Tibyān

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Glossary

Fiqh terms defined linguistically, technically, and in the Sharia

47 terms

Hadath

حَدَث · Хадас · Ḥadaz · Хадас

A state of ritual impurity that prevents prayer until removed. The minor state is lifted by ablution (wudu), the major by a full bath (ghusl).

The detailed definition is being added

Niyyah

نِيَّة · Нийя · Niyyah · Нійя

The heart's intention to perform an act of worship for God's sake — a condition for the validity of most acts such as prayer, fasting, and ablution.

The detailed definition is being added

Tawatur

تَوَاتُر · Таватур · Tawátur · Таватур

Transmission of a report by so many independent narrators that their collusion on a lie is impossible, yielding certain knowledge. The Qurʾān is transmitted this way.

The detailed definition is being added

Wudu

وُضُوء · Вуду · Wuḍūʾ · Вуду

Ritual ablution with water — washing the face, arms, wiping the head, and washing the feet — required for the validity of prayer.

The detailed definition is being added

Najasah

نَجَاسَة · Наджаса · Naÿasah · Наджаса

A physical impurity ruled unclean by the Sharia (e.g., urine, flowing blood) that must be removed from body, clothes, and place before prayer.

The detailed definition is being added

Tayammum

تَيَمُّم · Таяммум · Tayammum · Таяммум

Dry purification using clean earth instead of water when water is unavailable or cannot be used due to illness or similar cause.

The detailed definition is being added

Ijma

إِجْمَاع · Иджма · Iÿmāʿ · Іджма

The consensus of the qualified scholars of an era on a legal ruling — a source of law after the Qurʾān and sunnah.

The detailed definition is being added

Qiyas

قِيَاس · Кияс · Qiyās · Кияс

Analogical reasoning: extending a ruling from a textually addressed case to a new case sharing the same effective cause.

The detailed definition is being added

sunnah Muʾakkadah

سُنَّةٌ مُؤَكَّدَةٌ · Сунна Муаккада · sunnah Muʾakkadah · Сунна Муаккада
Brief definition
What the Prophet ﷺ performed consistently, leaving it rarely, with encouragement without strict obligation.
Linguistically
The followed path and continuous practice, whether praiseworthy or blameworthy.
In the Sharia
That for which the actor is rewarded out of obedience and the abandoner is not punished, with Prophetic consistency.
Technically
Hanafi

What the Prophet ﷺ maintained consistently while leaving it occasionally to clarify non-obligatoriness, where its abandoner is blamed without excuse but not punished.

Reference: Al-Hidāyah · Radd al-Muḥtār · Tabyīn al-Ḥaqāʾiq

Maliki

What the Prophet ﷺ made public and persisted in doing in congregation, where context did not indicate obligation.

Reference: Al-Mudawwanah · Al-Sharḥ al-Kabīr · Mawāhib al-Jalīl

Shāfiʿī

What was requested without decisive obligation, with emphasised importance and consistent public performance in acts of worship.

Reference: Al-Umm · Minhāj al-Ṭālibīn · Al-Majmūʿ

Hanbali

What was commanded non-decisively, alongside the Prophet's ﷺ constant performance and the promise of reward.

Reference: Al-Mughnī · Al-Kāfī · Kashshāf al-Qināʿ

Farḍ ʿAyn

فَرْضُ عَيْنٍ · Фард айн · Farḍ ʿAyn · Фард айн
Brief definition
What the Lawgiver has obligated upon every legally accountable individual personally, not waived by another's performance.
Linguistically
Farḍ means estimation and obligation, while ʿayn means the essence or individual, signifying obligation linked specifically to the person.
In the Sharia
What the Lawgiver decisively demands every accountable individual to perform, making its abandonment unconditionally sinful.
Technically
Hanafi

What is established by definitive evidence without ambiguity, required from every individual personally, such as prayer and fasting.

Reference: Al-Hidāyah · Radd al-Muḥtār

Maliki

The obligation whose address is directed to the person of every accountable individual, not fulfilled by another's action.

Reference: Al-Mudawwanah · Al-Sharḥ al-Kabīr · Mawāhib al-Jalīl

Shāfiʿī

What the Lawgiver made strictly mandatory upon every individual person without being waived by one for another.

Reference: Al-Umm · Minhāj al-Ṭālibīn · Al-Majmūʿ

Hanbali

The obligation binding upon every accountable individual personally in a decisive manner, where another's act does not suffice.

