal capacity
Ahliyat al-‘Ada: Legal capacity for execution.
Ahliyat al-Wujub: Legal capacity for the acquisition of rights and obligations.
Ajanib: plural of ajnabi (stranger); those who are not co-owners in a property.
Ajal: Period, duration of which delivery is delayed.
Ajnabi: stranger (see ajanib).
Ajr al-Mithl: reasonable wages; wages to which a person would be entitled under
normal circumstances; wages paid to a mudarib in a fasid mudarabah.
‘Alim: (plural: ‘Ùlama). Islamic scholar. One who knows, a scholar, a scientist.
Commonly used for one who has a thorough knowledge of Islam and its sources, the
Qur‘an and Sunnah. An important characteristic of an ‘alim according to the Qur‘an is
that he is deeply conscious of God and stands in awe of Him.
‘Amal: (plural of ‘amal) Work; conduct. That which is required in a partnership or on
the basis of which a partnership is formed. Also this term is the principle used by Malik
ibn Anas to refer to the practice of the people of Medina.
‘Amaliyah: Pertaining to conduct or acts.
Aman: A permission to enter a Muslim territory (dar al-Islam) historically given to a
non-Muslim living in a hostile country (dar al-Harb).
Amanah: Trust; Bailment; the contract of amanah gives rise to fiduciary relationships
and duties.
Amin: Trustee; see amanah.
Amir al-Mu^minin: Literally, commander of the believers. The title was first given to
any commander of a military mission but was later used specifically for the head of the
Muslim state, the khalifah.
‘Amm: General. A general word or textual evidence, as distinguished from a particular
word (khass). Terms used by jurists in the complex matter of extracting laws from
statements composed as codal propositions. Islamic scholarship called ´general´ (alamm)
the term that comprehends a plurality and distinguished two varieties of it;
generality in the term itself and generality in the meanings to which the term may refer.
Amr: Command.
Amwal: plural of mal (wealth); wealth that is contributed as capital in a partnership.
Ansar: Literally, the helpers. Name given collectively to the Muslims native to Medina
during the time of the Prophet who pledged to support and defend him.
‘Aqa^id: Belief, tenants of faith.
‘Aqd: Agreement, contract.
‘Aqd ghair lazim: A contract that is terminable at the will of the parties, like
partnership.
‘Aqidah: At the very centre of the Qur^anic edifice of ideas stands God, the Absolute,
the One, the Transcendent, the Creator, the Cause and Judge of all. His existence, His
nature, His will and His creation, His purpose for humanity and His conveyance of that
purpose and will through all the prophets including Muhammad, the last of the prophets,
constitute the content of faith, the aqidah of Islam.
‘Aqilah: A group of persons who pay the bloodwit (diyah) on behalf of the defender.
‘Aql: Reason; The fourth interest secured by the Shari‘ah and recognised as a purpose
of the law. The existence of ‘aql is an essential condition for ahliyat al-‘ada.
‘Ard: Land; according to most jurists land is not eligible for entitlement to profit as
compared to other things that are: wealth, labour, credit-worthiness (daman al-thaman).
‘Ariyah: The sale of fresh dates on trees in return for dry dates, permitted as an
exception to the rules of riba (usury).
Arkan: The elements or essential ingredients of an act, without which the act is not
legally valid
Arsh: compensation for injury caused.
AS: ‘Alayhi al-salam or ‘Alayhim as-salam; upon him/them be the blessings of Allah.
Said whenever a prophet other than Muhammad is mentioned.
Asbab al-nuzul: The causes or the circumstances and events that surround a particular
revelation of the Qur‘an. Knowledge of asbab al-nuzul helps provide an understanding
of the original context and intent of a particular revelation. This knowledge is necessary
for determining the ratio legis of a ruling and whether, for example, the meaning of the
revelation is of a specific or of a general application.
Ashbah: Similar cases or attributes.
Ashbah wa naza^ir: Similarities (in undistinguished cases) and precedents.
Asl: Origin, root, foundation. Source of law. The established case that forms the basis of
the extension of the hukm in qiyas (analogy). A principle of law. The principal amount
in a debt (see ra^s al-mal).
Asl mu‘ayyan: A text that supports a general principle. Such a principle is called
munasib mula‘im.
‘Atah: Idiocy. A natural defect for the capacity of execution (ahliyat al-‘ada).
Athar: Impacts, trace, vestige; deeds, precedents and traditions reported from the
companions of the Prophet.
Athman mutlaqah: Absolute currencies; the term is usually applied to dinars and
dirhams.
Awliya: Plural of wali. See wali.
Awqaf: The institution of endowment.
Awqiya: A measure of weight, about an ounce.
‘Awrah: Literally the part of the body which must be covered, the parts of the human
body which Shari‘ah requires to be covered in front of other people, those of the same
as well as the opposite sex.
‘Ayah: Literally sign, indication, message, an aspect of Gods creation; Verse from the
Qur‘an.
‘Ayn: (plural Ayan) The corpus or substance of a thing. A thing present as distinguished
from one that is absent at the time of the contract. In Hanafi terminology, it is a thing
that is to be determined through weight or measure during a transaction of sale.
‘Azimah: A rule initially applied as a comprehensive general principle to which
exceptions or provisions are provided by law later, the exception is called rukhsah.
Badal: Substitute, substitute compensation.
Badr: A place near the red sea coast about ninety five miles to the south of Medina
where in 2 AH in the first battle fought by the newly established Muslim community,
the three hundred outnumbered Muslims led by the Messenger of Allah overwhelmingly
defeated one thousand Makkan idol-worshippers.
Baghy: False or evil endeavour, one vitiated by false/evil intention and/or consequence.
Baligh: Person who has obtained puberty, the outward sign of majority and discretion,
in the absence of which jurists determine different ages for the presumption of puberty.
Barakah: A blessing, any good which is bestowed by Allah, and especially that which
increases; a subtle beneficent spiritual energy which can flow through things, people
and places.
Basmalah: The expression: ¨In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate¨.
Batil: Nullity; void; Falsehood.
Batiniyah: (From batin meaning hidden or esoteric). A sect of Sufis who sought alleged
esoteric meanings behind the words of the Qur‘an through allegorical interpretation.
They also searched for a living infallible leader and had resource to Greek Pythagorean
theories.
Bay‘: Comprehensive term that applies to sale as well as many other transactions that
are not strictly referred to as sales in positive law; bilateral contract, exchange.
Bay‘ al-‘Aynah: Sale on credit; a transaction in which an item is sold on credit for one
price, after which the person who originally sold it buys it back in cash from the person
to whom he sold it for a lower price.
Bay‘ al-Gharar: A term referring to a transaction involving buying and selling in
which there is an element of uncertainty concerning the price, the merchandise being
purchased, the deadline for payment and/or delivery, or the ability to deliver the
merchandise.
Bay‘ah: The oath of allegiance. The nomination of the khalifah by the leaders of the
ummah, or the seconding of that nomination by the members of the ummah at large;
The covenant the first Muslims of Medina entered into with the Prophet, giving him
their obedience, allegiance and protection.
Bayan: Exposition, explanation, clarification. Technically, the explanation (bayan)
refers to the elaboration of meanings in texts. An explanation for a text of the Qur‘an
that has not been elaborated is to be sought first in the Sunnah and then through other
sources like usage etc.
Bayt al-Mal: Treasury.
Bid‘ah: Innovation. Often contains the meaning of a condemned innovation, although
not all innovation is condemned, often used in contradistinction to the Sunnah.
Bida‘ah: Goods given to another for trading without giving wages or sharing profits
(like a shop keeper leaving his shop with another shop keeper during his absence).
Bukhl: Nigardliness.
Bulugh: The attainment of puberty (see baligh).
Bulugh al-Nikah: The age of puberty or the age of eligibility for marriage.
Buraq: The mount on which the Prophet made his Night journey.
Butlan: See Batil.
Da‘iyah: A person engaged in da‘wah which consists for the Muslim to invite or call
upon others to return to the straight path of Islam. The subjects of daw‘ah are both
Muslims and non-Mulsims.
Dajjal: The false Messiah whose appearance marks the imminent end of the world.
Dalalat: The different ways in which meaningsof textsand their implications are
understood.
Dalalat al-Lafz: The implication of the text.
Dalalat al-Nass: The implication of an explicit text.
Dalil: (plural: adillah) Proof, indication, evidence; Every ruling or judgement needs to
be substantiated by the appropriate dalil in the first instance from the Qur‘an and
Sunnah.
Dalil al-Khitab: The implication of the text. It is used by some to mean the mafhum
mukhalafah or the counter indication of the text.
Dalil ijmali: See adillah ijmaliyah
Dalil Kulli: The same as dalil ijmali. It also refers to a general principle.
