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Word	Meanings
Sa‘a	A measure that was used for exchanging/trading grains.
Sadaqa	(1) Charitable giving.
	(2) Pious work of charity.
	(3) Charitable giving. An act of charity.
Sadaqa Jariyah	An act of charity with perennial benefits.
Sadd az Zarai	(1) Prohibition of a deed which, if permitted, may lead to another prohibited deed.
	(2) To prohibit a transaction on the grounds of blocking the means to an illicit end.
Sahabah	Companions of the holy Prophet of Islam – the people who saw the holy Prophet while being firm believers (Muslims).
Sahih	Valid, said of a contract. (Opp. Batil.)
Sahih Contract	Valid contract
Salaf	(1) Lit. The ‘pious ancestors’, usually includes the Prophet Mohammed and the first four ‘rightly guided’ caliphs.
	(2) In a wider sense, it refers to a loan which draws forth no profit for the creditor and is slightly different from Qard in that an amount given as Salaf cannot be called back before it is due; it includes loans for specified periods, i.e. short, intermediate and long-term loans. See Qard.
	(3) Used in two senses: (i) literally, payment in advance; a loan which draws forth no profit for the creditor; it includes loans for specified periods, i.e. short, intermediate and long-term loans; slightly different from Qard – an amount given as Salaf cannot be called back, unlike Qard, before it is due. Also, another name of Salam – forward sale; (ii) Forebears – jurists and scholars of early periods of Islam.
Salah	(See Salat.)
Salam	(1) Deferred sale
	(2) Advance purchase.
	(3) Submission or peace
	(4) A forward sale where the full price of the goods is paid in advance at the time of contract; the goods are not available for immediate delivery but can be delivered at a specified time in the future. In other words, advance purchase or a type of sale in which the full price of the goods is paid in advance and the goods are delivered later at a specified date in the future. It is similar to a modern forward sale contract. Under Shari'ah, a sale cannot normally be effected unless the goods are in existence at the time of the contract. However, this type of sale is an exception provided the goods are defined and the time of delivery is fixed. The exception was practiced in the early days of Islam to meet the needs of the small farmers in Arabia who required money to grow their crops and to feed their family until the time the crop could be harvested and sold; owing to the prohibition of riba they could not borrow money on interest; they were allowed to sell the agricultural produce in advance of cultivation for delivery later and take payment in advance. The object of the sale must be tangible goods that can be defined as to quantity, quality and workmanship. The mode of financing is often applied in the agricultural sector, where Islamic bank advances money without interest for various inputs and in exchange receives a share of the produce, which it then sells after delivery. To hedge against fall in prices, the bank can also sell the goods to a third party before delivery through a parallel contract of Salam. Salam covers all tangible goods which are capable of being definitely described as to quantity, quality and workmanship.
Salat	(1) Prayer.
	(2) Obligatory prayers said five times a day, practiced by Muslims in supplication to Allah swt.
Sallalahu Alayhi Wassalam	Abbreviated as S.A.W. meaning "peace and blessing of God upon him" with reference to Prophet Muhammad. More frequent term used is pbuh.
Sanadat	Certificates of investment – another name for Sukuk.
Sarf	Contract in which both exchange items are gold, silver or any monetary units.
	Currency exchange. In pre-Islamic times it was exchange of gold for gold, silver for silver and gold for silver or vice versa. In Islamic jurisprudence such exchange is regarded as ‘sale of price for price' (Bai al Thaman bil Thaman), and each price is consideration of the other. It also means sale of monetary value for monetary value in currency exchange, such as buying and selling of currencies.
Saw´am bi Sawaa	Equal for equal (in exchange transactions).
Security	A pledge made to secure the performance of a contract or the fulfillment of an obligation. Examples of securities include real estate, equipment stocks or a co-signer. Mortgages are a form of security with strong legal standing, because they are publicly registered following a formal legal procedure. A mortgage gives the lender holding a mortgage security the right to reclaim the asset being financed, if repayment is not made.
Senior Debt	Debt that must be repaid before a subordinated debt receives any payment in the event of default.
Shafi'is	One of the four well-known schools of thought in Islamic jurisprudence or religious law engaged in the interpretation of theQur’an and Sunnah. Founded by one of the classical jurists, Imam Abdullah Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafi'i (d. 804 AD), followers are known as Shafis. Others are Hanbalis,Hanafis and Malikis. The Shafi'i school is considered the easiest school in terms of social and personal rules. Zahiri is another known school developed by Daud ibn Khalaf (d. 883 AD).
Shafis	(See Shafi'is)
Shahada	Proclamation of faith.
Shariah	(1) Islamic law.
	(2) Islamic principles or law
	(3) Islamic religious law derived from the Holy Qur’an and the sunna.