Reference: Al-Mughnī · Al-Kāfī · Kashshāf al-Qināʿ

Muqim

مُقِيمٌ · Муким · Muqim · Мукім
Brief definition
One who takes a place as a home and settles there without intending travel, so the rulings of residence in worship apply to them.
Linguistically
An active participle from aqama, whose root sense is stability, permanence, settling in a place, and refraining from departure.
In the Sharia
The person present at their place of obligation who is not travelling, so the full rulings of worship bind them, such as completing the prayer and the obligation of fasting.
Technically
Hanafi

One who intends to reside in a single suitable place for fifteen days or more, thereby taking the ruling of a homeland.

Reference: Al-Hidāyah · Radd al-Muḥtār · Badāʾiʿ al-Ṣanāʾiʿ

Maliki

One who intends to reside in a place for four full days, that is, twenty prayers, must pray in full.

Reference: Al-Sharḥ al-Kabīr · Ḥāshiyat al-Dasūqī · Al-Tāj wa-al-Iklīl

Shāfiʿī

Staying in an intended, suitable place for four full days, not counting the days of arrival and departure.

Reference: Al-Majmūʿ · Minhāj al-Ṭālibīn · Mughnī al-Muḥtāj

Hanbali

One who intends to reside in a place for more than four days, or an unrestricted residence not bound by a time limit.

Reference: Zād al-Mustaqniʿ · Kashshāf al-Qināʿ · Al-Inṣāf

Baligh (Pubescent / Adult)

بَالِغٌ · Балиг (Совершеннолетний) · Bálig (Adulto / Púber) · Баліг (Повнолітній / Статевозрілий)
Brief definition
One who has reached the age of legal responsibility through the appearance of the signs of puberty or by attaining the legally recognized age, so the Sharia rulings apply to them.
Linguistically
An active participle from balagha, whose root sense is reaching and arriving at a thing; one says balagha al-sabi when the boy reaches the threshold of legal responsibility.
In the Sharia
The individual who has passed from childhood to the stage of legal responsibility, becoming subject to accountability under the Sharia rulings and obligations.
Technically
Hanafi

One who has a wet dream, emits semen, or grows coarse pubic hair, or completes fifteen years for male and female alike, upon whom the acts of worship then become obligatory.

Reference: Al-Hidāyah · Radd al-Muḥtār · Badāʾiʿ al-Ṣanāʾiʿ

Maliki

One in whom one of the signs of puberty appears (such as a wet dream or the growth of coarse hair), or who completes eighteen lunar years.

Reference: Al-Sharḥ al-Kabīr · Ḥāshiyat al-Dasūqī · Mawāhib al-Jalīl

Shāfiʿī

One who completes exactly fifteen lunar years for male and female, or has a wet dream for one who has reached nine years.

Reference: Al-Majmūʿ · Minhāj al-Ṭālibīn · Mughnī al-Muḥtāj

Hanbali

One in whom one of three things occurs: reaching fifteen years, a wet dream, or the growth of coarse hair around the private parts (with menstruation added for the female).

Reference: Zād al-Mustaqniʿ · Kashshāf al-Qināʿ · Al-Inṣāf

Farḍ

فَرْضٌ · Фард · Farḍ · Фард
Brief definition
What the Lawgiver requires decisively: its doer is rewarded and the one who omits it sins.
Linguistically
Determining and cutting: from faraḍa, to fix a measure, and to notch a bow.
In the Sharia
What the Lawgiver decisively requires by a conclusive proof: its doer is rewarded and its omitter sins.
Technically
Hanafi

Established by a decisive proof admitting no doubt: its denier disbelieves, its omitter sins, and the act of worship is invalid without it.

Reference: Radd al-Muḥtār · Tabyīn al-Ḥaqāʾiq

Maliki

A synonym of wājib: what is decisively required, whose omitter sins and whose doer is rewarded.

Reference: Al-Sharḥ al-Kabīr · Ḥāshiyat al-Dasūqī

Shāfiʿī

A synonym of wājib, lāzim and ḥatm: one is rewarded for doing it and punished for omitting it.

Reference: Al-Majmūʿ · Mughnī al-Muḥtāj

Hanbali

In principle a synonym of wājib: what is decisively required, whose omitter sins.