Dalil Tafsili: See adillah ijmaliyah.
Daman: Compensation, hability.
Daman al-‘amal: Liability underlying a partnership formed on the basis of labour,
where the partner is liable for performing the contract or completing the work accepted
by either partner.
Daman al-mal: Liability for the debts of the partnership; the usual form of liability
underlying all partnerships, especially one formed on the basis of wealth.
Daman al-talaf: Liability for damaging or destroying property accepted by the
partnership for value-added work.
Daman al-thaman: Liabilty underlying a partnership formed on the basis of creditworthiness
where each partner is liable, jointly and severally, for paying the price of
goods bought on credit.
Dar al-Da‘wah: The land where Islam is propagated.
Dar al-harb: Enemy territory not under the jurisdiction of a Muslim state.
Dar al-Ijabah: The land of compliance.
Dar al-Islam: Area under the jurisdiction of a Muslim state.
Dar al-Kufr: The country where Islam is not followed.
Darurah: Necessity. A principle used for permitting forbidden things in case of duress
or extreme hardship.
Darurat: See daruri.
Daruri: The term has particular significance for the purposes of law, the preservation of
which is a necessity.
Darb fi al-ard: Journeying through the earth seeking the bounty of Allah; justifying
basis for mudarabah.
Daw‘ah: Invitation; The calling to Islam.
Dayn: Receivables; The term does not apply to cash loans for which the word qard is
used. See Qard.
Dayn bi al-dayn: The exchange of a debt for a debt (prohibited on the basis of a
tradition and unanimously by the jurists on the basis of ijma‘).
Dhahirites: A school of fiqh which derived its judgements from the literal (dhahir) text
of the Qur‘an and Sunnah. Also called the Da‘udi school after its founder, Da‘ud ibn
Khalaf.
Dhari‘ah: Refers to the means or the route which leads to a forbidden act. For example,
´looking´at persons outside of marriage is a means which could lead to adultery. The
forbidding of such acts is therefore considered as blocking (sadd) the means to
wrongdoing or immoral or harmful acts.
Dhikr: Literally, remembrance or mention; In a general sense all ibadah (worship) is
dhikr. In common isage it has come to mean invocation of Allah by repetition of His
names or particular formulae.
Dhimam: See sharikat al-dhimam.
Dhimmah: Equivalent for legal personality in positive law; Receptacle for the capacity
for acquisition; Obligation or contract, in particular a treaty of protection for non-
Muslims living in Muslim territory. See Ahd.
Dhimmi: Non-Muslims living under the protection of a Muslim state.
Din: The normative or perfect religion that Allah has ordained for humanity, including
faith, ethics, law, devotions, institutions and judgement.
Dini: Pertaining to Din (religion).
Diyah: (Plural; diyat) Compensation for injuries for loss of life; bloodwit.
Du‘a: Making supplication to Allah
Dunyawi: Pertaining to the temporal.
Duyun al-marad: The debts that become due during death illness. They restrict the
power of disposal of the person suffering from death illness.
Fadl: Excess. The term is used for riba, which is excess in the exchange of two counter
values, whether determined through weight or measure or realised through the delay in
the delivery of one of the counter values.
Fajr: Dawn; first light, and in particular the post dawn prayer.
Falasifah: The philosophers.
Faqih: (plural; fuqaha) A specialist in fiqh Also can be a synonym for ‘alim (pl.
‘ulama) meaning Islamic scholar. By virtue of his knowledge of fiqh he can give a legal
judgement (fatwa).
Far‘: (pl. furu‘) Literally, branch, subdivision. A subsidiary law; a new case (in the
context of qiyas).
Fara‘id: The rights in inheritance.
Fard: Obligatory. A term used by the Hanafis to distinguish an obligation established
through a definitive evidence as against one that is established through a probable
evidence, which is referred to a wajib.
Fasad: See fasid.
Fasaqa: To commit a sin, to follow a course of sinfulness and evil, short of apostasy or
blasphemy.
Fasid: Vitiated; irregular. It is also used in the sense of voidable in the positive law. A
contract however, is void at the option of the parties, whilst the fasid contract can
become valid only if the offending condition is removed. It is an unenforceable contract.
Faskh: Recission.
Fath: The act of granting (as in fataha) or the victory or breakthrough granted. The
moral and material victories granted to the Prophet Muhammad and his early followers,
and hence the embracing of Islam of large masses of the population of any country or
region.
Fatihah: Literally, the opening. The opening surah of the Qur‘an.
Fatwah: (pl. fatawa) A juristic opinion given by a faqih, ‘alim, mufti or mujtahid on
any matter pertinent to Islamic law.
Fiqh: Literally, understanding. Knowledge of Islam through its laws; science of the
laws of Islam. The term fiqh is sometimes used synonymously with Shari‘ah. However,
while fiqh is to a large extent the product of human endeavour, the Shari‘ah is closely
related to divine revelation and knowledge which is only obtained from the Qur‘an and
Sunnah.
Al-fiqh al-asghar: The minor fiqh. A term applied by Abu Hanifa to refer to a
knowledge of the law excluding the fiqh of tenants of faith.
Al-fiqh al-akbar: The knowledge of law as well as the tenants of faith.
Fitnah: Any affliction which may cause man to go astray and to lose his faith in
spiritual values; tests, trials, confusion, civil war, oppression. Dissuasion from ones
Islamic commitment.
Fitrah: The first nature, the natural, primal condition of mankind in harmony with
nature.
Fulus: plural of fals (copper coins).
Furqan: The ´Discriminaton´, a name of the Qur‘an.
Furu‘: The individual cases of the law as distinguished from the usul or sources.
Furuq: The art of distinguishing apparently different cases.
Fuqaha: (sing. Faqih) see Faqih.
Gharar: Uncertainty; hazard that is likely to lead to a dispute in a contract; does not
mean speculation in goods or currencies or the acquisition of huge profits.
Gharib: A principle or rule that is alien to the generally acknowledged propositions of
the law.
Ghasb: Usurpation; abduction.
Ghayb, al: That which is beyond the realm of human perception.
Ghayr lazim: contract terminable at the will of either party.
Ghayr Sha‘ri ahkam: Rules that do not pertain to the law.
Ghusul: A bath performed in a prescribed manner and which is necessary to ensure
purification after certain actions. For example, sexual intercourse, seminal emissions,
menstruation.
Hadd: Limit; boundary. A fixed penalty prescribed as a right of Allah. Some jurists
have used the term to indicate the larger doctrine of hadd that incorporates all the rights
of Allah. Together these form the boundary conditions of the entire legal system within
the framework of which the rest of the law has to be developed.
Hadith: Saying. The written record of the Sunnah. The verbalised form of a tradition of
the Prophet Muhammad constitutive to his Sunnah. One hadith may contain more than
one Sunnah. The word Hadith also applies to the sciences dealing with the Prophets
tradition in all its aspects. A hadith narrative is divided into two parts; the isnad (chain
of transmission) and the matn (content of the narrative).
Hadith da‘if: Weak tradition. One of the three main categories of hadith in
contradistinction to sahih (authentic) and hasan (good) hadith. A tradition is weak
owing to a weakness that exists in its chain of narrators or in its textual content. There
are several varieties of weak hadith.
Hadith Marfu‘: Literally an elevated tradition. Refers to a hadith mursal which is
consistent with the precedent of the companions of the Prophet and which is elevated
and attributed to the Prophet.
Hadith Mashur: A well known tradition; A hadith which was originally reported by
one, two or more companions form the Prophet or from another companion, but has
later become well known and transmitted by an indefinite number of people during the
first and second generations of Muslims.
Hadith Munqati‘: A tradition with a part of its isnad missing. Also referred to as a
hadith mursal.
Hadith Mursal: A tradition which a person from the second generation of Muslims
(Tabi^een) has directly attributed to the Prophet without mentioning the last link,
namely the companion, who might have narrated it from the Prophet. More generally a
hadith with a part of its isnad missing.
Hadith Mutawatir: Literally, continuously recurrent tradition; A tradition is classified
as mutawatir only when it is reported by a very large number of people of proven
reliability in such a way as to preclude any possibility of them all agreeing to perpetuate
a falsehood. According to the majority of scholars the authority of a mutawatir hadith is
equivalent to that of the Qur‘an.
Hadith Qudsi: Those words of Allah on the tongue of the Prophet, which are not part
of the revelation of the Qur‘an.
Hadith Sahih: Authentic tradition; A hadith is classified as sahih when its narrators are
all reliable and trustworthy, when its isnad is continuous and goes right back to the
Prophet, and when the narration is free from any obvious or subtle defects.
Hajat: Needs; necessities. Used for the secondary purposes of the law that are
complimentary to the five primary purposes or the dururiyat.
