Fiqh al-Qasama (فِقهُ القَسَامَةِ — Jurisprudence of the Collective Oath; *qasama* — a collective sworn testimony; the legal mechanism for resolving cases of murder where there is no direct eyewitness evidence) is one of the most distinctive and debated mechanisms in Islamic criminal law. When a body is found in a location controlled by a group or in circumstances pointing toward a specific suspect, and no direct witnesses can establish guilt, the *qasama* procedure allows 50 oaths sworn by claimants (in some schools: by the victim's family to establish guilt; in others: by the accused to establish innocence) to substitute for standard *shahada* (witness) evidence in the matter of blood money (*diya*) — though not typically in the matter of *qisas* (retaliation).
Fiqh al-Mahr (فِقهُ المَهرِ — Jurisprudence of the Dower; *mahr* — the mandatory gift from husband to wife at marriage; also called *sadaq*, *nihlah*, *ajr*; mentioned in the Quran 4:4: *'And give the women their marriage gifts as a free gift'*) is the legally mandatory payment from the husband to the wife that forms part of every valid Islamic marriage contract. It is not a bride-price paid to the woman's family (that would be *shighar* — an exchange of women without mahr, which is forbidden), not a price for sexual access, and not reducible by the husband unilaterally. It is the wife's personal financial right, which she can spend, invest, gift, or keep as she chooses.
Fiqh al-Ghasb (فِقهُ الغَصبِ — Jurisprudence of Usurpation; *ghasb* — seizing wrongfully, taking by force without right; the unlawful appropriation of another's property) is the area of Islamic property law governing what happens when someone takes possession of property without the owner's permission and without legal right. The foundational Prophetic ruling: *'On the usurper is the return [of the property] even if it deteriorates.'* (*al-Bukhari, Muslim*). The core principle: the usurper (*ghasib*) is liable for both the return of the property and any diminution in its value while it was in his unlawful possession.
Fiqh al-Irth al-Hajb (فِقهُ الإِرثِ الحَجب — the Jurisprudence of Inheritance Blocking; *hajb* — the act of one heir's presence preventing or reducing another heir's inheritance) is the branch of Islamic inheritance law that governs how the legal presence of one category of heir affects the entitlement of another. The system rests on the principle that a closer degree of relation to the deceased typically blocks or reduces the entitlement of a more remote relation. There are two types: *hajb hirman* (total exclusion — the blocked heir receives nothing) and *hajb nuqsan* (reduction — the blocked heir receives a smaller share than they would otherwise get).
Fiqh al-Tawkil (فِقهُ التَّوكِيل — Jurisprudence of Agency/Proxy; *tawkil* — appointing someone as one's agent or proxy; *wakil* — the agent; *muwakkil* — the principal) is the branch of Islamic law governing the delegation of legal acts from one person (*muwakkil*) to another (*wakil*) such that the agent's acts in the appointed domain are legally attributed to the principal. The Prophetic precedent: the Prophet delegated purchases, marriages, and diplomatic missions through agents, establishing the practical legitimacy of tawkil for virtually all legal acts that are not inherently personal.
Fiqh al-Ghurm wa'l-Ghanm (فِقهُ الغُرمِ وَالغَنَم — Jurisprudence of Loss and Gain; *al-ghurm* — liability, loss, bearing of risk; *al-ghanm* — profit, benefit, gain; the maxim: *'al-ghurm bi'l-ghanm'* — liability attaches to [whoever receives] the benefit) is one of the five foundational legal maxims (*al-qawa'id al-fiqhiyya al-kubra*) of Islamic jurisprudence. Its application runs through property law, contract law, partnership law, and financial instruments: wherever one party receives the benefit of an arrangement, that same party bears the associated risk of loss. This maxim provides the Islamic legal basis for distinguishing permissible profit-sharing (*mudaraba*, *musharaka*) from prohibited riba — in the former the lender/investor shares the risk; in the latter he secures his return regardless of the venture's outcome.
Fiqh al-Hiyal (فِقهُ الحِيَل — Jurisprudence of Legal Stratagems; *hila* [pl. *hiyal*] — stratagem, device, legal mechanism that uses technically permissible structures to achieve outcomes that a direct approach would prohibit) is one of the most contested concepts in Islamic jurisprudence — associated primarily with the Hanafi school, condemned by the Hanbali and Maliki schools, and occupying an ambiguous middle position in Shafi'i thought. The core issue: if an outcome is legally forbidden in its direct form but can be reached through a chain of individually permissible acts, is that chain itself permissible? The Hanafi answer: generally yes. The Hanbali answer (expressed by Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya in *I'lam al-Muwaqqi'in*): categorically no — the prohibition extends to the device itself whenever its purpose is circumvention.