Reference: Kashshāf al-Qināʿ · Sharḥ Muntahā al-Irādāt

Wājib

وَاجِبٌ · Ваджиб · Wājib · Ваджіб
Brief definition
What is decisively required; for the Ḥanafīs, a rank below farḍ.
Linguistically
Falling, binding and being established: from wajaba, said of a wall that falls and of the sun that sets.
In the Sharia
What the Lawgiver decisively requires: its omitter sins and its doer is rewarded.
Technically
Hanafi

A rank of its own below farḍ, established by a probable proof: its omitter sins but its denier does not disbelieve, and omitting it forgetfully is made good by the prostration of forgetfulness.

Reference: Radd al-Muḥtār · Tabyīn al-Ḥaqāʾiq

Maliki

A synonym of farḍ; there is no difference between them.

Reference: Al-Sharḥ al-Kabīr · Ḥāshiyat al-Dasūqī

Shāfiʿī

A synonym of farḍ; there is no difference between them.

Reference: Al-Majmūʿ · Mughnī al-Muḥtāj

Hanbali

In principle a synonym of farḍ, yet distinguished from it in particular cases: the wājibāt of the prayer and the ablution lapse through forgetfulness and are made good by the prostration, unlike the arkān.

Reference: Kashshāf al-Qināʿ · Sharḥ Muntahā al-Irādāt

sunnah

سُنَّةٌ · Сунна · sunnah · Сунна
Brief definition
What the Prophet ﷺ kept to without its being obligatory: its doer is rewarded and its omitter is not punished.
Linguistically
A way or course followed, whether good or bad; hence sanna sunnah, to set a course and follow it.
In the Sharia
What the Prophet ﷺ kept to without its being obligatory: its doer is rewarded and its omitter is not punished.
Technically
Hanafi

What the Prophet ﷺ kept to while omitting it at times to show it was permitted; the emphasised sunnah stands close to the wājib, and one who omits it without excuse does wrong and deserves blame, not punishment.

Reference: Radd al-Muḥtār · Tabyīn al-Ḥaqāʾiq

Maliki

What the Prophet ﷺ made manifest and kept to: above the mandūb and below the wājib, and it is called the emphasised sunnah.

Reference: Al-Sharḥ al-Kabīr · Ḥāshiyat al-Dasūqī

Shāfiʿī

A synonym of mandūb, mustaḥabb and taṭawwuʿ: its doer is rewarded and its omitter is not punished, and it varies in how emphasised it is.

Reference: Al-Majmūʿ · Mughnī al-Muḥtāj

Hanbali

A synonym of mandūb and mustaḥabb: its doer is rewarded and its omitter does not sin, and it varies in emphasis.

Reference: Kashshāf al-Qināʿ · Sharḥ Muntahā al-Irādāt

Mandūb

مَنْدُوبٌ · Мандуб · Mandūb · Мандуб
Brief definition
What the Lawgiver requires without insistence: its doer is rewarded and its omitter does not sin.
Linguistically
That which one is called to: from nadabahu, to summon someone to a matter.
In the Sharia
What the Lawgiver requires without insistence: its doer is rewarded and its omitter does not sin.
Technically
Hanafi

Below the sunnah: what the Prophet ﷺ did once or twice without keeping to it, also called nafl and adab.

Reference: Radd al-Muḥtār · Tabyīn al-Ḥaqāʾiq

Maliki

A synonym of mustaḥabb and nāfilah: below the sunnah in emphasis.

Reference: Al-Sharḥ al-Kabīr · Ḥāshiyat al-Dasūqī

Shāfiʿī

A synonym of sunnah, mustaḥabb and taṭawwuʿ; there is no difference between them.

Reference: Al-Majmūʿ · Mughnī al-Muḥtāj

Hanbali

A synonym of sunnah, mustaḥabb and taṭawwuʿ.

Reference: Kashshāf al-Qināʿ · Sharḥ Muntahā al-Irādāt

Makrūh

مَكْرُوهٌ · Макрух · Makrūh · Макрух
Brief definition
What the Lawgiver asks to be left without insistence: one who leaves it in obedience is rewarded, and one who does it does not sin.
Linguistically
The disliked and burdensome: the opposite of the beloved, from karāhah, the opposite of contentment.
In the Sharia
What the Lawgiver asks to be left without insistence: one who leaves it in obedience is rewarded, and one who does it does not sin.
Technically
Hanafi

Two kinds: prohibitively disliked — nearer to the forbidden, its avoidance established by a probable proof, and its doer sins; and mildly disliked — nearer to the permitted, and its doer does not sin.