Haji: See hajat.
Hajj: The fifth pilar of Islam consisting of acts performed at Makkah on the ninth and
tenth days of dhul Hijjah, the last month of Islamic lunar year.
Hajr: Interdiction, usually for safah (prodigality).
Hakim: The Lawgiver. The Lawgiver in Islamic law is Allah Almighty. In the
discipline of Usul, the hakim is considered to be the first rukn (element) of the hukm
shar‘i.
Halal: That which is lawful (legal and allowed), as distinguished from haram, or that
which is unlawful.
Hamam: A public bath.
Hamil: Surety; the term is used by Hanbali jurists for kafil.
Haqiqi ‘aqli: The concrete norms acknowledged by the shar‘i. The term was used by
al-Ghazali.
Haqq Allah: The right of Allah.
Haqq al-‘abd: Right of the individual.
Haqq al-sultanah: The right of the state as distinct from the right of Allah.
Haqq al-Sultan: See haqq al-sultanah.
Haram: Prohibited. That which Allah has explicitly forbidden humans to do and for
which He specified a penalty.
Hasan: The origin of words like istihsan, ahsan, muhsin. It means good or beneficial.
Hawa: (plural; ahwa‘); Vain or egotistical desire; individual passion, impulsivness.
Following ones own desires is described in the Qur‘an as taking these desires as your
god or object of worship. Following hawa leads to arrogance and destruction and is
contrasted with following the shari‘ah which is designed to discipline and lead man to
fulfilment and happiness.
Hawalah: Indorsement, assignment; aval.
Hawl: One year; The prescribed period after which payment of zakah becomes due.
Haya: The term covers a large number of concepts which are to be taken together,
among them are self respect, modesty, bashfulness, scruples etc.
Hayd: Menstruation.
Hays: Dates mixed with butter, sometimes with sawiq added.
Hazl: Jest; Refers to cases where utterances made in jest may have legal effects. The
examples are marriage, divorce and manumission.
Hibah: Gift
Hifz: Preservation. The word was used by al-Ghazali with reference to the purposes of
law.
Hijab: The covering of a Muslim woman. The Islamic style of dress for a woman.
Hijr: The semi-circular unroofed enclosure at one side of the ka‘bah, whose low wall
outlines the shape of the original ka‘bah built by the prophet Ibrahim.
Hijrah: Migration; The act of leaving a place to seek sanctuary of freedom or worship
in another or for any other purpose. Also the act of leaving a bad practice in order to
adopt a righteous way of life. Specifically, the hijrah refers to the Prophets journey from
Makkah to Madina in the month of Raba‘ al-Awwal in the twelth year of his mission,
corresponding to June 622 AC. The Islamic calendar begins from this event.
Hikmah: Wisdom. The purpose or spirit of the law. There is a difference of opinion
amongst jurists whether the hikmah can be used as an underlying cause to extend the
hukm.
Hilah: Legal stratagem. See hiyal.
Himmah: Aspiration, ambition, purpose, desire.
Hira: A mountain two miles north of Makkah where, the Prophet used to go into retreat
before the revelation came to him.
Hirz: The place of safe custody for property with reference to the offence of theft.
Possession of property for purposes of hirz may be actual or constructive.
Hisbah: Accountability, reckoning. The institution of the ombudsman.
Hiyal: Plural of Hilah. A legal device for evading the incidence of the strict law. Also
referred to as legal fictions. Legal fictions, however, have a different function to
perform in positive law.
Hudaybiyah: A plain to the west of Makkah where a truce was consluded between the
Prophet and the Quraysh in 6 AH.
Hudud: Plural of Hadd. Literally limits; the specific punishments assigned by the
Qur‘an and Sunnah for particular crimes: intoxication, theft, rebellion, adultery, and
fornification, false accusation of adultery and apostasy. These crimes involve
transgressing the limits of acceptable behaviour.
Hujjah: Proof; demonstrative proof. An evidence in the sources that forms the basis of
persuasive legal reasoning.
Hujjiyah: Producing the necessary proof or authority to validate a rule or concept.
Hukm: Rule; injunction; prescription. Shari‘ah ruling. Hukm can be a general ruling
(hukm ‘amm) or a particular ruling (hukm khass).The word hukm has a wider meaning
than that implied by most of the words of English deemed its equivalent. Technically, it
means a communication from Allah the Exalted, related to the acts of the subjects
through a demand or option, or through a declaration. According to this definition, the
word hukm includes obligation creating laws, declaratory laws, and even those that may
be based upon positive decrees or on custom. Thus, the meaning is much wider than the
´command of the sovereign´ contemplated by John Austin for positive law.
Hukm Shar‘i: See hukm. The term hukm shar‘I is used to apply to its three elements;
The Lawgiver (Hakim), the mahkum fih or the act, and the subject or mahkum ‘alayh.
Hukm taklifi: The obligation creating rule. The primary rule of the legal system.
Hukm wadi‘: The declaratory hukm. A secondary rule of the system that facilitate the
operation of the primary rules.
Hukman: Legally, though not actually.
Huquq: Rights; the rights of the performance of a contract that belong to the agent
according to the Hanafis.
Huquq al-‘ibad: The plural of the right of the individual. In the collective sense, it may
be considered as the right of the community and would then be the same thing as the
right of the state.
Husn: Good. In Islamic law the term is used in reference to reason and natural law.
I‘arah: Lending utensils and non-fungibles.
‘Ibadah: Worship.
‘Ibadat: plural of ‘ibadah.
Ibahah: Permissability.
‘Ibarat al-Nass: Explicit meaning of a given text which is borne out by its words.
Ibqa‘: Preservation. The term was used by al-Ghazali to indicate the positive or
affirmative aspect of the purpose of law as compared to the defensive or protective. For
example, in the case of the first interest of din, prayer has to be established from the
affirmative aspect, whiles protection requires the defense of din through jihad.
‘Iddah: Legally prescribed period of waiting incumbent upon women in consequence of
a dissolution of marriage, either by divorce or death of her husband. After a divorce the
period is three months and after the death of her husband, four months and ten days,
both periods being enjoined by the Qur‘an
Idtirar: Duress; necessity.
‘Iffah: Chastity.
‘Ifrit: Powerful type of Jinn.
Ighma‘: Fainting.
Ihram: The ritual state of ihram required for the ‘umrah or hajj, including the
conditions of the clothing and behaviour adopted. It also refers to the intention to
perform the ‘umrah or hajj, which is part of the total ritual state.
Ihsan: Being absolutely sincere to Allah in oneself.
Ihya‘ al-mawat: Reviving barren lands.
Ift‘: Deliverance of formal legal opinion.
Ijab: Obligation creating command as distinguished from wujub (duty).
Ijarah: Hire, rent.
Ijma‘: Consensus of opinion. In the parlance of the jurists it is the agreement upon a
hukm shar‘i by the mujtahids of a determined period following the demise of the
Prophet Muhammad. This definition would exclude the employment of this principle by
a political institution, unless it is composed by mujtahids. Ijma‘ is considered to be one
of the sources of Islamic law, although not specifically drawn from the Qur‘an or
Sunnah.
Ijma‘ sukuti: Concensus where some jurists give tacit approval to the rule pronounced
by others.
Ijtihad: Independent reasoning. The effort of the jurist to derive the law on an issue by
expending all the available means of interpretation at his disposal and by taking into
account all the legal proofs related to the issue, being that they are based on Muslim
legal sources (the Qur‘an, the hadith, analogical deduction and consensus). Considering
that the accepted juridical sources of Islam are valid for all time and space, ijtihad may
be described as a creative but disciplined intellectual effort to derive legal rulings from
those sources whilst taking into consideration the variables imposed by the fluctuating
circumstances of Muslim society.
Ikhalah: Reasoned conviction. A method used by the Shafi‘i jurists for extending the
law on the basis of a highly persuasive and convincing norm. The method is rejected by
other schools.
Ikhlas: Sincerity.
Ikhtilaf: Difference of opinion, disagreement, dispute, controversy.
Ikhtilaf al-fuqaha‘: The differences of the jurists. This title is used for the discipline
that may be referred to as applied usul, as distinguished from usul al-fiqh, which is
theoretical and highlights the assumptions of the jurists or their schools with respect to
the sources of law or the rules of interpretation.
Ikhtilat: Mixing of shares so that they can no longer be separated.
‘Ila: A pronouncement by the husband of abstention from sex with his wife. It leads to
divorce if observed for a determined period.
‘Illah: The underlying legal cause of a hukm, its ratio decidendi, on the basis of which
the accompanying hukm is extended to other cases.
‘Ilm: Knowledge of the patterns of Allah in creation, which are constitutive of reality.
‘Ilm al-shurut: Conveyancing; drafting of legal documents.