	(4) Divine guidance as given by the Holy Qur’¯an and the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh); embodies all aspects of the Islamic faith, including beliefs and practice.
	(5) Islamic law derived from three primary sources: the Quran; the Hadith (sayings of the ProphetMohammed); andtheSunnah(practiceandtraditions of the Prophet Mohammed), and three secondary sources: qiyas (analogical deductions and reasoning), ijma (consensus of Islamic scholars) and ijtihad (legal reasoning).
	(6) Often referred to as Islamic law. Shari'ah as a legal case did not exist at the time theQur'an was revealed. It is a system that is all too often misunderstood and misinterpreted in the West. Refers to the rulings contained in and derived from The Quran and the Sunnah (sayings and living example of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). These cover every action performed by an individual or a society.  It is primarily concerned with a set of values that are essential to Islam and the best manner of their protection. The essential values of the Shari'ah include those of faith, life, intellect, lineage, property, protection of honour, fulfillment of contracts, preservation of ties of kinship, honouring the rights of one’s neighbour in so far as the affairs of this world are concerned, and the love of God, sincerity, trustworthiness and moral purity, in relationship to the hereafter.
Shariah Advisor	An independent Islamic scholars who advises Islamic financial institutions, providing guidance and supervision in the development of Shari'ah compliant products and maintaining Shari'ah compliant operations. Usually a classically trained Islamic legal scholar. While some Islamic financial institutions consult individual Shari'ah advisors, most establish a committee of Shari'ah advisors, often known as a Shari'ah Board or Shari'ah Supervisory Board. (See Shari'ah Scholar.)
Shariah Board	(See Shari'ah Supervisory Board. Also known as Shari’ah Supervisory Committee.)
Shariah Compliant	"Term used in Islamic finance to denote that a financial product or activity that complies with the requirements of the Shari'ah, for example Shari'ah compliant financing orShari'ah compliant investment. Islamic finance derives its principles from the Shari'ah, which is based on the Qur’an and the Sunnah. The key defining characteristics in the application of Shari'ah to financing structures are that transactions should be based on tangible assets, and should not bear interest ( riba). The generation of profit is very much encouraged, and many commentators also identify risk sharing as being one of the quintessential features of any Islamic financing. Shari'ah principles also forbid uncertainty ( gharar), speculation or excessive uncertainty ( maysir) and gambling ( qimar), and well as activities in certain prohibited areas.
Shariah Scholar	Islamic Shari'ah scholars who are well-versed with the necessary knowledge and competencies in the Shari'ah and its approaches to economic and financial issues.
Shariah Supervisory Board	The committee of Islamic scholars available toanIslamic financial institution for guidance and supervision on religious interpretation and application in the development of Shari’a-compliant products.
Shariah Supervisory Board	An authority, usually a committee of Islamic scholars well-versed and competent inShari'ah and its approaches to economics and finance, appointed by an Islamic financial institution, which supervises and ensures both the Shari’ah compliance of new product development and the operations.
Sharikah al Mufawadah	A partnership among the equal partners. Unlimited partnership.
Sharikah al Wujuh	A partnership on the basis of credibility.
Sharikah as Sanai	Same as Sharikah-al-Abdan.
Shart e Jazai	Aclause that a purchaser can put into an Istisna‘a agreement whereby the price of the item being manufactured would decrease in the case of a delay in delivery by the seller/manufacturer whereby the delay benefits the purchaser – unlike all other modes in which any penalty imposed due to default or delay in payment of liabilities goes to the charity account and not to the banks’ P & L accounts.
Shirka	(1) Society or partnership.
	(2) A contract between two or more persons who launch a business or financial enterprise to make profit. Shirka = musharaka.
	(3) Sharing, partner. A contract between two or more persons who launch a business or financial enterprise to make profit. In the present Islamic banking and finance terminology, Shirkah may include bothMudarabah and Musharakah and variois other Musharakah-like business and commercial partnerships.
	(4) Commingling by two or more people of their money or work or obligations to earn a profit or a yield or appreciation in value and to share the loss, if any, according to their proportionate ownership In the present Islamic banking terminology, it may include both Musharakah and Mudarabah and various kinds of Musharakah like business/commercial partnership, partnership by ownership and permanent or redeemable partnership.
	(5) (see musharaka.)
Shirkatul Aqd	(1) Commercial/business partnership – a contract between two or more people who launch a business or an enterprise to make profits.
	(2) A contract between two or more persons who launch a business or financial enterprise to make profit. Generally, it is termed as ‘shirkah’.
Shirkatul Milk	(1) Partnership by ownership or in the right of ownership; not for business.
	(2) Partnership by ownership, which could be automatic as in the case of inheritance by e.g. two brothers, or optional such as two persons purchasing a property jointly (not for commercial purpose).
