The glossary is a work in progress and will continue to be updated. Definitions are from Encyclopedia of Islam, (2006) unless stated otherwise. Suggestions are welcome.
Adat- Custom, or customary law. Refers to the customary norms, interdictions and injunctions that guide an individual’s conduct as a member of the community and the sanctions an forms of redress by which these norms and rules are upheld. (Southeast Asia: A Historical Encyclopedia, from Angkor Wat to East Timor, 2004)
Murabaha- A concept found in Islamic finance that governs a contract between a bank and its client, by which the bank purchases goods and then sells them to the client at a cost that includes a profit margin. The contract requires specific installment payments to the bank. This arrangement allows the bank to avoid charging interest, which is forbidden under some interpretations of Islamic law (Source)
Sharia – Rules and regulations governing the lives of Muslims, derived in principal from the Quran and Hadith
Sukuk - Islamic financial certificate working in a similar way to a bond in Western finance but structured in line with Sharia (wikipedia)
Talak – repudiation of a wife by a husband, a form of divorce.
Wakala- Wakala is an agency structure where a depositor authorises an agent to invest his funds in sharia-approved assets (forbes.com)
Wakf – in Islamic law, the act of founding a charitable trust, and, hence the trust itself.