Imam: (pl. a‘immah) The one who leads the prayer, an eminent scholar. Community
leader of the Muslims in religious as well as in lay matters deriving his legitimacy from
commitment to and knowledge of Islam. Also interpreter of Islamic law. In a restrictive
sense the term refers to anyone leading the faithful in salah in a mosque or elsewhere.
Iman: belief; faith. The conviction or certainty, that Allah is indeed the one and only
God and that Muhammad is His last Prophet.
‘Inan: Rein of an animal; type of partnership; See sharikat al-‘inan.
‘Inan khass: The ‘inan partnership that is formed for a particular project or for trading
in a particular commodity or in which the agency granted to the partners are restricted.
Injil: The original Gospel.
Inqilab: Conversion; conversion ofmufawadah into ‘inan.
Insaniyah: The attribute of being a human. It is considered to be the basis for the
assignment of personality, which in turn enables a person to have legal capacity. A
fictitious person may not be assigned personality on the basis of this rule.
Intihah: End; termination or dissolution of a partnership.
Iqalah: negotiated rescission.
Iqamah: The inception of salah or any other ritual or ‘ibadah.
Iqamat al-hudud: Establishing the hudud. It is deemed to be the primary duty of the
ruler. Thus, the ruler must have the qualifications required of a witness in hudud cases.
Irtihan: Pledging; mortgaging.
‘Isha: Evening and in particular evening prayer, the obligatory night prayer.
Ishtirak: Equivocality; partnership; participation.
‘Isma: preservation of the Prophets from wrong actions.
Isnad: The chain of transmission of a tradition.
Isqat: The extinction of a right.
Istidanah: Raising or building up credit through credit purchases; does not apply to the
raising of cash laons. See istiqrad.
Istidlal: The literal meaning of the term istidlal is to seek evidence (dalil). In the
context of Islamic law, it is the pursuit of legal evidence, be it textual or otherwise, on
the basis of which one may arrive at a sound ruling or juedgement on this or that
question or situation.
Istidlal mursal: Legal reasoning that is based on a principle freed from the hold of
individual texts, that is, it is to let go into the realm of the purposes of the law.
Istihqaq al-ribh: Entitlement to profit; basis for entitlement to profit.
Istihsan: Its origin is hasin. The principle according to which the law is based upon a
general principle of the law in preference to a strict analogy pertaining to the issue. The
principle is used by the Hanafis as well as the Malikis. This method of interpretation
may be employed for various reasons including hardship.
Istiqra‘: Induction
Istiqrad: The raising of cash loans for business purposes, declared batil by al-Sarakhsi
as it is against the principle of prohibition of riba.
Istishab: A principle within the Shafi‘ system, which in general terms means; the status
quo shall be maintained. In a more technical sense, it means that the original rule
governing an issue shall remain operative. In such a case, the primary rule assigned to
all issues is that of permissibility. Sex activity however, does not fall within such
original permission.
Istislah: As distinguished from the broader principle of maslahah, it is a principle that
permits a more flexible type of analogy as compared to qiyas,and is applied to the
public good or public welfare as a guideline for legislating Islamic law.
‘Iwad: Compensation; counter value.
Jabarut: The world of divine power.
Jadal: Dialectics, wrangling, disputation.
Jahalah: Uncertainty. Uncertainty in a contract that may lead to a later dispute; see
gharar.
Jahannam: The eternal fire which is the ultimate recompense of the life of
disobedience and sin.
Jahiliyah: The order or regime in which the law of Allah is not in force. Also, the pre-
Islamic period in Arabia, considered a time of ignorance of jahl (hence jahiliyah).
Jahim: The fire of Hell.
Ja‘iz: That which is allowed or permissible. As a rule, everything that is not prohibited
is allowed.
Jama‘: Union; group; congregation. ´Gathering together´ or ´allcomprehensiveness´. A
term used in the realm of Sufism to refer to a spiritual state in which the individual has
so fully concentrated himself or herself on the Divine the he/she is no longer aware of
any separation between the Divine and created.
Janabah: Any act which breaks the ritual purity of a Muslim; the state of impurity.
Janin: The fetus. Strictly speaking it is the stage of the fetus when the woman is ´quick
with child´.
Jannah: The garden; Paradise. The eternal abode of the meritorious humans who have
been granted the reward of Allah on the Day of Judgement.
Jibril: The archangel Gabriel who bought the revelation to the Prophet.
Jihad: Literally, striving. Any earnest striving in the way of God, involving either
earnest personal effort, material resources, or arms for righteousness and against evil,
wrongdoing and oppression. Where it involves armed struggle, it must be for the
defence of the Muslim community or a just war to protect even non-Muslims from evil,
oppression and tyranny.
Jinn: Unseen beings created of a smokeless fire who co-habit the earth together with
mankind.
Jins: Genus.
Jizyah: Tax imposed on non-Muslim citizens of a Muslim state. These citizens are not
liable for zakah.
Juma‘ah: The day of gathering, Friday, and particularly the juma‘ah prayer.
Jumhur: Majority (of the jurists.
Junub: Impure. A person is considered to be in a state of impurity for example, after
sexual intercourse and seminal emissions. A person in such a state is normally required
to perform ghusl before performing acts of worship like salah.
Junun: Insanity.
Juzaf: Heap. Grain or goods sold in heaps by estimate.
Juz sha‘i: A share that in undivided and completely mixed up with the shares of other
partners, that is, it is to be found in each particle of the property.
Juz‘i: An individual category within a genus. It refers to a specific evidence within a
general evidence.
Ka‘ba: The cube shaped building at the centre of the masjid al-haram in Makkah. Also
known as the house of Allah.
Kalam: Literally words or speech, and referring to oration. The name applied to the
discipline of philosophy and theology concerned specifically with the nature of belief,
determinism and freedom and the nature of the divine attributes.
Kalim: The prophet Musa (Moses), to whom Allah spoke.
Karamah: pl. karamat; Miraculous gifts and favours which Allah gives to His friends
(‘awliya‘).
Katib: Scribe.
Kafalah: Contract of surety; guarantee; bail; posting a bond.
Kafalah bi al-thaman: Surety for paying the price or sum if unpaid by the person
originally liable.
Kafalah bi al-nafs: Bail; surety for producing the body of the person wanted.
Kafil: Surety; person providing the surety; guarantor.
Kawthar: It is said that it is a river in the Garden, abundant blessing, intercession, the
Prophets basin.
Khabar al-wahid: It is a solitary report from the Prophet that does not reach the status
of tawatur, or of mashur according to the Hanafis, that is, there are one or two narrators
in its chain in the first three generations: Companions, Tabi‘een, and their followers. As
compared to this, the mashur report has one or two narrators among the companions,
but it reaches the status of mutawatir in the generation of the Tabi‘een.
Khalifah: Pl. khulafa‘. Steward, vicegerent; successor. Man is referred to as the
khalifah or steward of God on earth. The word khilafah was used after the death of the
noble Prophet to refer to his successor, Abu Bakr, as head of the Muslim community.
Later it came to be accepted as the designation for the head of the Muslim state.
Anglicised as caliph.
Khalt: Mixing of shares; see ikhtilat.
Khaluq: A kind of yellowy perfume.
Khamr: Intoxicant; Wine from grape juice.
Khandaq: A trench dug around a city for defence purposes.
Kharaj: Revenue from the land.
Kharaj bi al-daman: A principle based upon a tradition; it is, perhaps, the most
influential principle in Islamic law, applies to contracts, damages and even crimes.
Kharij: Produce.
Kharijites: pl. Khawarij; Name given to a group of the followers of the khalifah ‘Ali
who opposed his decision to agree to arbitration in the conflict with Mu‘awiyah in 38
AH/659 AC. Later on, this group recognised as legitimate only the first two caliphs,
Abu Bakr and ‘Umar. Theologically they considered the sinner as a kafir, an outlaw or
apostate, whom it is legitimately and religiously imperative to fight
Khass: Particular; specific; specific word, as opposed to general(‘amm).
Khilaf: Controversy, dispute, discord.
Khilafah: In theological terms, humanity is the follower and caretaker of the Earth,
after God. Therefore, each individual is khilafat Allah fi al-ard (God´s vicegerent in
Earth).
Khitab: Address; Communication.
Khitab jina‘i: The communication forming the basis of criminal liability.
Khiyali iqna‘i: Probable norms.
Khiyarat: plural of khiyar (option).
Khul: Divorce at the instance when the wife in return for a monetary compensation paid
to the husband.
Khums: The fifth of spoils.
Khutbah: Sermon; oration.
Kira‘: Rent for land, permitted by Malik ibn Anas.
Kufr: Ingratitude to God and manifest disbelief in Him and His religion.
Kulli: General; general evidence. See juz‘i.
