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Word	Meanings
Aakhira	Life in the Hereafter.
Aaqilah	Mutual Help, which was an arrangement of mutual help or indemnification customary in some tribes at the time of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). This is a foundation doctrine based on which Islamic insurance practices, known as Takaful, have been developed.
Adl	(1) Justice.
	(2) A general term which conveys the meaning of justice, equity and fairness.
Ahadith	Plural of Hadith, traditions of the holy Prophet of Islam describing his utterances, actions, instructions and actions of others (Companions) tacitly approved by him.
Ahad	One. Inherently one (God).
Ahd	Generally, a unilateral promise or an undertaking, although sometimes it also covers a bilateral obligation.
Ahkam	Pl. of Hukum.
Ain	Determinate property; property that is not Dayn; generally the commodities of material value in themselves; pl. Aayan.
Ajr	A payment or compensation such as commission, fees or wages charged for services.
Ajr al Mithl	Rent or wage to be decided by a judge or arbitrator.
Ajr al Musammah	Agreed rent or wage in Ijarah or Ujrah contracts.
Ajr un Kareem	A generous reward.
Akhlaq	(1) Matters for disciplining one’s self regarding relationships with others.
	(2) Ethical code
Al Adl	(See Adl.)
Al Ghurm bil Ghurm	Earning profit is legitimized only by risk-sharing and engaging in an economic venture. This provides the rationale and the principle of profit-sharing in Shirkah arrangements. Al Kharaj bil Daman has similar meaning: one can claim profit only if one is ready to take liability – to bear the business risk, if any.
	The principle that one is entitled to a gain only if one agrees to bear the responsibility for the loss. Earning profit is legitimised only by risk-sharing and engaging in an economic venture. This provides the rationale and the principle of profit-sharing in Shirkah(partnership) arrangements.
Al Kali bil Kali	Exchange of two things, both delayed, or exchange of delayed counter value for another delayed counter value – also termed Bai‘ al-Dayn bid-Dayn.
Al Ajr	(1) A commission, fees or wages levied for services.
	(2) Commission, fees or wages charged for services rendered or work done.
	(3) (See Ajr.)
Al Bai	(See Bai.)
Al Hisbah	The institution of ombudsman, a social regulatory body empowered to check imbalances in the market for the purpose of re-establishing a better semblance of market-driven exchanges in the light of the principles of justice.
Al Ihsan	(See Ihsan.)
Al Ijarah Thumma al Bai	An ijarah (leasing) contract combined with a bai (purchase) contract
Alim	(1) One who knows. (See Ulama.)
	(2) Learned man or religious scholar.
Al Kharaj bil Daman	Link of exposure to risk, one can claim profit only if one is ready to bear the business risk, if any. The principle in Islamic jurisprudence that entitlement to return or yield ( al-kharaj) is for the one who bears the liability ( daman) for something, say an asset, and one who does not bear the liability has no claim to the yield.
Allah	The name for God in Islam.  It is used by Arabic-speakers of all Abrahamic  faiths, including Christians and Jews. The concept of Allah, is the only real supreme being, all-powerful and all knowing Creator, Sustainer, Ordainer, and Judge of the universe. There is no plural, masculine or feminine form of this word in Arabic. This denotes the One True God, the Almighty Creator, Who is neither male nor female . Islam puts a great emphasis on the conceptualisation of God as strictly singular ( tawhid). God is unique (wahid) and inherently one ( ahad), all-merciful and omnipotent. Islam teaches that Allah is the same God worshiped by the members of other Abrahamic religions such as Christianity and Judaism.
Al Mal	(See Mal.)
Al Quran	(See Qur'an.)
Al Rahn	(See Rihn.)
Al Rahn	An arrangement where an asset is used as collateral for a debt, similar to pawn broking. In default, the asset can be sold to repay the debt.
Al Sar al Adl	The just price.
Al Sarf	(1) Sale of monetary value for monetary value – currency exchange. In Islamic law such exchange is regarded as “sale of price for price”, and each price is a consideration of the other; has to be simultaneously paid.
	(2) (See Sarf.)
Al Ujrah	Fee for safekeeping assets
Al Wadi‘ah	(1) A basis for safe-keeping of deposits (Am¯anah) on which no profit can be sought.
	(2) Resale of goods at a discount to the original cost.
	(3) Safekeeping.
	(4) (See Wadiah.)
Al Wakala	(1) Absolute power of attorney.
	(2) (See Wakalah.)
Al Wakala al Mutlaqa	Absolute power of attorney.
Amal salih	Virtuous act
Amanah	(1) Trust
	(2) Reliability or trustworthiness, an important value of Islamic society in mutual dealings. It also refers to deposits in trust. A person may hold property in trust for another, sometimes by implication of a contract.
	(3) Refers to deposit in trust. A person can hold a property in trust for another, sometimes by express contract and sometimes by implication of a contract. It entails the absence of liability for loss, except in breach of duty. Current accounts are regarded as Am¯abnah. If the bank gets authority to use current account funds in its business, Am¯anah transforms into a loan. As every loan has to be repaid, banks are liable to repay the full amounts of the current accounts, irrespective of their loss or profit.
