Occasional Paper # 3 (original) (raw)

GLOSSARY OF ARABIC TERMS Some of these terms have a much wider meaning. It is, however, not possible to encompass this in a glossary. Given below is only the sense in which these terms have been used in this paper. Bay' : Stands for sale and has been used here as a prefix in referring to the different sales-based modes of Islamic finance, like murābahah, ijārah, istisnā', and salam (q.v.). Fiqh : Refers to the whole corpus of Islamic jurisprudence. In contrast with conventional law, fiqh covers all aspects of life, religious, political, social or economic. In addition to religious observances like prayer, fasting, zakāt and pilgrimage, it also covers family law, inheritance, social and economic rights and obligations, commercial law, criminal law, constitutional law and international relations, including war. The whole corpus of fiqh is based primarily on interpretations of the Qur'an and the Sunnah and secondarily on ijmā' (consensus) and ijtihād (individual judgement). While the Qur'an and the Sunnah are immutable, fiqhi verdicts may change due to changing circumstances. Fuqahā' (singular, faqīh) : Jurists who give opinion on various juristic issues in the light of the Qur'an and the Sunnah and who have thereby led to the development of fiqh. Gharar : Literally means deception, danger, risk and uncertainty, but stands technically in the fiqh for exposing oneself to excessive risk and danger in a business transaction as a result of uncertainty about the price, the quality and the quantity of the counter-value, the date of delivery, and the ability of either the buyer or the seller to fulfill his or her commitment, thereby causing either of the two parties an undue loss.