Kulliyat al-Shari‘ah: The definitive general principles of the Shari‘ah.
Kunya: A respectful and affectionate way of calling people as the ´father of so and so´
or the ´mother of so and so´.
Lazim: Binding; binding contract.
Li‘an: Oath of condemnation. Disavowal of paternity by mutual oath of both spouses
(resorted to by the husband in refutation of an acquisition of qadhf by his wife, and by
the wife in refutation of an accusation of adultery by her husband).
Madarrah: Harm; injury.
Madhab: (Pl. madhahib): A legal school of law. The four main Sunni schools are
Maliki, Hanafi, Shafi‘ and Hanbali.
.
Madinah: A city in West Arabia to the north of Makkah, where the first Islamic
community was founded by the Prophet.
Madinan: Adjctive of Madinah.
Mafhum al-mukhalafah: The implication contrary to the actual meaning of a text.
Maghrib: The time of sunset, lit. the west. In particular, the maghrib prayer which is
just after sundown.
Mahdar: Record of findings (by the judge).
Mahkm ‘alayh: The subject.
Mahkum bih: The act of the subject to which the hukm is related.
Mahkum fih: See mahkum bih.
Mahram: A male relative, who, because of kinship ties, is not permitted to marry the
woman in question.
Mahzur: Prohibited.
Majhul: Unknown; uncertain.
Maka‘il: The archangel Michael.
Makkah: A city in west Arabia where the Prophet was born. Makkah is the centre
Muslims face during their daily prayers, and the site of the annual pilgrimage (hajj).
Makruh: Reprehensible; disapproved.
Makruh karahat al-tahrim: Disapproval that is akin to prohibition.
Makruh karahat al-tanzih: Disapproval that is closer to permissibility.
Mal: Wealth.
Malakut: The angelic world.
Manat: The support or place of suspension of another thing. The underlying cause on
which the hukm is suspended.
Mandub: Recommended.
Manfa‘ah: Utility.
Mani‘: Obstacle.
Mansukh: Qur‘anic texts that have been abrogated by other texts.
Maqam Ibrahim: The place where Ibrahim stood which marks the place of prayer
following tawaf of the Kaba‘ah.
Maqasid al-Shari‘ah: The purpose of the Shari‘ah, whose preservation and protection
amounts to the securing of an interest (maslahah).
Marad: Illness.
Marad al-mawt: Death illness; terminal illness. It may sometimes apply to states of
mind that have not arisen due to illness, for example, a soldier in the battle field or a
person on a ship threatened by a storm.
Marid: The sick subject.
Masalih: Interests preserved and protected by Shari‘ah.
Masdar: Source.
Mashaqqah: Harship.
Masjid al-Aqsa: The furthest mosque in Jerusalem.
Masjid al-haram: The protected mosque, the name of the mosque built around the
kaba‘ah in Makkah.
Maslahah: Public welfare or the public good, sought by practising istislah according to
Islamic law. The principle is that the Shari‘ah has determined goals or purposes and the
securing of these purposes is an acknowledged interest (maslahah).
Maslahah mursalah: An interest that is not supported by an individual text (Qur‘an,
Sunnah or ijma‘), but is upheld by the texts considered collectively.
Mathani: Said to be the first long surahs, or the Fatihah and various other parts of
revelation.
Matn: The text of a hadith.
Ma‘tuh: Idiot.
Mawla: (pl. Mawali): A person with whom a tie of wala‘ has been established by
manumission. It usually refers to the freed slave, but it can also mean former master.
Mawquf: A category of tradition which only refers to the sayings or doings of the
Companions.
Mazalim: Violation of rights.
Mazinnah: Location. The outward indication of an actual cause of a hukm, like puberty
for maturity and discretion, or sleep for the actual acquisition of impurities, or
penetration for actual ejaculation in the offence of unlawful sexual intercourse.
Mazru‘: The crop to be cultivated.
Milk: Ownership; property.
Milkiyah: Ownership.
Minbar: Steps on which the Imam stands to deliver the khutbah on the day of Juma‘ah.
Miqat: One of the designated places for entering into ihram for `umrah or hajj.
Miraj: The ascent of the Prophet to heaven in the night journey.
Mithl: Fungible; things sold by weight or measure, and for which one quantity or
measure is a substitute for another.
Mu‘adhdhin: The one who gives the adhan, the call to prayer.
Mu‘amalah: Transaction; agreement; term used for the agreement concluded by the
Prophet with the people of Khaybar.
Mu‘amalat: Transactions.
Mu‘atah: Fixed price sale; a transaction in which the buyer gives the price of
merchandise to the seller and the seller gives the merchandise to the buyer without
uttering words to indicate either an offer or acceptance.
Mu‘aththir: Effective; the effective cause.
Mu‘aththir munasib: The effective cause that is also compatible with the purposes and
general propositions of the law.
Mu‘ayyan: Ascertained; determined; commodity ascertained through weight or
measure for purposes or sale.
Mubah: Permissable.
Mubashir: Person who commits an act personally and of his own volition rather than
through another person.
Mubaya‘ah: The oath of allegiance; see bay‘ah.
Mudabbar: A slave whom his master has declared to be free upon the masters death.
Mudarabah: Contract of partnership and sharing of profits in which the investor
provides all the capital and is liable for the loss.
Mudarib: The worker in a contract of mudarabah.
Mudd: A measure or volume, approximately to a double handed scoop.
Mudhin: A permitting evidence.
Mufawadah: A basic contract of partnership based on wakalah and kafalah that
requires full commitment from the partners and to achieve this purpose tries to maintain
equality in the capital, labour, liability and legal capacity and also declares each partner
to be a surety for the other, it is converted into the ‘inan partnership if such equality is
disturbed.
Muhajirun: Companions of the Prophet. Who accepted Islam outside Madinah and
made hijrah to Madinah, particularly those who came with him from Makkah.
Muhsan: Married; chaste; free. The term is generally used in the context of the offence
of unlawful sexual intercourse where it is applied to mean a married or once married
person.
Muhsin: Someone who possess´ the quality of ihsan.
Muhtamal: Probable meaning.
Mu‘jizah: A evidentiary miracle given to the Prophet to prove his prophethood.
Mujmal: The word whose meaning has not been elaborated by the text. The elaboration
requires recourse to other texts.
Mujtahid: The origin of the word is juhd. Mujtahid is a Muslim theologian who knows
enough about his religion to be able to extrapolate reasonable judgements on different
issues.
Mujtahid fi al-madhab: The jurist who is independent with respect to the opinion he
derives, but follows the founder of a school with respect to the principles of
interpretation. In other words, he observes taqlid fi al-usul, but not taqlid fi al-furu‘.
Mujtahid fih: A matter that is subject to interpretation.
Mujtahid mutlaq: The absolute jurist, usually the founder of a school, who follows his
own opinion even with respect to the rules of interpretation.
Mukallaf: The subject.
Mukatab: A slave with whom his master has concluded the contract of kitabah by
virtue of which the slave buys his freedom and agrees to pay for it in instalments.
Mukhabarah: Another name for the contract of musaqah derived from the transaction
with the Jews of Khaybar.
Mukhil: A persuasive or convincing attribute derived through ikhalah.
Muktasabah: Derived.
Mula‘im: Compatible.
Mula‘amah: Compatibility.
Mulgha: A principle rejected by law.
Multazim: The area between the black stone and the door of the Kaba‘ah, where it is
recommended to make du‘a.
Munasabah: The conformity between an attribute and the purposes and the general
prepositions of the law.
Munasib: An attribute conforming with the purposes of law.
Munasib gharib: An attribute that conforms with the purposes of the law yet it is not
acknowledged by the law.
Munasib Mula‘im: A principle for which the underlying cause has been derived by the
jurists from a text, and the principle also conforms with the purposes of law.
Muqallid: One who follows the opinion of another.
Muqaradah: Another name for mudarabah used by the Malikis; See also qirad.
Muqtada‘ ‘aqd al-‘inan: Implied contract of ‘inan; conditions implied by the mere use
of the word ‘inan in the contract of partnership.
Murabahah: Sale at the stated cost price and mark up.
Murji‘ah: Deferrers. Those who defer judgement of the sinner to God and the Day of
Judgement.
Mursal: Released; let go. A rule in which the hold of individual texts is released.
Mursal gharib: A principle that is not supported by an individual text, but it is
supported by the purposes and general prepositions of the law.
Mursal Mula‘im: A principle that is not supported by an individual text nor is it
compatible with the purposes of the law.
Musaqah: Contract for the watering of trees between the owner of land and a worker on
the condition of sharing the produce.
Musha‘: The undivided share of a person in every particle of joint property.
Musharakah: See sharikah.
Mushrik: Polytheist.