Fiqh al-Qiyas al-Jali (فِقهُ القِيَاسِ الجَلِيّ — Jurisprudence of Evident/Manifest Analogy; *qiyas* — analogy, proportional reasoning; *jali* — evident, manifest, clear; contrasted with *qiyas khafi* — hidden or non-obvious analogy) is the subset of analogical legal reasoning in which the connection between the original case (*asl*) and the analogized case (*far'*) is so evident that the legal ruling (*hukm*) and its underlying rationale (*'illa*) both appear obvious. When qiyas is jali, virtually all jurists across schools accept the extension — it functions almost like direct textual authority. The classic example: the prohibition of saying 'uff' (a sound of annoyance or contempt) to one's parents in the Quran (17:23) extends by jali qiyas to any act of disrespect toward parents — if the mildest expression of contempt is forbidden, the greater acts are forbidden a fortiori.
Fiqh al-Bay' al-Salam (فِقهُ البَيعِ السَّلَم — Jurisprudence of Forward/Advance-Payment Sales; *salam* — advance, pre-payment; *bay' al-salam* — the contract in which the buyer pays the full price in advance for goods the seller will deliver at a future specified date; also: *bay' al-salaf* — same contract under the Maliki name) is a specifically authorized exception to the general Islamic prohibition on selling what one does not own at the time of sale. The Prophetic authorization (*al-Bukhari, Muslim*): *'Whoever sells by way of salam, let him sell with a known volume, a known weight, and a known term.'* The justification: bay' al-salam addresses the practical need of agriculturalists and craftsmen for advance capital while giving buyers access to future goods at agreed prices.
Fiqh al-Murabaha (فِقهُ المُرَابَحَة — Jurisprudence of the Cost-Plus Sale; *murabaha* — the sale in which the seller discloses his cost (*ra's al-mal*) and the buyer agrees to pay that cost plus a disclosed markup (*ribh*)) is a classical Islamic contract form that has become the foundation of modern Islamic home finance and trade finance. In classical fiqh, it is a permissible sale distinguished by its transparency requirement: the seller cannot hide his cost. In modern Islamic finance, the *murabaha lil-amir bil-shira'* (murabaha at the buyer's order) structure is used to replicate the economic function of a loan while keeping within the prohibition on riba.
Fiqh al-Ijab wa'l-Qabul (فِقهُ الإِيجَابِ وَالقَبُول — Jurisprudence of Offer and Acceptance; *ijab* — offer, the first party's expression of willingness to contract; *qabul* — acceptance, the second party's corresponding expression; together they constitute the *sighah* [the verbal form] of the contract and are the moment at which a contract is legally concluded) is the area of Islamic contract theory governing how an agreement comes into existence. The foundational principle: a binding contract requires a genuine, unambiguous *ijab* and a corresponding *qabul* that matches it in all material terms, exchanged in a single session (*majlis al-'aqd*).
Fiqh al-Qard al-Hasan (فِقهُ القَرضِ الحَسَن — Jurisprudence of the Beautiful Loan; *qard* — loan; *hasan* — beautiful, excellent, benevolent; *qard al-hasan* — the loan given without any condition of return beyond the principal, corresponding to the Quranic expression in verses such as 2:245, 57:11, 64:17 where God calls on believers to 'lend God a beautiful loan') is the area of Islamic economic ethics governing the practice of lending money or goods for return of the same amount with no addition. In Islamic law, any addition to the principal — however described — is riba and therefore prohibited. The qard al-hasan is the only permissible form of loan.
Fiqh al-Iqrar (فِقهُ الإِقرَار — Jurisprudence of Acknowledgment/Confession; *iqrar* — acknowledgment, confession, admission; from *aqarra* — to make firm, to confirm; the formal legal admission of a right or liability against oneself) is the area of Islamic evidentiary law governing the conditions and effects of a person's voluntary acknowledgment of a right that another person has against them. The juristic maxim: *al-iqrar sayyid al-bayyinat* — 'acknowledgment is the master of proofs.' A valid iqrar is the highest and most conclusive form of evidence in Islamic law because it comes from the very party whose interest is against the admission.