	(4) Reliability, trustworthiness, loyalty, honesty. Technically, an important value of Islamic society in mutual dealings; it also refers to deposits in trust. A person may hold property in trust for another, it entails the absence of any liability for loss, except for breach of duty. By extension, the term can also be used to describe different financial or commercial activities such as deposit taking, custody or goods on consignment. Deposits in current accounts (usually non-interest bearing) with Islamic banks are regarded as Amanah. If the bank obtains authority to use the funds in the current accounts to invest in its business,Amanah transforms into a loan from the depositor to the bank and the bank is liable to repay the full amount in the current account, irrespective of profit or loss made by the bank.
Ameen	(1) Trustworthy, trustee – safeguarding others’ entrusted property as if it was his own; not liable in case of any damage to the trust property without any negligence on his part.
	(2) (See Amin.)
Amil	Lit. it means worker. One who performs a task, an agent. One who deserves compensation for performing a task, such as the mudarib (manager) in a mudarabah contract or a zakat collector.However, inFiqh it also refers to the working partner inmudarabah contract. Under this contract, one partner provides the capital and the other provides the labour who is called amilor mudarib.
Amin	One who holds honestly the trusts of other people; trustworthy.
Amwal	Pl. Mal; which means worldly possessions including both property and money (wealth).
Aqaid	Matters of belief and worship – rituals pertaining to the relationship between man and God.
Aqd	(1) Agreements
	(2) Lexically, conjunction or to tie; legally, synonymous with the word “contract” in modern law.
	(3) Contract, Agreement, Bond. Synonymous with the word "contract" in modern law.
Aqd Batil	(1) A void or invalid contract – one which does not fulfil the conditions relating to offer and acceptance, subject matter or the consideration and possession or delivery of the subject matter or involves some illegal external attributes like the involvement of Riba, Gharar or Qimar.
	(2) (See Batil.)
Aqd Ghair Lazim	(1) A contract in which any of the parties has a right to revoke it without the consent of the other.
	(2) A contract in which any one of the parties has a unilateral right to revoke it with the consent of the other(s).
Aqd Lazim	(1) A contract in which none of the parties has a unilateral right to revoke (without the consent of the other).
	(2) A contract in which none of the parties has a unilateral right to revoke it without the consent of the other(s).
Aqd Tabarru	(See Tabarru.)
Aqd al Bay	A contract of sale.
Aqd al Ijara	(See Ijarah.)
Aqd al Muawadah	A contract of exchange in which compensation is given against the goods or services received.
Aqd al Musharakah	(See Musharakah.)
Aqd al Qard	A loan contract. Also known as Qard.
Aqd al Wadia	(See Wadia.)
Aqidah	Belief, faith, creed
Aqilah	Kin or persons of relationship who share responsibility.
Aql	Intellectual reasoning, one of the sources of Shari’a rulings (see also: ijtihad)
Aquila	Mutual agreement or joint guarantee to spread the financial liability or risk of a member
Arboon	(See Arbun.)
Arbun	(1) Downpayment; an amount taken from the buyer as part of the price after execution of the sale agreement; the seller has the option to confiscate it if the buyer backs out and does not complete the purchase process.
	(2) A non-refundable deposit to secure the right to cancel or proceed with a sale during a certain period of time.
	(3) A non-refundable down payment or deposit paid by a buyer for the right to purchase goods at a certain time and certain price in future; if the right is exercised, it becomes part of the purchase price. If the buyer does not complete the purchase or backs out for any reason, the seller has the option to forfeit the deposit. Also known as Urboun and Bai al-Arbun. Also see Hamish Jiddiyah.
	(4) Gratuitous loan of objects. It means the loan of a particular piece of property, the substance of which is not consumed by its use, without anything taken in exchange. In other words, it is the gift of usufruct of a commodity that is not consumed on use. It is different from Qard, which is the loan of fungible objects which are consumed on use and in which the similar and not the same commodity has to be returned. It is also a virtuous act like Qard. The borrowed commodity is treated as a liability of the borrower, who is bound to return it to its owner.
Ariya	Loan, which means to give any non-fungible commodity to another for use, without taking any return for its use.
Assets	Anything of value which may be tangible or intangibe. Any interest in real or personal property which can be appropriated for the payment of debt.
Athman	Plural of Thaman – monetary units – medium of exchange used for payment of prices and liabilities.
Awqaf	(1) Pl. Waqf, meaning trust. (see Waqf.)
	(2) Religious endowments.
Ayah	(1) Verses in sura (sing. ayat)
	(2) A verse or passage in the Qur'an.
	(3) (See Ayat.)
Ayatollah	Honorific title given to leading Shia clerics in Iran. (Lit.sign of God).
Ayn	Monetary wealth. A tangible (physical) asset. Also, refers to currency or ready money. Ayn is often contrasted with Dayn.

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