Mustanbitah: Derived.
Mu‘tah: A town in present day Jordan, and was the site of the first battle between the
Byzantine and Muslim armies.
Mutalabah: Demand; demand by a creditor for the satisfaction of debts from the
dealing partner or from the other partners.
Mutashabihat: Allegorical. Refers to verses of the Qur‘an which are expressed in a
figurative manner in contradistinction to ayat muhkam or verses which are clear in and
by theirselves.
Mutawatirah: See tawatur.
Mu‘tazilah: Group of rationalist thinkers who flourished from the middle of the second
to the beginning of the fourth hijr century.
Muttakalamin: Those who study the science of kalam.
Muzara‘ah: Contract for the cultivation of land between the owner of the land and the
worker with the condition of sharing the produce.
Muzari‘: Tenant.
Nabidh: Beverage made from dates. Mead of dates.
Nadb: Recommended.
Nafilah: A voluntary act of ‘ibadah.
Nafl: Supererogatory.
Nafs: Self; life. An interest secured by the Shari‘ah as a purpose of the law.
Nahy: Proscription.
Nasi‘atan: By way of nasi‘ah, that is, with a delay in the delivery of one or both
counter-values in a contract of exchange (bay‘).
Nasihah: Good advice; sincere conduct.
Nasikh wa mansukh: This is the study of those verses of the Qur‘an whose contents
have abrogated a legal meaning in another verse, or in a hadith, which is therefore
called mansukh. This branch of usul also studies whether or not the contents of a hadith
may abrogate legal meanings in the Qur‘an and other hadith.
Nasikh al: Abrogating; Those verses of the Qur‘an whose contents have revoked a
meaning in another verse, which is therefore called al mansukh (abrogated).
Nasikh: (active participle); Refers to the passage which abrogates or supersedes the part
which is abrogated. The abrogated passage is called mansukh (passive participle).
Nasl: Lineage; progeny.
Naskh: Abrogation of certain parts of the Qur‘anic revelation by others. The principle is
mentioned in the Qur‘an: ¨None of Our revelation do we abrogate or cause to be
forgotten, but We substitute something better or similar.¨ (2: 106).
Nass: Pl. nusus; Text. A clear textual ruling or injunction from the Qur‘an and the
Sunnah.
Nazari: Theorectical.
Nifas: Post-natal state of woman.
27
Nikah al-Muhallil: A marriage in which a man weds a woman who has been divorced
irrevocably by another man with the intention of divorcing her in order that her first
husband may marry her again (in view of the ruling in Islam which forbids a man to
remarry a woman who he has divorced irrevocably unless she has, in the meantime,
been married to someone else and divorced).
Nikah al-Shighar: Marriage by compensation. The practice in which a man gives his
daughter in marriage to another man on the condition that the other man will give him
his daughter in marriage, and with the understanding that neither bride will receive a
dowry. This is a form of marriage which was prevalent in pre-Islamic times, and which
Islam abolished.
Nisab: The minimum scale provided for an area of the law. For zakah and theft, for
example, it is a minimum amount of wealth that imposes liability, while in evidence it is
the nisab of one man and two women who render testimony.
Nisyan: Forgetfullness.
Nizam: Institution; Term used in Saudi law for the corporation, in place of the usual
term sharikah, in Arab law.
Qabul: Acceptance.
Qada: The judicial office. Also used for delayed performance of an act.
Qadhf: False accusation of unlawful sexual intercourse. The liability can arise
indirectly when a person is accused of being illegitimate through an abuse.
Qadi: Judge.
Qa‘idah kulliyah: A general principle whose hukm is uniformly applicable to each of
its categories.
Qa‘idah usuliyah: A principle of interpretation used in the discipline of usul al-fiqh.
Qanun: Law made by the Ottoman rulers.
Qard: Loan; especially an interest free loan in which the period of repayment is not
fixed; a loan in which the period is fixed is permitted by Islamic law, even if it is
without interest, because it is hit by the stipulations of the contract of sarf.
Qard hasan: Gracious loan without interest in which the benefit to be derived is gifted
by the owner to the beneficiary, without this charitable act, the use of the money for a
period would be considered an unjustified excess transferred to the beneficiary also
called riba al-nasi‘ah.
Qat‘i: Definitive.
Qatl ‘Amd: Wilful homicide; murder.
28
Qawa‘id al-fiqh: General principles derived from a number of cases in fiqh.
Qawa‘id fiqhiyah: See Qawa‘id al-fiqh.
Qawa‘id usuliyah: Principles employed for the interpretation of texts.
Qawanin usuliyah: See qawa‘id usuliyah.
Qiblah: The direction faced in prayer, which is towards the kaba‘ah in Makkah.
Qirad: Another name given by the Malikis to the contract of mudarabah, from the word
qard.
Qisas: Retaliation for loss of life or limb; lex talionis.
Qiyas: Analogy; syllogism. The extension of the hukm of a specific case established in
the texts to a new case awaiting decision on the basis of a common underlying cause.
Qiyas fi ma‘na al-asl: Same as qiyas al-ma‘na.
Qiyas al-‘illah: The regular form of analogy in which an underlying cause is employed
for the extension of the hukm, as distinguished from qiyas al-ma‘na or even qiyas alshabah.
Qiyas al-ma‘na: The extension of the hukm from a lower order meaning to a case
falling under the higher-order meaning identified through the implication of the text. If
the text of the Qur‘an says that one should not say even ´fie´ to parents, then, taking this
as the lower-order meaning we extend the hukm to more grievous cases of abuse. This
form is considered the strongest type of analogy. According to the Hanafis, this is not
analogy, but the implication of the text (delalat al-nas).
Qiyas al-shabah: Analogy on the basis of attributes that cannot qualify as underlying
causes in the strict form of qiyas al-‘illah. A form of analogy that is more flexible than
qiyas. It is used by judges in the positive law systems.
Qubh: Evil. See husn. Pertains to questions of natural law and reason, that is, whether
reason can discover good or evil independently of the Shari‘ah.
Qur‘an: The final revelation of Gods will to the Prophet Muhammad conveyed in
Arabic and related to his companions, memorised verbatim and publicly and
continuously recited by them and their descendents to present time.
Quraysh: The tribe of the Prophet.
RAA: Radiya Allahu ‘anhu/‘anha (or ‘anhum). May Allah be pleased with him/ her (or
them). Said whenever a companion of the Prophet is mentioned by name.
RA‘A: Rahmatu Allahi ‘alayh (or ‘alayhim): May Allahs mercy fall upon him/her (or
them). Said whenever the departed Muslims name is mentioned.
Rabb al-ard: Owner of land.
Rabb al-mal: Investor; owner of capital.
Radd bi al-‘ayb: Return of goods after a sale due to defects in the goods.
Rafidites, or rejectionists: A sect of Shi‘ites who approve the practice of defaming the
companions. They were first referred to as Rafidites (Arabic, Rawafid), because they
rejected their imam, Zayd ibn `Ali when he forbid themto insult Abu Bakr and ‘Umar
ibn al-Khattab.
Rafidi‘: Rejectionist; A person who loves the Prophet and the household of ‘Ali ibn
Talib but does not accept the caliphate of Abu Bakr, ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab. An extremist
Shi‘a position.
Rahn: Pledge; mortagage.
Rai‘: Opinion, reason. Personal opinion; judge made law. A term used for the method
of the Hanafis by the ahl al-hadith.
Rajm: Stoning to death for the offence of unlawful sexual intercourse by a married or
once married person.
Rak‘ah: Literally, bowing; The rak‘ah is a unit of prayer, the number of rak‘ah
performed varies from one salah to another.
Ra‘s al-mal: Capital; principal amount invested.
Rashid: One who possess rushd, discretion.
Rawdah: The part of the Prophets mosque between his grave and the minbar.
Riba: Usury; Interest on the value of money or commodity borrowed or used. The
unjustified or uncompensated excess in the exchange of two counter-values in a
transaction of exchange when the excess is revealed either through weight or measure or
through benefits arising from delayed delivery.
Riddah: Apostasy; Abjuration of allegiance to Allah as well as the Islamic state to
which one is a citizen.
Riqq: Slavery.
Riwaya: A reading or transmission of the Qur‘an or another text.
Ruh: The spirit that gives life; the angel Gabriel.
Ruju‘: Retraction of confession, divorce and the like.
Rukhsah: Exemption. See ‘azimah.
Rukn: Element; ingredient. An essential element of an act without which the act cannot
be said to be valid.
Rushd: Discretion; maturity.
Sa‘: A measure or volume equal in four mudds.
Sabab: Cause.
Sabi: Minor who has not reached the age of puberty.
Sabi ghayr mumayyiz: The discriminating minor. Such a minor may be allowed to
enter into beneficial transactions by his guardians.