Fiqh al-Sulh (فِقهُ الصُّلح — Jurisprudence of Settlement; *sulh* — reconciliation, settlement, peace-making; from *salaha* — to be sound, whole, right; the contractual resolution of a dispute between two parties, endorsed by Islamic law as preferable to litigation and binding once concluded) is the area of Islamic dispute resolution that covers the process, conditions, and binding force of voluntary settlement agreements. The Prophet said: *'Settlement between Muslims is permissible except for a settlement that makes the forbidden lawful or the lawful forbidden'* — establishing both the broad permissibility and the ethical limit.
Fiqh al-Wadi'a (فِقهُ الوَدِيعَة — Jurisprudence of Deposit; *wadi'a* — deposit, trust, something placed; from *wada'a* — to place, to leave; the contract by which one party [*mudi'*, depositor] hands an asset to another party [*wadi'*, keeper] for safekeeping, with the understanding that the exact item will be returned on demand) is the area of Islamic contract law governing the trust relationship created when one person holds another's property for safekeeping. The classical principle: the keeper (*wadi'*) is a trustee (*amin*), not a guarantor (*damin*). If the deposit is lost without the keeper's fault, the keeper bears no liability. If lost through the keeper's negligence or misuse, the keeper is fully liable.
Fiqh al-'Ariyya (فِقهُ العَارِيَّة — Jurisprudence of the Gratuitous Loan of Usufruct; *'ariyya* — lending of a thing for temporary use; *musta'ir* — borrower; *mu'ir* — lender; the contract by which one party lends the use of an asset to another without charge, with the understanding that the asset itself [not just its value] must be returned intact) is the area of Islamic contract law governing the temporary transfer of usufruct without compensation. The 'ariyya differs from the wadi'a in that the borrower has permission to use the item; it differs from the ijara in that use is given free of charge.
Fiqh al-Nikah al-Fasid (فِقهُ النِّكَاحِ الفَاسِد — Jurisprudence of the Defective/Irregular Marriage; *fasid* — defective, irregular, containing a vitiating element that affects validity; distinguished from *batil* — void, non-existent; the nikah fasid is a marriage contracted with a vitiating defect that must be dissolved but that nevertheless produces some legal effects during its existence) is the area of Islamic family law governing marriages that fall between the fully valid (*sahih*) and the absolutely void (*batil*). The Hanafi school is the most developed in this three-category distinction; other schools generally treat any invalid marriage as simply void.
Fiqh al-Mawquf (فِقهُ المَوقُوف — Jurisprudence of the Suspended Hadith; *mawquf* — stopped, suspended; pl. *mawqufat*; a hadith whose chain of transmission does not reach the Prophet but stops at a Companion, giving that Companion's statement, action, or tacit approval as the report) is the sub-field of hadith science dealing with statements and practices attributed to Companions rather than to the Prophet. In contrast to *marfu'* (raised — attributed to the Prophet) and *maqtu'* (cut — attributed to a Tabi'i), the mawquf carries legal authority that falls between prophetic hadith and later scholarly opinion.
Fiqh al-Iman wa'l-Kufr (فِقهُ الإِيمَانِ وَالكُفر — Jurisprudence of Faith and Disbelief; *iman* — faith, belief; *kufr* — disbelief, covering/concealing [the root meaning]; the area of Islamic theology and law that defines what faith consists of, what counts as its nullification, and what legal consequences follow from the crossing of this boundary) is one of the most contested areas of both kalam (theology) and fiqh (jurisprudence). The stakes are high: the boundary between iman and kufr determines marriage validity, inheritance, burial rights, and in historical contexts, legal status before courts.
Fiqh al-Jihad bi'l-Mal (فِقهُ الجِهَادِ بِالمَال — Jurisprudence of Financial Striving; *jihad bi'l-mal* — striving with wealth; spending one's material resources in the cause of God; from the Quranic pairing of *bi-amwalihim wa anfusihim* — 'with their wealth and their lives' [4:95, 9:20, 49:15]; the Quran consistently places *mal* [wealth] before *nafs* [life/self] in this pairing, indicating that financial sacrifice precedes and enables physical sacrifice) is the area of Islamic ethics and law addressing the obligation and virtue of spending wealth in the cause of God — a form of striving (*jihad*) that the Quran consistently prioritizes alongside and sometimes before physical sacrifice.