Reference: Radd al-Muḥtār · Tabyīn al-Ḥaqāʾiq

Maliki

A single rank: what is asked to be left without insistence; its doer does not sin and one who leaves it in obedience is rewarded.

Reference: Al-Sharḥ al-Kabīr · Ḥāshiyat al-Dasūqī

Shāfiʿī

A single rank: one is rewarded for leaving it and not punished for doing it.

Reference: Al-Majmūʿ · Mughnī al-Muḥtāj

Hanbali

A single rank: what is forbidden without insistence; one who leaves it is rewarded and one who does it does not sin.

Reference: Kashshāf al-Qināʿ · Sharḥ Muntahā al-Irādāt

Ḥarām

حَرَامٌ · Харам · Ḥarām · Харам
Brief definition
What the Lawgiver decisively forbids: its doer sins and one who leaves it in obedience is rewarded.
Linguistically
The forbidden: from ḥaram, the sanctuary that may not be violated, and from it iḥrām, the pilgrim's abstention from what is barred.
In the Sharia
What the Lawgiver decisively forbids: its doer sins and one who leaves it in obedience is rewarded.
Technically
Hanafi

Whose avoidance is established by a decisive proof: its denier disbelieves and its doer sins — and below it stands the prohibitively disliked.

Reference: Radd al-Muḥtār · Tabyīn al-Ḥaqāʾiq

Maliki

What is decisively to be left: its doer sins and its leaver is rewarded.

Reference: Al-Sharḥ al-Kabīr · Ḥāshiyat al-Dasūqī

Shāfiʿī

What is decisively to be left: its doer is punished and its leaver is rewarded.

Reference: Al-Majmūʿ · Mughnī al-Muḥtāj

Hanbali

What is decisively to be left: its doer sins and one who leaves it in obedience is rewarded.

Reference: Kashshāf al-Qināʿ · Sharḥ Muntahā al-Irādāt

Mubāḥ

مُبَاحٌ · Мубах · Mubāḥ · Мубах
Brief definition
What the Lawgiver leaves to the person's choice: in itself it carries neither reward nor punishment.
Linguistically
The declared and permitted: from bāḥa, to make a thing known, and abāḥa, to allow it.
In the Sharia
What the Lawgiver leaves to the person's choice: in itself it carries neither reward nor punishment.
Technically
Hanafi

What one is free to do or leave, carrying neither reward nor punishment; also called ḥalāl and jāʾiz.

Reference: Radd al-Muḥtār · Tabyīn al-Ḥaqāʾiq

Maliki

Whose two sides are equal in the Law: no reward for doing it and no sin in leaving it.

Reference: Al-Sharḥ al-Kabīr · Ḥāshiyat al-Dasūqī

Shāfiʿī

That which in itself draws neither praise nor blame, though one may be rewarded for it through intention.

Reference: Al-Majmūʿ · Mughnī al-Muḥtāj

Hanbali

Whose doer is neither praised nor blamed; it is the permitted and the lawful.

Reference: Kashshāf al-Qināʿ · Sharḥ Muntahā al-Irādāt

Rukn

رُكْنٌ · Рукн · Rukn · Рукн
Brief definition
What forms part of the very substance of an act of worship, so that the act does not come about without it.
Linguistically
The strongest side of a thing, the side one leans on; hence the Qurʾānic phrase about taking refuge in a strong support.
In the Sharia
What forms part of the very substance of an act of worship, so that the act does not come about without it.
Technically
Hanafi

Part of the substance, entering into the reality of the act of worship; it never lapses, and it stands opposite the condition, which lies outside it.

Reference: Radd al-Muḥtār · Tabyīn al-Ḥaqāʾiq

Maliki

Part of the reality, which they also call a farḍ; it lapses neither through forgetfulness nor deliberately.

Reference: Al-Sharḥ al-Kabīr · Ḥāshiyat al-Dasūqī

Shāfiʿī

Part of the substance; it lapses neither through forgetfulness nor deliberately, and the prostration of forgetfulness does not make it good.

Reference: Al-Majmūʿ · Mughnī al-Muḥtāj

Hanbali

Part of the substance; it does not lapse through forgetfulness — and this is where they distinguish it from the wājib.