Sabi mumayyiz: The discriminating minor. Such a minor may be allowed to enter into
beneficial transactions by his guardian.
Sadaqah: Charity; also used for zakah.
Sadaqah al-fitr: The poor due payable before the ‘id al-fitr.
Sadd al-dhari‘ah: The plugging of lawful means to an unlawful end.
Safah: Prodigality.
Safih: Prodigal.
Sahih: Sound, usually in reference to hadith. The two most reliable collections of hadith
by al-Bukhari and Muslim are both called Sahih, along with al-Tirmidhi, al-Nasa‘i and
Ibn Majah.
Sa‘imah: Freely pasturing animals.
Sakinah: The presence of Allah sometimes made clear by a sign, also the feeling of
peace of mind and security.
Salaf: The early years, used generally to describe the early generations of the Muslims,
particularly the companions of the Messenger of Allah.
Salah: The ritual prayer of the Muslims.
Salatul Tarawih: Literally the ´prayer of pauses´. Extra prayers undertaken on a
voluntary basis during the nights of the month of fasting, Ramadan.
Salam: Contract in which an advance payment is made for a delayed delivery of goods.
Salih: pl. Salihoon; A spiritually developed man.
Saltanah: State.
Samawiyah: Natural; pertaining to the heavens.
Sanad: The evidence relied upon. The sanad of jima‘.
Sarf: Contract for the exchange of gold, silver and currencies whether the currency or
commodity exchanged is the same from both sides or is different, that is, whether dinars
are exchanged with dinars or dinars are exchanged with dirhams.
Sariqah: Theft.
Sawiq: A mush made of wheat and barley.
Sawm: Abstaining from any eating, drinking, smoking or sexual activity from dawn to
sunset, every day of the month of Ramadan. Fasting can also be voluntary.
Shabah: Similarity.
Shadhdh: One of the rarer readings of the Qur‘an, they are authentic but only have
consensus and not by multiple transmission.
Shahadah: Literally; to witness, to bear witness that there is no god worthy of worship
but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.
Shahadat al-asl: The support of a specific text for a rule or general principle.
Shakhsiyah i‘itbariyah: Juristic person; artificial personality; corporate personality.
Sham: The region of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine.
Shari‘ah: Literally a road; It is the legal modality of a people based on the revelation of
their Prophet. The last shari‘ah in history is that of Islam. It abrogates all previous
shari‘ahs.
Sharik: Partner.
Sharikah: Partnership; In Egyptian law the term is used for joint stock companies and
corporations as well, but is qualified with an adjective to indicate its nature: thus,
sharikah musahamah for a public limited company or a corporation whose capital has
been subscribed to by the general public.
Sharikat al-abdan: Another name for sharikat al-‘amal.
Sharikah ‘ammah: general partnership; a partnership in which each partner is a general
attorney for other partners; a partnership that permits trading in all types of goods.
Sharikat ‘amal: Partnership in which participation by the partners is based on labour or
skill, but the partnership has to be of the type ‘ìnan or mufawadah.
Sharikat al-amwal: A partnership in which participation is based on the contribution of
wealth by all partners, but the partnership has to be the type ‘inan or mufawadah.
Sharikat al-‘aqd: A partnership created through contract as opposed to co-ownership
that may be the result of a joint purchase or agreement or it may result from some other
legal situation
Sharikat dhat al-mas‘uliyah al-mahdudah: The name for a private limited company
in Egyptian law.
Sharikat al-dhimam: A term used by Malikis to indicate a situation where two or more
persons are buying goods on credit – it is different from the Hanafi sharikat al-wujuh
insofar as it requires the physical presence of all partners at the time of purchase.
Sharikat al-ibahah: A common right of individuals to gather, possess and own free
commodities.
Sharikat al-‘inan: A basic contract of partnership based on agency in which
participation may either be on the basis of wealth or labour or credit-worthiness, and in
which equality of contribution or legal capacity is not necessary.
Sharikat al-jabr: Mandatory co-ownership created by an act of law, like inheritance.
Sharikah khassah: Special partnership; partnership for a special venture or for trading
in a particular item; partnership in which each partner is a special attorney for the other
partners.
Sharikat al-mal: See sharikat al-amwal.
Sharikat al-mafalis: A partnership between persons whose assets have been reduced to
copper coins and who have to buy on basis of credit worthiness; see sharikat al-wujuh.
Sharikat al-milk: Co-ownership.
Sharikah Musahamah: In Egyptian law it is the name for corporation or for the public
limited company.
Sharikat al-sana‘i: Partnership between artisans; a form of sharikat al-a‘mal.
Sharikat al-taqabbul: Partnership for the acceptance of work, which is the same thing
as partnership based on labour or skill.
Sharikat al-wujuh: Partnership based on credit worthiness of the partners in which the
ratio of profit and loss is based on the liability borne, but the partnership has to be the
type `inan or muwafadah.
Shart: Condition.
Shawkah: Power. The doctrine of power recognised by al-Ghazali in Islamic political
theory as means for gauging divergent opinions.
Shaytan: pl. shayatin; A devil, particularly Iblis.
Shiqaq: Discord, schism, breach.
Shira‘ bi al-nasi‘ah: Credit purchase.
Shirk: The unforgivable wrong action of worshipping something other than Allah or
associating something with Him.
Shirkah: Another form of the term sharikah.
Shubhah: Doubt.
Shubhah fi al-dalil: The doubt in the mind of the subject as to the controlling evidence
of the law.
Shubhat al-milk: The benefit of doubt given to the accused when there is a likelihood
of confusion about his valid ownership of the subject matter of the offence.
Shuf‘ah: Preemption.
Shura‘h: Decision making through consultation or the consultative/representational
form of government in time/space ordered by Allah and practiced by the Prophet and al
khulafa al-rashidin after him.
Shurb: Drinking.
Shurb al-khamr: The offence of drinking wine.
Shurut: Conditions; the name given to the art of conveyancing in Islamic law.
.
Sighah: Form of the contract.
Sihhah: Validity.
Sijjil: Record of depositions.
Sirah: Biography of the Prophet.
Sirat: The narrow bridge which must be crossed to enter the Garden.
Siwak: Tooth stick from ‘araq tree. It is sunnah to use it.
Siyar: The laws of war.
Siyasah ‘adilah: Just administration, when it conforms with the general principles of
the Shari‘ah.
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Siyasah shar‘iyah: The administration of justice by the state beyond the explicit law of
the shari‘ah.
Siyasah zalimah: Tyrannical administration of justice, that is, when it is not in
accordance with the general principles of the shari‘ah.
Subh: Morning; particularly the subh obligatory prayer, prayed between first light (fajr)
and the onset of sunrise.
Suffa: A veranda attached to the Prophets mosque in Madinah where poor Muslims
used to sleep.
Sultan: Ruler of a sultanate.
Sunan: Collections of hadith.
Sunnah: The precedents laid down by the Prophet to be followed as binding law. These
may be through statements, acts or approvals. The Sunnah is the second source of the
Shari‘ah after the Qur‘an. As such it may corroborate a ruling which originates in the
Qur‘an; it may consist of an explanation or clarification of the Qur‘an; or it may consist
of rulings on which the Qur‘an is silent.
Surah: A large unit of Qur‘an linked by thematic content, composed of ayats (verses).
There are 114 surahs in the Qur‘an.
SWT: Subhanahu wa ta‘ala; May He be praised and His transcendence affirmed. Said
when referring to Allah.
Ta‘abbud/ta‘abbudi: Meaning literally devotion or worship. Those commands or
rulings in Islamic law for which one cannot arrive at an explanation through human
reason, and for which there is no known basis or occasion. Examples of such rulings
include the number of ra‘kahs of the various ritual prayers, the prescribed punishments
for violations such as sexual misconduct and slander etc.
Tabaqat: The grades of the jurists.
Ta‘bi‘: pl. Tabi‘un; Literally the follower; a member of the first generation of Muslims
to follow the contemporaries of the Prophet.
Ta‘addi: Tort; negligent conduct; transgression.
Tabarru‘: Act of charity.
Ta‘dib: The act of disciplining akin to ta‘zir.
Tafsir: Commentary, exegesis of the Qur‘an.
Tafwid: Delegation.
Tahaddi: The challenge issued to people to bring something like the Qur‘an.
Tahqiq al-ma‘nat: The verification of the attributes of an established case in a new
case offered for examination. This process does not need a jurist. For example, a
beverage may be examined to see if it is an intoxicant. This may need a chemist or
pharmacist not a jurist.
Tahrim: Prohibition.
Tahsinat: The third category of purposes that are complementary to the first two
categories.
Tahsini: A purpose of the law placed in the third category where it acts as a
complementary interest.