Fiqh al-'Uquba wa'l-Ta'zir (فِقهُ العُقُوبَةِ وَالتَّعزِير — Jurisprudence of Criminal Punishment and Discretionary Sanction; *'uquba* — punishment, penalty; *hadd* [pl. *hudud*] — fixed Quranic penalty; *qisas* — equivalence, retaliation; *ta'zir* — discretionary punishment fixed by the judge for offenses not covered by hadd or qisas) is the area of Islamic criminal law that distinguishes between: (1) the fixed Quranic penalties [hudud] for specific offenses; (2) equivalence penalties [qisas] for bodily harm and homicide; and (3) the broad domain of discretionary punishment [ta'zir] for all other offenses.
Fiqh al-Ahwal al-Shakhsiyya (فِقهُ الأَحوَالِ الشَّخصِيَّة — Personal Status Jurisprudence; *ahwal* — conditions, states; *shakhsiyya* — personal, relating to the person; the comprehensive body of Islamic jurisprudence governing all aspects of the legal identity and family relationships of a person from birth through death: birth registration, naming, capacity, guardianship, marriage, marital rights and obligations, divorce, waiting periods, maintenance, custody, lineage, inheritance, and funeral rites) is the branch of Islamic law that has remained most continuously operative in Muslim majority societies — even those that adopted European commercial and criminal codes retained Islamic personal status law as a distinct domain.
Fiqh al-Bay' al-Mu'ajjal (فِقهُ البَيعِ الآجِل — Jurisprudence of the Deferred Payment Sale; *bay' mu'ajjal* — sale with deferred payment; *ajal* — a fixed term, a deferral period; the sale in which a good is delivered immediately but payment is deferred to a future date — typically at a higher price than the cash price to account for the time value of the deferred payment) is the classical mechanism that Islamic law permits for time-value compensation in sales transactions. It is the foundational mechanism behind much of modern Islamic retail and consumer finance, including murabaha with deferred payment and installment sales.
Fiqh al-Wakala al-'Amma (فِقهُ الوَكَالَةِ العَامَّة — Jurisprudence of General Agency; *wakala* — agency; *wakil* — agent; *muwakkil* — principal; *wakala 'amma* — general agency, authorizing the agent to act in all the principal's affairs without specific limitation on subject matter; distinguished from *wakala khassa* — specific agency, limited to a defined transaction or type of transaction) is the area of Islamic agency law dealing with the broad grant of authority.
Fiqh al-Waqf al-Mushtarak (فِقهُ الوَقفِ المُشتَرَك — Jurisprudence of the Joint Endowment; *waqf* — charitable endowment, immobilized asset; *mushtarak* — shared, joint; the waqf in which the founder dedicates an asset for multiple beneficiaries simultaneously — family members and a mosque, for example, or a school and the poor — requiring rules for allocating income among the competing beneficiary interests) is the area of waqf law that addresses the most common real-world endowment structures: those with multiple and sometimes competing beneficiaries.
Fiqh al-Madhab al-Maliki (فِقهُ المَذهَبِ المَالِكِيّ — Jurisprudence of the Maliki School; founded by Imam Malik ibn Anas [c. 711-795 CE] of Medina; the second of the four major Sunni legal schools to be systematically codified; characterized by its distinctive use of *'amal ahl al-Madina* [the living practice of the Medinan community] as a source of jurisprudence alongside the Quran and hadith; predominant today in North Africa, West Africa, and parts of the Gulf) is one of the four classical Sunni madhabs, marked by its grounding in the lived practice of the city of the Prophet and its flexibility in balancing sources.
Fiqh al-Madhab al-Shafi'i (فِقهُ المَذهَبِ الشَّافِعِيّ — Jurisprudence of the Shafi'i School; founded by Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafi'i [767-820 CE]; a student of Imam Malik who later broke with the Maliki tradition to establish his own systematic approach; author of the *Risala* — the first systematic treatise on Islamic legal theory [usul al-fiqh], establishing the four canonical sources: Quran, Sunna [hadith], Ijma' [consensus], and Qiyas [analogy]; predominant today in Egypt, East Africa, Southeast Asia, and parts of the Arabian Peninsula) is the third of the four classical Sunni madhabs, whose founder shaped not just a legal school but the entire methodology of Islamic jurisprudence.
Fiqh al-Madhab al-Hanbali (فِقهُ المَذهَبِ الحَنبَلِيّ — Jurisprudence of the Hanbali School; founded by Ahmad ibn Hanbal [780-855 CE] of Baghdad; the fourth of the four classical Sunni legal schools; characterized by its heavy reliance on hadith — including weak (*da'if*) hadith in the absence of stronger evidence — and its strong resistance to the use of philosophical speculation (*kalam*) in theological questions; predominant today in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and the theological foundation for Wahhabi and Salafi movements) is the most hadith-centric of the four Sunni madhabs.
