W

 Islamic Economic Glossary

Resale of goods with a discount on the original stated cost.

 

A comprehensive term expressing all taxes.

 

Deposit, trust. Tech: A contract whereby a person leaves valuables as a trust for safe-keeping.

 

Deposit for fee. Tech: A form of contract where a person deposits a sum with another person on payment of a fee for safe keeping, with permission for the trustee to make use of the amount if needed. The trustee is held responsible for any loss in the amount deposited.

 

A dry measure equal to 5.5 sa, prevalent in early Muslim Egypt. According to Hanafites, it is equivalent to 17.938 kg or 18.491 liters, whereas other jurists consider it equivalent to 11.946 kg or 15.114Iitres.

 

Representation, agency. Tech: Contract of agency in which a person delegates his business to another and substitutes the other in his own place. The latter is called the wakil, or agent, and the former is called muwakkil, or principal.

 

Detention. Tech: Appropriation or tying up of a property in perpetuity so that no proprietary rights can be exercised overthe corpus but only over the usufruct. The waif property can neither be sold nor inherited or donated to anyone. al-awqaf consisted of religious foundations set up for the benefit of the poor. Conceived in such away, the administration of the waif, together with the salary that it involved, was often reserved for the founder and his family until the founder's line of descent became extinct. They were often set up as an indirect way of avoiding too strict a division of the property under the terms of the law of succession, retaining it for the male members of the family in undivided form.

 

Private trusts instituted for the benefit of family members. See also aI-waqf.

 

Public endowment set apart for a charitable or religious purpose.

 

An endowment for the family of the donor. Its proceeds accrue to the members of the donor's family and after the death of the last descendant of the donor, it reverts to the bait aI-mal. It is also known as al-waqf al-dhurri or al-waqf al-khass.

 

See al-waqf ala al-awlad.

 

Waqf for the general good, indented to fulfill a noble social function, especially in respect of those functions that have not been performed by the state such as hospitals, schools, asylums, public water supply, cemeteries and mosques. See also al-waqf.

 

The broken (number). Tech: Relating to the law of zakat on cattle. The slab rates of zakat on cattle proceed with the series 10, 20,30,40, etc., in multiples often. Any figure lying between the two limits (i.e. lower and upper limits) is known as awqas. For example, cattle numbering more than 30 but fewer than 40 are known as awqas.

 

Bequest or will. Tech: A transfer to come into operation after the testator's death. The testator is called musi, the legatee is called musalahu and the executor is called wasi.

 

Load, freight, cargo. Tech: A measure of weight; one wasq = 60 sa. According to Hanafites, it is equivalent to 192.69kg or 201.72 litres, while other jurists consider it equivalent to 130.32 kg or 164.88 litres.

 

Pay, daily ration. Tech: (a) A pension or stipend granted to pious persons. (b) Revenue collected at a stipulated rate and time. Sometimes used in the sense of a supplementary tax in addition tojizyah. See also al-kharaj al-wazifah.

 

Protection of honour. Tech: Spending on people to protect one's honour. For example, giving something to poets, slanderers or enemies to keep them away so that they do not indulge in defamation.