Glossary
Adl: justice, adàlah ijtima"iyyah: social justice. The principle of social justice is
central to Islam.
Aœàdìth (singular Hˆadìth): documented sayings of the teachings of the Prophet
Muhˆammad transmitted through a chain of informants, a process known as isnad,
where each informant was reporting the saying as being heard from a previous
informant by name until all sayings were traced to the first informant who reported
hearing, or seeing, the Prophet said, or did, what was reported.
Ahl-al-Œadìth: the People of Œadìth. A school of religious thought that relied heav-
ily on the Ahˆàdìth in reaching a religious judgment more so than on juristic
preference, istihˆsàn, or analogical reasoning, qiyàs. The school of thought of Ahl-
al-Hˆadìth flourished in Makkah and al-Medìnah.
Ahl al-Ra"y:the People of the Opinion. A school of religious thought that relied
mainly on the opinion of the jurist in reaching a decision in relation to matters
that did not exist during the Prophet’s time or if existed were not on the same
scale, guided by the public interest of the Muslim community. The school widened
the concept of juristic preference, istiœsàn, and analogical reasoning, qiyàs, with
relatively less reliance on Hadiths. The school was influential in Kufa in al-Iraq.
Amànah (theological meaning):free-will and responsibility. The Qur"àn states
with reference to human beings, “We offered Our trust, al-amànah, to the heav-
ens, to the earth and to the mountains, but they declined to bear it for fear of
its burden. But man assumed it”, (Qur"àn, 33:72), and “Have We not given him
two eyes, a tongue, and two lips, and shown him the two paths?”, (Qur"àn,
90:8–10).
Amànah (financial meaning): money or other assets entrusted to someone or
the bank for safe-keeping.
Bai"Bithaman Ajil (BBA): credit sale at a price of deferred payment. A contract
that refers to the sale, or purchase, transaction for a deferred or on installment
payment with a pre-agreed payment period and a pre-determined price which
includes a profit margin. It is used for the financing of assets.
Bai"al-Dayn: sale of a debt. A transaction that involves the sale and purchase of
loan securities or debt certificates that conforms with Sharì"ah. Loan securitiesor
debt certificates will be issued by a debtor to a creditor as evidence of indebtedness.
Bai"al-Ghrar (plural, Buyu"al-Gharar):sale surrounded by ambiguity as a result
of lack of information. Future contracts when the quantity is not determined is
an example. Thus it is what is called “sale of the uncertain”, or “Buyu"al-
Gharar”, which is condemned by the Prophet.
Bai"al-'Innah (Bai"al-Muœtaj): sale of the financially distressed. A contract, which
involves the sale and buy back transaction of assets by a seller. A seller will sell
the asset to a buyer on a cash basis. The seller will later buy back the same
asset on a deferred payment basis where the price is higher than the cash price.
It can also be applied when a seller sells an asset to a buyer on a deferred basis.
A seller will later buy back the same asset on a cash basis at a price, which is