T

 Islamic Economic Glossary

To squander, waste or dissipate. Tech: Spending on objects which have been explicitly prohibited by the shariah irrespective of the quantum of expenditure.

 

Relating to the nisab of zakat, a one-year-old calf of the cow.

 

To decrease the quality or quantity of a product offered for sale at the original price.

 

Incorporated on 24 March 1983. Besides the head office, there are nine branches in Sudan. Authorized capital, US$50 million. Paid-up capital, US$13.4 million.

 

Tech: Hiding the defects of a commodity from its potential buyers.

 

To build a stone-fence, a wall or something similar on land. Tech: To clear rocks off the land, leveling the ground, building water canals, pulling out weeds and irrigating.

 

A resident merchant. See al-tajir al-saffar.

 

During mediaeval times, a merchant who traveled in connection with his business. The Muslim merchants travelled along ocean and land routes with merchandise. See al-tajir almuqzm.

 

Equality. Tech: Principle of proportionality in the Maliki law of partnership, requiring the distribution of profit and liability to correspond to various components of investment.

 

Mutual or joint responsibility. Tech: Mutual support which is the basis of the concept of insurance or solidarity among Muslims. Not institutionalized, it is a broad concept and covers a much wider area than zakat, which is an instance of takaful. If one waives a debt when the debtor is unable to pay, this is an example of takaful but not necessarily of zakat. It is also the name of insurance with investment instrument launched by DMI.

 

Plenty, abundance. Tech: In the Quran (102:1), the word is used to mean one's obsession with worldly possessions, with wealth, strength, position and the like, things that make people selfish and forgetful of their duties to God and to fellow beings.

 

An alternate term for khars.

 

Relating to the fiscal law of mediaeval Islam, it refers to additional charges on the landholders who stayed in a village to make up for the payment of those who deserted the land or died. This was a consequence of collective assessment of land tax.

 

One of the commercial practices of early Arabia. Traders would, on hearing of a merchandise caravan, proceed out of the city to meet the caravan, to buy the entire merchandise and bring it to the city to sell at monopolistic and exploitative prices.

 

Refuge, shelter. Tech: Common in Iraq of Umayyad and Abbaside, it refers to circumstances of a weak person commiting his land to the protection of a strong citizen against foreign troops, bandits or government tax-collectors. This was also known as himayah or khafarah. The feudal lord would collect tax from the person seeking taljiah who acted as a muzara. This tax often covered government dues plus the feudal lord's share for providing protection. Such 'ilja lands were often annexed by the government and distributed among the courtiers. The government always felt threatened by the power of the feudal lords but had to live with this evil.

 

Power, authority, ability. Tech: Quranic usage for political stability and economic prosperity. Economic development without political solidarity is not conceivable. Therefore, al-tamakkun may be an alternative term for economic progress and stability.

 

A written commitment. Tech: I.O.U., a credit document. It is also known as al-suftajah..

 

To make someone the owner of property. Tech: Used in the context of zakat. The Hanafite school of jurisprudence contends that the only legal form of zakat expenditure is the transfer of funds to poor persons so that it becomes the property of those people. The implication of this condition is that zakat cannot be used for purposes where such personal transfer of funds is not possible.

 

See al-tunna.

 

Concealment, rousing and chasing the game for the purpose of snaring it. Teeh: In business transactions, this term means to demand the sale of an article of merchandise for more than its price, not meaning to purchase but only to ensnare the innocent buyer. It is also known as bai al-naJash.

 

Indulgence in luxuries, a mode of behavior discouraged by Islam.

 

Derived from nadd, which means hard cash. Tech: Relating to a contract of mudarabah, it refers to liquidation of all real assets immediately before calculating the profit.

 

The Turkish system of granting lands to the cultivators introduced by the law of 1858. The miri lands were granted directly to cultivators together with a title deed or tapu. The holder of a tapu was entitled to cultivate the land as he pleased, and was free to pledge or alienate it provided he received the express permission of the state. On his death the land passed on to his lawful heirs without the necessity for a new tapu to be granted. If the possessor died without heirs, the land passed to the inhabitants of the village to which he belonged. The permission of the state was also necessary before the holder could build houses or plant trees on his land. In return, the holder was obliged to make a payment to the government at the time of the original grant and was also liable to the rule of the shariah whereby the holder was dispossessed if the land remained uncultivated for three years.

 

Indulgence in luxuries. Tech: Pride, arrogance and disregard for proper rules of conduct caused by possession and enjoyment of worldly riches. See rafah.