Reference: Kashshāf al-Qināʿ · Sharḥ Muntahā al-Irādāt

Sharṭ

شَرْطٌ · Шарт · Sharṭ · Шарт
Brief definition
That whose absence entails absence, while its presence entails neither presence nor absence; and it lies outside the substance.
Linguistically
A necessary sign; hence the ashrāṭ of the Hour, meaning its signs.
In the Sharia
That whose absence entails absence, while its presence entails neither presence nor absence; and it lies outside the substance.
Technically
Hanafi

That on which the validity of the worship depends while lying outside its substance; it must precede the act and continue through it, such as purity and covering.

Reference: Radd al-Muḥtār · Tabyīn al-Ḥaqāʾiq

Maliki

That whose absence entails absence while its presence entails no presence; and it lies outside the substance.

Reference: Al-Sharḥ al-Kabīr · Ḥāshiyat al-Dasūqī

Shāfiʿī

That on which validity depends while lying outside the substance, and it must be maintained until the act is complete.

Reference: Al-Majmūʿ · Mughnī al-Muḥtāj

Hanbali

That without which the worship is not valid while lying outside it; it differs from the rukn in that it precedes the act and continues alongside it.

Reference: Kashshāf al-Qināʿ · Sharḥ Muntahā al-Irādāt

The Trinity

التَّثْلِيث · Троица · La Trinidad · Трійця
Brief definition
A Christian doctrine holding God to be three hypostases in one essence — Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Qurʾān denies it and calls to a pure monotheism.
Linguistically
Making a thing threefold, from “three”.

Hypostases

الأقَانِيم · Ипостаси · Hipóstasis · Іпостасі

Singular hypostasis: in Christian usage, one of the three persons in which they hold the one divine essence to subsist.

The detailed definition is being added

The Church Councils

المَجَامِع الكَنَسِيَّة · Церковные соборы · Los concilios eclesiásticos · Церковні собори

Assemblies of churchmen at which doctrine was settled by vote. The best known are Nicaea in 325, which decided the divinity of the Messiah; Constantinople in 381, the divinity of the Holy Spirit; and Chalcedon in 451, the two natures.

The detailed definition is being added

The Church

الكَنِيسَة · Церковь · La Iglesia · Церква

Used both of the Christian place of worship and of the religious institution that settles doctrine and interprets the text — the second sense is what is meant in the critique of religions.

The detailed definition is being added

Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant

الأُرْثُوذُكْس والكَاثُولِيك والبُرُوتِسْتَانْت · Православные, католики и протестанты · Ortodoxos, católicos y protestantes · Православні, католики та протестанти

The three major Christian communions. The Eastern parted from the Western in 1054, and Protestantism broke from Catholicism in 1517 — both splits over the authority of the pope and the source of law, not the nature of the Messiah, for the three agree on the rulings of the early councils.

The detailed definition is being added

The Torah and the Gospel

التَّوْرَاة والإنْجِيل · Тора и Евангелие · La Torá y el Evangelio · Тора та Євангеліє

The Torah is what was sent down to Moses, and the Gospel what was sent down to Jesus, peace be upon them. Muslims believe in what was revealed of each, and hold that what people have today has been altered.

The detailed definition is being added

The Old and the New Testament

العَهْد القَدِيم والعَهْد الجَدِيد · Ветхий и Новый Завет · El Antiguo y el Nuevo Testamento · Старий і Новий Заповіт

The two parts of the Christian Bible: the Old contains the books of the Jews, and the New the four Gospels and the letters that accompany them.

The detailed definition is being added

Alteration of Scripture

التَّحْرِيف · Искажение Писания · La alteración de la Escritura · Перекручування Писання
Brief definition
Changing the text of a revealed book by addition, omission or a shift of meaning. Muslims hold this of the earlier scriptures, and the divergence of the manuscripts themselves bears it out.
Linguistically
Bending and turning aside; from ḥarafa, to incline a thing.

The Manuscripts

المَخْطُوطَات · Рукописи · Los manuscritos · Рукописи

The hand-written copies that have come down of the ancient books. Since the Christians had no unbroken chain of transmission, the divergence among the manuscripts is itself the evidence of what entered the text.

The detailed definition is being added

Aramaic

الآرَامِيَّة · Арамейский язык · El arameo · Арамейська мова

The language the Messiah, peace be upon him, and the people of Syria spoke in his time. None of the Gospels was written down in it; they were written in Greek decades after him.

The detailed definition is being added

Chain of Transmission and Mass Transmission

السَّنَد والتَّوَاتُر · Цепь передачи и массовая передача · La cadena de transmisión y la transmisión masiva · Ланцюг передачі та масова передача

The chain is the named line of transmitters who passed the text on one from another. Mass transmission is its being carried in every generation by a body too large to have agreed upon a lie — by it the Qurʾān was preserved, and by its absence alteration entered other scriptures.