Fiqh al-Ijara al-Muntahiya bil-Tamleek (فِقهُ الإِجَارَةِ المُنتَهِيَةِ بِالتَّمليك — Jurisprudence of the Lease Ending in Ownership; also known in English as 'diminishing musharaka' in some variants, or ILTB; a contemporary Islamic finance contract combining a traditional ijara [lease] with a separate promise to transfer ownership at the end of the lease term either by gift [hiba], sale at nominal price, or sale at market value; the AAOIFI Shari'ah Standard 9 governs this contract; widely used in Islamic home financing in Malaysia, the Gulf, and the United Kingdom) is the dominant alternative to interest-based mortgage financing in contemporary Islamic finance.
Fiqh al-Tawarruq (فِقهُ التَّوَرُّق — Jurisprudence of Tawarruq; from the Arabic root for 'silver' [wariq] — implying the conversion of a commodity transaction into cash; a contract in which a buyer purchases a commodity from a seller on deferred credit, then sells that same commodity to a third party for immediate cash — thus converting a credit-based asset into liquid cash; classical scholars debated its permissibility; the contemporary banking version known as 'organized tawarruq' [al-tawarruq al-munazzam] was rejected by the OIC International Islamic Fiqh Academy in 2009 [Resolution 179] as impermissible while individual tawarruq [al-tawarruq al-fardi] was permitted; widely used despite the ruling in Gulf Islamic banks as a personal financing tool) is one of the most contested instruments in contemporary Islamic finance.
Fiqh al-Gharar (فِقهُ الغَرَر — Jurisprudence of Gharar; from the Arabic root denoting danger, risk, or concealment; a term that encompasses prohibited uncertainty, risk, and deception in commercial contracts; the foundational prohibition is from the Prophetic hadith: 'The Prophet prohibited the sale of gharar [bay' al-gharar]' [Muslim 1513]; alongside the prohibition of riba [interest], the prohibition of gharar is one of the two structural prohibitions in Islamic commercial law; gharar renders a contract void [batil] when it is excessive, material, and avoidable; minor unavoidable gharar is tolerated; the full scope covers uncertainty about price, quality, quantity, existence, and ability to deliver) is the Islamic legal principle that makes conventional insurance, most derivatives, and speculative instruments problematic.
Fiqh al-Istisnaa (فِقهُ الاِستِصنَاع — Jurisprudence of the Manufacturing Contract; from *sana'a* meaning to manufacture or craft; a contract in which one party [the mustasni', the buyer] commissions another party [the sani', the manufacturer] to produce a specified item for a specified price; the Hanafi school uniquely treated istisnaa as a distinct and valid contract type based on *ijma'* [consensus of practice] and *istihsan* [juristic preference] rather than direct analogy to existing contract categories; other schools generally treated commissioned manufacture through regular sale rules; distinguished from bay' al-salam [advance payment sale] primarily by payment flexibility and subject matter — istisnaa applies to manufactured goods, payment can be deferred or staged, and specifications must be precise) is the classical contract that enables construction and manufacturing finance in Islamic law.
Fiqh al-Siyam al-Mustahabb (فِقهُ الصِّيَامِ المُستَحَبّ — Jurisprudence of Recommended [Voluntary] Fasting; fasting that goes beyond the obligatory fard siyam of Ramadan; based on explicit Prophetic hadith specifying which days and periods carry special reward; the major categories are: six days of Shawwal [completing Ramadan's benefit, with the hadith 'whoever fasts Ramadan then follows it with six from Shawwal it is as though he fasted the entire year']; Mondays and Thursdays [the Prophet's own habitual practice]; the Day of Arafah [9 Dhul Hijja, expiation for two years' minor sins]; the Day of Ashura [10 Muharram, expiation for one year's minor sins]; and the white days [13th, 14th, 15th of each lunar month, equivalent to continuous fasting per the hadith]) constitutes a significant dimension of the Sunnah's spiritual economy.
Fiqh al-Hibah (فِقهُ الهِبَة — Jurisprudence of the Gift; from *wahaba* [to give freely]; a contract by which a person [the wahib, the donor] transfers ownership of a specific object to another person [the mawhub lahu, the donee] without any exchange or consideration [iwad]; distinguished from sadaqa [charity] by not requiring the recipient to be needy, from the will [wasiyya] by being inter vivos [executed during life], and from bay' [sale] by the absence of price; the four schools differ substantially on revocability after delivery; the most important Prophetic constraint is the hadith forbidding preference among children in gifts: 'Be equitable in what you give to your children' [Bukhari 2586, Muslim 1623]) is a fundamental property-transfer mechanism in Islamic estate planning.