Shuf‘ah	Pre-emptive right of a partner in a joint ownership or a neighbour in sale of landed properties.
Shura	Consultation by the ruler of the community notables.
Speculation	A a process that relies on the analysis of a lot of economic and financial data, companies' financial reports, political decisions, information about management skills and aptitude and the personal profile of the decision maker. Financiers would call this as financial planning, budgeting, or investing. Finance is concerned with risk reduction. Speculation involves risk-taking.
Subordinated Debt	Debt over which senior debt takes priority. In the event of bankruptcy, subordinated debt-holders receive payment only after senior debt is paid in full. A subordination of security interest in property allows another creditor to have the rights to the proceeds of the sale of that property before the claim of the subordinated creditor.
Suftaja	(1) An instrument in traditional Islamic finance used for cash transfer/payment which involved the act of depositing a certain amount of money with someone for settlement or to the benefit of the depositor or his representative at another place or in another country. A type of instrument used for the delegation of credit during the Muslim period, especially the Abbasides period. It was used to collect taxes, disburse government dues and transfer funds by merchants.
	(2) A banking instrument used for the delegation of credit and was used to collect taxes, disburse government dues and transfer funds by merchants. In some cases, suftajas were payable at a future fixed date and in other cases they were payable on sight. Suftaja is distinct from the modem bill of exchange in some respects. Firstly, a sum of money transferred by suftaja had to keep its identity and payment had to be made in the same currency; exchange of currencies could not take place in this case. Secondly, suftaja usually involved three persons; A pays a certain sum of money to B for agreeing to give an order to C, to pay back to A. Thirdly, suftajas can be endorsed.
	(3) A type of banking instrument used for the delegation of credit during the early Muslim period, especially the Abbasides period (749 to 1258 AD). It was used to collect taxes, disburse government dues and transfer funds by merchants and was commonly used by travelling merchants. It involved three parties: the payor, the payee and the transmitter.Suftajah could be payable on a future date or immediately. A suftajah held by one party could be endorsed to another party. The Arab merchants were using endorsements (hawalah) since the days of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). It differs from the modern bill of exchange in that a sum of money transferred by suftajah had to keep its identity and payment had to be made in the same currency.
	(4) (See Suftajah.)
Sukuk	(1) Islamic bonds (sing. Sakk)
	(2) Freely tradeable Islamic participation certificate based on the ownership and exchange of an approved asset.
	(3) Certificates of equal value representing undivided share in ownership of tangible assets of particular projects or specific investment activity, usufruct and services.
	(4) Equivalent to an asset-backed fixed income bond. A certificate entitling the holder to the benefits of the income stream of the assets backing the certificate. Sukuks can be listed and rated, though this is not necessary, depending on the target investor market. Sukuks are typically issued by corporate issuers, and some financial institutions, and also by governments.
	(5) A financial certificate. Similar characteristics to that of a conventional bond with the key difference being that they are assets backed; sukuk represent proportionate beneficial ownership in the underlying tangible asset(s) of particular projects or investment activity. Because the conventional interest-bearing bond structure is not permissible, the issuer of  sukuk sells an investor group the certificate, who then leases it back to the issuer for a predetermined return in the form of rental charges . The issuer also makes a contractual promise to buy back the bonds at a future date at par value. Sukuk must be able to link the returns and cash flows of the financing to the assets purchased, or returns generated from an asset purchased. This is because trading in debt is prohibited by theShari’ah; as such, financing must only be raised for identifiable assets.
Sukuk al Musyarakah	Investment sukuk
Sunna	(1) Commendable act
	(2) Sayings of the Prophet Muhammad
	(3) Practices and rulings deduced from the deeds, utterances and unspoken approvals of the Prophet and his companions.
	(4) Source of information concerning the practices of the Prophet Muhammad and his Companions, and is the second most authoritative source of Islamic law.
	(5) Lit. custom, habit or way of life. Technically, it refers to actions, sayings and utterances of the holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), or actions of others tacitly approved by him, as reported in the books of Hadith.
	(6) Lit: custom, habit or way of life. Commonly understood as the sayings and living example of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) as recorded in the books of Hadith.Sunnah is a legislative source along with The Qur’an; The Qur’an cannot be understood without the application of Sunnah.
Sura	(1) Chapters in Quran (sing. surat)
	(2) Chapter of the Holy Qur’an. There are 114 suras of varying length and in all references to the Holy Qur’an (for example 30:39) the first number refers to the sura and the second to the aya or verse.
SWT	It refers to " Subhanahu wa-ta'ala", an Islamic Arabic phrase meaning, "glorious and exalted is He ( Allah)." The phrase (often abbreviated to " swt") appears after the name of Allah in Islamic texts such as the Qur'anand the Hadith. Saying this phrase is seen as an act of reverence and devotion towardsAllah among Muslims

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