 

Relating to the law of partnership, it means the partners' freedom to dispose off joint property within the contractual framework. See al-tabarru.

 

See al-hawalah

 

See al-sawm.

 

An alternate term for al-waqf.

 

To regulate prices. Tech: The power of the state to fix, control or determine the prices of goods in the market. It also includes regulation of profit, wages and rents by the state.

 

Fixing of wages for labour in the private sector by the state.

 

An alternate term for al-muzarah.

 

Tax levied on different cereals on the basis of land measurement. Also a tax levied on newly created opportunity.

 

See al-musarrah.

 

A weight measuring 1/4 daniq, equivalent to 0.1247 grams.

 

Equality. Tech: The basic principle of distribution of fai followed by Abu Bakr. He distributed the fai at an equal rate among all.

 

Weighing short.

 

Oneness of God. Tech: God is one and does not share anything with anybody, neither in personality nor qualities. Belief in tawhid is fundamental to Islam, and the value system of Islam is based on this belief. It affects the economic behavior of Muslims in a number of ways.

 

Authorization to lend. Tech: Authorization to lend cash in a contract of !'ludarabah for the mudarib or the working partners.

 

Authorization for raising a loan. Tech: In a contract of mudarabah or shirkah, the rabbul mal or the other partners may authorize the mudarib or working partner to raise a loan in cash for the business over and above the capital.

 

Signature. Tech: A banking instrument of the mediaeval Muslim period: a payment order to draw money from a bank.

 

Employment. Tech: Appointment of a person to collect kharaj or to undertake trade.

 

Trust, confidence. Tech: Trust in God for results after one has provided all material resources. It also means confidence in the help from God in all matters, one of the important values in a Muslim society. It is often confused by Western observers with fatalism and thought to be one of the causes of underdevelopment of Muslim countries but its real significance is just the opposite. It invites fearless efforts to explore all avenues in the hope that God's help shall come. Al-tawakkul inculcates enterprise rather than fatalism.

 

A sales contract in which the buyer obtains merchandise on credit and then sells it at a loss to another person for cash. The purpose of such a transaction is to get cash and not to do business. It is condemned as a trick to give or to get an interest bearing loan.

 

Good things, good and pure things. Tech: Used in the Quran for the consumer's goods provided to human beings. The concept carries with it man's responsibilities to God and other human beings for the use of these good things. It excludes the haram goods from its domain.

 

Price, cost, value. Tech: Price of an article as agreed by the buyer and the seller in a contract of sale. (It may be different from the prevalent market price.)

 

The sale price of a commodity which is paid in cash at the time of a sale deed.

 

Prevalent price in the market. Relating to the concept of tasir, al-thaman al-mithl is enforced by the state in case someone unjustly charges a higher price.

 

Moneyed, regarded by many jurists as the illah (basis of prohibition) of riba al-fadl applied to gold and silver. Hence, the same prohibition is applied to paper currency.

 

Relating to the law of zakat, fruits which do not rot for a major part of the year without artificial conditioning.

 

Tech: Relating to the law of zakat, it refers to a lamb of one year, a cow of two years or a camel of five years. It is also referred to as thaniyyah.

 

Metal ore, gold dust, gold nuggets. Tech: Relating to the law of zakat, gold or silver not cast into ornaments or utensils.

 

Absent trade. Tech: Long distance trade or trade in a town other than the one in which a trader resides. See also al-tijarah al-hadirah.

 

Present trade. Tech: Local trade, also used for day-to-day dealings among businessmen. It is not necessary to record the' credit transactions in such cases, See al-tijarah al-ghaibah.

 

See ard al-timar.

 

A device made use of in a sluice that distributes water in definite standard units according to the common agreement of the owners and according to their rights. Tech: al-Tirazah was employed as a method in the assessment of al-misahah in the Abbaside period. It was a method of making an equitable assessment of tax, keeping in view fertility of the soil, its facility for irrigation and the category of its crop.

 

Food grant. Tech: Entitlement to receive food grant from a piece of land during one's lifetime. For example, from the lands of Fadak, the Prophet and his family were entitled to a food grant during his lifetime, after which these lands reverted to the bait al-maal

 

A class of landlords during the Abbaside period, who were mostly absentee landlords, leaving management of their estates to their deputies. They often acted as contractors for tax collection and their riches accrued more from this latter activity. They were also known as al-tanaah.