Fiqh al-Bay' al-Fasid (فِقهُ البَيعِ الفَاسِد — Jurisprudence of the Corrupt Sale; specifically a Hanafi legal category with no full parallel in the other three madhabs; a bay' fasid is a sale that has a valid core [asl] — existing subject matter, competent parties, offer and acceptance — but contains a defective condition [shart fasid] or a prohibited addition that taints the transaction; the crucial Hanafi position: a corrupt sale does transfer ownership once possession [qabd] is taken, unlike the batil sale [void sale] which never transfers ownership even after possession; the corrupt sale must then be dissolved [faskh] to restore the parties to their original positions) is one of the most technically distinctive doctrines in Hanafi fiqh.
Fiqh al-Khul' (فِقهُ الخُلع — Jurisprudence of Khul'; from the root *khala'a* meaning to take off or strip away, as in stripping off a garment; a form of divorce initiated by the wife, in which she requests dissolution of the marriage in exchange for returning the mahr [dower] she received or some agreed compensation to the husband; its Quranic foundation is 2:229 ['And it is not lawful for you to take back from women anything of what you have given them, unless both fear that they will not be able to keep within the limits set by God — if you both fear this, there is no blame on either of them for what she gives up to free herself']; described in detail in the classical case of the wife of Thabit ibn Qays who disliked her husband though she had no complaint against his character, and the Prophet approved the khul') is the Islamic institution that gives women an exit from marriage independent of the husband's consent.
Fiqh al-Dhimma (فِقهُ الذِّمَّة — Jurisprudence of Protected Status; from *dhimma* meaning covenant, protection, and responsibility; the legal framework in classical Islamic jurisprudence governing the status of non-Muslim inhabitants [ahl al-dhimma] of an Islamic polity; characterized by protection [hima] of life, property, and religious practice in exchange for payment of jizya [a per-capita tax] and acceptance of certain legal and social conditions; the basis in 9:29 ['Fight those who do not believe in God...until they give the jizya while being subdued']; the ahl al-dhimma were distinguished from other non-Muslims by their permanent covenant-based residence in Islamic territory, as opposed to temporary residents or combatants) is one of classical Islamic law's most historically significant and currently contested institutions.
Fiqh al-Imama al-Uzma (فِقهُ الإِمَامَةِ العُظمَى — Jurisprudence of the Supreme Imamate; the Sunni political-theological doctrine concerning the caliphate — the institution of supreme religious-political leadership in an Islamic polity; treated in classical kalam texts as a wajib [obligation] on the Muslim community; the dominant Ash'ari/Maturidi position: the Imamate is necessary either by revelation or by reason; the conditions for the Imam include: Islam, adulthood, rationality, maleness, Qurashi descent [from the tribe of Quraysh], freedom from physical defects that would impair governance, political competence, courage, and justice; distinguished from Shi'a Imama by being a human-elected institution rather than a divinely designated one) is one of classical Islamic political theology's most contested and practically significant doctrines.
Fiqh al-Ujra (فِقهُ الأُجرَة — Jurisprudence of Wage/Remuneration; from *ajara* meaning to hire or reward; the Islamic legal framework governing the contractual right to compensation for labor [ijara al-ashkhas — hire of persons, as distinguished from ijara of assets]; based on the Quranic command to give workers their due [39:10 and others] and the Prophetic hadith 'Give the worker his wage before his sweat dries' [Ibn Majah 2443]; the wage must be specified, deliverable, and proportionate to work agreed upon; delay in payment is a major transgression specifically condemned in hadith with the formula: 'God says: Three whom I will be an adversary against on the Day of Judgment — one who hired a worker, consumed his work fully, and did not give him his wage' [Bukhari 2227]) is the Islamic law of employment compensation.