Takhrij: Derivation; a methodology practiced by the faqih, and that is based upon
reasoning from principles.
Takhsis: Restriction, restriction of the meaning of the text.
Takhyir: Picking and choosing of opnions. The choice given to the wife with respect to
divorce.
Taklif: Obligation.
Taklifi: Obligation creating rule.
Talbiya: The calling of ´labbayk´, ´at your service´ on the hajj.
Talfiq: The construction of an opinion through bits and pieces extracted from various
opinions.
Ta‘lil: The process of identifying the basis (‘illah) for a given legal ruling, and/or the
situation out of which a ruling arose.
Ta‘lil ahkam: Rationalization of the legal verdicts in Shari‘ah.
Tamlik: The transfer of the right to divorce to the wife.
Tamr: Dates.
Tamyiz: Discretion; sense of discriminating between right and wrong evident in the
behaviour of a minor.
Taqabbul al-‘amal: Acceptance of work by either partner in a partnership based on
labour.
Taqlid: Uncritical adoption or imitation of a particular scholar or school of thought.
Taqwa: Consciousness of God.
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Targhib: Inducement.
Tarjih: Preference of one evidence over another.
Tasarrufat: The general propositions of the law. This is the way al-Ghazali has used
this term.
Tasawwuf: Sufism.
Taslim: Giving the greeting ´peace be with you´. Prayer ends in taslim.
Tawaf: Circling the Kaba‘ah, tawaf is done in sets of seven circuits.
Tawassu‘: Facility.
Tawassu‘ wa taysir: Facility and ease.
Tawatur or tawatur al-khabr: The report of an event by a group of people of
individuals sufficiently large and disparate that it would be impossible for them to have
concluded in falsification.
Tawhid: Unization of God. The act of affirming that God is One, the absolute
transcendent Creator, the Lord and Master of all that is. Traditionally and simply
expressed, tawhid is the conviction and witnessing that ´there is no god but God´.
Tawhid is the essence of Islam. It is also that which gives Islamic civilization its
identity, which binds all its constituents together and thus makes them an integral,
organic body which we call civilization.
Tawkil: Delegation of powers.
Ta‘wil: Interpretation or explanation; Sometimes used synonymously with tafsir. Often
used in the Qur‘an in the sense of the ´final meaning´, inner meaning´ or ´real meaning´
of a happening or statement or thing as distinct from its outward appearance. Absolute
knowledge of what a thing or event applies rests with God alone.
Tawliyah: Sale as a discount.
Tawqit: Limiting duration of contract or another legal act.
Tayammum: Waterless ablution. The practice of wiping the face and hands with clean
earth, dust or sand and with the intention of achieving ritual purity.
Ta‘yin: Ascertainment of the goods sold through weight or measure.
Taysir: Ease.
Tayyib: All things good and pure.
Ta‘zir: Discretionary penalties. Some jurists consider ta‘zir penalties to apply to genus
of those crimes for which hadd penalties have been prescribed, but where hadd cannot
be applied for want of required evidence or fulfilment of conditions. Jurists in the
present times give a wider scopeto ta‘zir and consider it to apply to all punishments
other than hudud and qisas.
Tazkiyah: Purification.
Thawab: Reward for the Hereafter.
Tijariyah dirahim: Currency accepted by the traders as valid for commercial
transactions amongst them although it did not meet the conditions laid down for
currency.
Tijarah: trade; business.
‘Udwan: Aggression.
‘Ulama: See ‘Alim.
‘Ulu al-amr: Those in authority.
Umm al-Mu‘mineen: Literally ´mother of the believers´; an honorary title given to the
wives of the Prophet.
Umm al-Qur‘an: Literally ´the mother of the Qur‘an´, the opening surah of the Qur‘an,
al fatihah. Also said to be its source in the Unseen.
Umm walad: A slavegirl who has born her master a child. She cannot be sold and
becomes free when her master dies.
Ummah: The Muslim nation. Also the community as identified by its ideology, law,
religion, its group consciousness, ethics and morals, culture and art.
‘Umra: The lesser pilgrimage. It can be performed at any time of the year.
‘Umran: Building of civilization.
‘Urbun: Earnest money.
‘Urf: Custom, usage. The usage during the period of the Prophet, which helps in
discovering the original intent of the Lawgiver.
‘Urud: Property that includes goods, slaves and even real estate.
‘Ushr: Ten percent tax on produce of unirrigated land.
Usul: Principles, sources, origins.
Usul al-fiqh: Legal theory; systems of interpretation; sources of Islamic law.
Usul kulliyah: General principles.
Usulis: Legal specialists dealing with the principles of interpretation.
Usiliyin: Derogatorily rendered as ´fundamentalists´ and wrongly as ´puritans´, the
correct word is ´purist´ as it refers to those who insist on adhering to the traditional
interpretations of the Qur‘an and Sunnah and thus are not prone to engage in ijtihad.
‘Utbiyya al: A book attributed to Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Abdul Aziz ibn Utba al-
Umawi al-Qurtubi, the faqih, one of the leading imams of Andalucia.
Wadi‘: Declaratory.
Wajib: The law or deed which is obligatory.
Wahi: Revelation.
Wakalah: Agency.
Wakalah ‘ammah: General attorney.
Wakil: Agent; attorney.
Wali: Guardian.
Waqf: Trust; endowment. Charitable endowment or trust set up in perprtuity.
Wasf: Attribute, potential underlying cause.
Wasifiyah: Bequest.
Wilayat: The jurisdiction of the ruler.
Wilayah: Guardianship; authority. Friendship, in particular with Allah.
Wilayat al-istidanah: Authority granted by one partner to another to buy credit beyond
the limit of the capital of the partnership.
Wudu‘: Ritual ablution. Purification that must precede salah and such acts such as
reading the Qur‘an.
Wujub: Obligation.
Yad: Hand; arm; forearm.
Yadribuna fe al-ard: Journeying through the earth seeking the bounty of Allah.
Yamin: Oath.
Zabib: Raisins.
Zabur: The psalms of David.
Zahir: The apparent or literal meaning.
Zahiriyyah: A literalist Islamic legal school, founded in 9th century Iraq by Daud
Khalaf and later championed by Ibn Hazm, which insists on strict adherence to the
literal or apparent meaning (zahir) of the Qur‘an and hadith as the only source of
Muslim law.
Zalimah: Tyrannical.
Zakah: A wealth tax. Usually rendered as the ´poor tax´ or legal charity. Zakah is the
public welfare tax that must be paid by all Muslims whose wealth and/or income is
above a certain minimum. An individuals wealth can be in form of cash, commodities,
livestock, agricultural goods and other items. It is one of the arkan (indispensable
pillars) of Islam. Zakah al-fitr is another kind of obligatory dues a Muslim gives at the
end of fasting of Ramadan, shortly before the celebration of the festival of ‘Id al-fitr,
which signifies the fasts completion.
Zamzam: the well in the haram of Makkah.
Zanni: Probable.
Zar‘: Seed; crop to be sown.
Zihar: Injurious assimilation (of wife to mother), that is, refraining from sexual
intercourse with wife after saying to her ¨You are for me like the back of my mother¨.
Zina: Unlawful sexual intercourse including adultery.
Zindiq: A term used to describe a heretic whose teaching is a danger to the state. The
term is derived from the pre-Islamic Persian Sasanid code.
Zunnar: A special belt worn by non-Muslims.
Glossary of Islamic personalities
Abu Hanifa: A second Islamic century jurist and the founder of the first school of fiqh.
Abu ‘Ubaydah: A general who lead the Muslim armies in the conquest of the
Byzantine empire during the reign of the first caliph Abu Bakr.
Abu Yusuf: A jurist who served a chief judge during the of the third Abbasid caliph.
Al-Tabari: A Muslim historian who wrote the first voluminous work describing early
Muslim history.
Ja‘far ibn Abu Talib: Acompanion of the Prophet, migrated to Abbyssinia.
Malik: Malik ibn Anas is a Muslim jurist and the founder of one of the four main
schools of fiqh.
Mawardi: A Muslim jurist who lived in the forth Islamic century during the Abbasid
Caliphate.
Muhammad ibn al-Hassan: A leading Muslim jurist in the Hanafi school of fiqh.
Najashi: The king of Abbyssinia during the time of the Prophet. He was sympathetic to
the Muslims and provided protection to Muslims who sought refuge in his kingdom.
Sarakhsi: A Muslim jurist of the Hanafi school.
Shafi‘i: A leading Muslim jurist and the founder of the second school of fiqh in the
sunni branch of Islam.
Suraqah ibn ‘Amr: A member of the Quraysh who attempted to capture the Prophet
during his journey of immigration from Makkah to Madina. He later embraced Islam
and fought with the Muslim armies that conquered Persia.