Fiqh al-Bay' bi-al-Dayn (فِقهُ البَيعِ بِالدَّيْن — Jurisprudence of the Sale of Debt; whether a monetary receivable [dayn] can be sold to a third party; this question is critical for modern finance because almost every financial instrument involves some form of debt — mortgages, trade receivables, bonds, and sukuk all represent monetary claims against debtors; the Shafi'i position [adopted by Malaysia's Shari'ah framework] permits sale of debt at face value or at a discount under certain conditions; the Maliki and Hanbali positions are more restrictive, generally prohibiting sale at a discount as an indirect form of riba; the AAOIFI and OIC Fiqh Academy positions are generally aligned with the restrictive view for cash discounting, while permitting assignment/transfer of rights in more complex structures) is one of the most commercially significant debates in contemporary Islamic finance.
Fiqh al-Nikah al-Mutah (فِقهُ النِّكَاحِ المُتعَة — Jurisprudence of Temporary Marriage; the contract of marriage for a specified, agreed-upon period, after which the marriage terminates automatically; the legal basis in 4:24 where 'so those of whom you have enjoyed [istamta'tum], give them their bride-gifts as a duty'; the word 'istamta'a' is taken by Shi'a scholars as establishing the legitimacy of this contract type; classical Sunni position: nikah al-mutah was permitted early in Islam [evidenced by hadith from Jabir, Ibn Masud, Ibn Abbas] and abrogated by the Prophet before his death or by Umar's prohibition with prophetic authorization; Twelver Shi'a position: no abrogation occurred; the prohibition by Umar was an independent political decision, not Prophetic; therefore mutah remains halal; the Ismaili position: follows the Fatimid Ismaili legal tradition which does not permit mutah; the debate is thus triangular — Sunni [abrogated], Twelver Shi'a [permitted], Ismaili [not in Fatimid law]) is one of the sharpest legal fault-lines between Sunni and Shi'a jurisprudence.
Fiqh al-Ijtihad wa-al-Taqlid (فِقهُ الاجتِهَادِ وَالتَّقلِيد — Jurisprudence of Independent Reasoning and Following; ijtihad means: the maximum effort a qualified jurist exerts to derive a shari'a ruling from primary sources [Quran, Sunna, consensus, analogy] when no explicit text resolves the case; taqlid means: accepting the ruling of a qualified jurist [mujtahid] without demanding his evidential chain — the ordinary Muslim's obligation; the classical categories of mujtahid: [1] mujtahid mutlaq [absolute mujtahid: independent of any school, e.g. the four Imams themselves], [2] mujtahid fi al-madhab [within-school mujtahid: derives rulings within the school's framework], [3] mujtahid fi al-masa'il [case-by-case: limited to specific novel questions]; the contested claim that 'the gate of ijtihad was closed' [insidad bab al-ijtihad] after the 4th century AH) is the meta-jurisprudential question that underlies all fiqh discourse.
Fiqh al-Kafalah (فِقهُ الكَفَالَة — Jurisprudence of Guarantee/Suretyship; one of the foundational contracts of Islamic commercial law alongside murabaha, ijara, and musharaka; kafalah is: a contract by which a third party [kafil — the guarantor] undertakes responsibility for the obligation of another person [makful 'anhu — the principal debtor] toward a fourth party [makful lahu — the creditor/beneficiary]; the Quranic basis: 12:72 in the Joseph story when the king's herald says 'I will be its guarantor' [ana bihi za'im]; the Prophetic basis: the hadith 'al-za'im gharim' [the guarantor is liable]; the kafil's liability is additional to, not replacing, the original debtor's liability [in the majority view]; four main types: kafalah al-nafs [guarantee of person — ensuring the debtor appears], kafalah al-mal [guarantee of property/debt], kafalah al-dayn [guarantee of debt payment], kafalah al-ayn [guarantee of a specific asset's return]) is the instrument underlying modern Islamic letters of guarantee and performance bonds.
Fiqh al-Sadaqah al-Jariyah (فِقهُ الصَّدَقَةِ الجَارِيَة — Jurisprudence of Continuous Charity; literally 'flowing/running charity'; based on the foundational hadith [Muslim 1631] in which the Prophet said: 'When the son of Adam dies, his deeds come to an end except for three: sadaqah jariyah [continuous charity], or knowledge that benefits others, or a righteous child who prays for him'; these three are the only ways in which the deceased can continue to accumulate reward after death; sadaqah jariyah is distinguished from regular sadaqah [one-time charity whose reward is immediate and finite] by the fact that its benefit continues — the poor are fed repeatedly from an endowed well, students learn repeatedly from an endowed school, the sick are treated repeatedly from an endowed hospital; the primary legal vehicle for sadaqah jariyah is waqf [charitable endowment]; other forms include: building a mosque, planting a tree, digging a well, translating Islamic knowledge, writing books that are read after one's death) is one of the most actionable concepts in Islamic philanthropic jurisprudence.
Fiqh al-Hajj al-Badal (فِقهُ الحَجِّ البَدَل — Jurisprudence of Proxy Hajj; also called *hajj al-niyaba* [representative Hajj] or *al-istinaba fi al-hajj* [deputizing another for Hajj]; the performance of Hajj by one person [the na'ib — proxy] on behalf of another [the munib — the principal]; based on the hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari [1855] where a woman from Khath'am asked the Prophet if she could perform Hajj for her elderly father who was unable to travel, and the Prophet replied: 'Yes'; the classical conditions [with variations across schools]: [1] the principal must be unable to perform Hajj themselves — due to age, permanent illness, or death; [2] the obligation of Hajj must already have been established for the principal; [3] the proxy must have already performed their own Hajj [Shafi'i and Hanbali positions; Hanafi permits one who hasn't]; [4] the proxy must intend on behalf of the principal; performed from the principal's estate if they are deceased and had the means; disagreement whether the principal receives full, partial, or no [Hanafi minority] reward equivalent to a personal Hajj) is one of the most commonly requested forms of worship proxy.
Fiqh al-Maslaha al-Mursala (فِقهُ المَصلَحَةِ المُرسَلَة — Jurisprudence of Unrestricted Public Interest; from *maslaha* [benefit/interest] and *mursala* [unattached, free-floating — not grounded in a specific textual indicator]; a source of law in which the jurist derives a ruling based on a public benefit that the Shari'a has neither explicitly endorsed nor explicitly rejected; distinguished from: [1] maslaha mu'tabara [recognized interest — e.g. the Shari'a's protection of life grounds rules against murder], [2] maslaha mulghah [rejected interest — e.g. claiming interest/riba is beneficial; explicitly ruled out by revelation]; the Maliki school is traditionally most open to maslaha al-mursala; al-Ghazali set strict conditions for its use; the 13th-century Hanbali jurist Najm al-Din al-Tufi [d. 716 AH] argued that maslaha could override textual rulings in muamalat [social transactions] — a radical position still debated; in the modern period, reformers have used maslaha al-mursala to justify reformed family law, constitutional governance, and bioethical rulings) is the most expansive and debated source of Islamic jurisprudence.
Fiqh al-Nafaqah al-Zawjiyya (فِقهُ النَّفَقَةِ الزَّوجِيَّة — Jurisprudence of Spousal Financial Support; *nafaqah* from *nafaqa* — to spend/disburse; the financial obligation of the husband toward his wife during valid marriage; Quranic basis: 2:233 ['upon the father is their sustenance and clothing in a reasonable manner'], 65:6-7 ['lodge them according to your means... let the possessor of abundance spend from his abundance']; the obligation covers: housing [maskan], food [qut], clothing [kiswa], and basic household necessities; the obligation is conditioned on the wife's *tamkin* [making herself available to the husband]; the obligation does not apply during: a wife's unjustified refusal of marital relations [nushuz], apostasy, or a void marriage; the quantum [amount] of nafaqah varies by madhab and by the husband's financial capacity — the Shafi'i school fixes a minimum measure; the Hanafi school scales it to the husband's means; the Hanbali school uses combined assessment of husband's means and wife's customary standard) is one of the most practically significant areas of Islamic family law.
Fiqh al-Bay' al-Amanah (فِقهُ البَيعِ بِالأَمَانَة — Jurisprudence of Trust-Based Sale; a category of sale in which the seller discloses their original cost to the buyer, and the price is then set in reference to that disclosed cost; called 'amanah' [trust] because it requires the seller to be honest about what they paid — the buyer is relying on the seller's word; three main types: [1] murabaha [مُرَابَحَة — cost-plus sale: seller discloses cost and adds an agreed profit margin; 'I paid 100 and am selling to you at cost plus 20%']; [2] tawliya [تَولِيَة — at-cost sale: seller discloses cost and sells exactly at that price, no profit and no loss]; [3] wadh'iah / muhatabah [مُحَاطَبَة / وَضِيعَة — below-cost sale: seller discloses cost and sells at an agreed discount]; the importance for contemporary Islamic finance: murabaha has become the most widely used Islamic finance instrument globally because it structures the cost-plus sale in a way that allows a bank to finance purchases without charging interest — the bank buys the asset and resells it to the client at a disclosed cost plus a disclosed profit margin) is the foundation of the contemporary Islamic banking model.