The detailed definition is being added

Innate Disposition

الفِطْرَة · Врождённое естество · La disposición innata · Вроджене єство
Brief definition
The original constitution people are created upon, carrying a leaning toward knowing the Creator and holding Him one, before anyone teaches them.
Linguistically
Splitting and beginning; from faṭara, to cleave a thing and originate it.

The Ḥanīfiyyah

الحَنِيفِيَّة · Ханифия · La ḥanīfiyya · Ганіфія
Brief definition
The way of Abraham, peace be upon him: devoting worship to God alone and turning away from all besides Him. The Qurʾān describes the Muslims by it.
Linguistically
From ḥanaf: inclining away from falsehood toward the truth.

Revelation

الوَحْي · Откровение · La revelación · Одкровення
Brief definition
God's making known to His prophet what He wills to convey, whether through an angel or without an intermediary. It is the source of every revealed law.
Linguistically
Making known swiftly and in secret.

The Angels

المَلَائِكَة · Ангелы · Los ángeles · Ангели

A creation made of light, described neither as male nor female, who do not disobey God in what He commands them. Each has a charge: one bears the revelation, another is charged with rain and growth.

The detailed definition is being added

The Jinn

الجَانّ · Джинны · Los yinn · Джини
Brief definition
A creation made of fire, held responsible as humans are, some believing and some not, hidden from sight. They were created before Adam, peace be upon him.
Linguistically
From janna, to cover; so named because they are veiled from sight.

A Smokeless Flame

مَارِج مِن نَار · Чистое пламя без дыма · Una llama sin humo · Чисте полум'я без диму

The pure tip of a flame with no smoke in it, from which the jinn were created.

The detailed definition is being added

The Throne

العَرْش · Трон · El Trono · Трон

The greatest and highest of created things, which God made before the heavens and the earth, and which was upon the water. Its manner is not known.

The detailed definition is being added

The Preserved Tablet

اللَّوْح المَحْفُوظ · Хранимая скрижаль · La Tabla Preservada · Збережена скрижаль

A book with God in which the decrees of creation were written fifty thousand years before He created the heavens and the earth.

The detailed definition is being added

Beginninglessness

الأَزَل · Безначальность · La eternidad sin principio · Безпочатковість

That a thing has no beginning. It belongs to God alone; everything besides Him is originated and preceded by non-existence.

The detailed definition is being added

Guardian over Scripture

المُهَيْمِن · Хранитель Писания · Guardián de la Escritura · Охоронець Писання
Brief definition
A description of the Qurʾān: that it is witness over the books before it and judge upon them, confirming what remains of them as revealed and disclosing what alteration has entered them.
Linguistically
From haymanah: watching over, guarding and bearing witness upon a thing.

Ṭahūr

الطَّهُور · Тахур · Ṭahūr · Тагур
Brief definition
Water that is pure in itself and purifying of other things: the water with which ritual impurity may be lifted and filth removed.
Linguistically
An intensive form from ṭahārah, denoting that from which purification repeatedly proceeds — as ṣabūr denotes one from whom patience repeatedly proceeds.
In the Sharia
Water remaining in its original created state, unaltered by anything that would strip it of the name of unrestricted water; it lifts ritual impurity and removes filth.
Technically
Hanafi

Unrestricted water not yet used to lift ritual impurity and not mixed with anything that overpowers it; used water is pure but not purifying, and a large body of water is not made impure by anything unless it changes.

Reference: Al-Hidāyah · Radd al-Muḥtār

Maliki

Water remaining in the qualities of its creation; nothing takes it out of purifying status except a change in one of its qualities — colour, taste or odour — by something pure or impure mixed into it, with no distinction between a small and a large quantity.

Reference: Al-Sharḥ al-Kabīr · Mawāhib al-Jalīl

Shāfiʿī

Unrestricted water on which the name of water falls without qualification, so long as it has not been used to lift ritual impurity, nor changed markedly by a pure admixture, nor been of less than two qullahs and met with filth.

Reference: Minhāj al-Ṭālibīn · Mughnī al-Muḥtāj

Hanbali

Water remaining in its created state in reality or in effect, not changed by a pure admixture, not used to lift ritual impurity or remove filth, and not of less than two qullahs while meeting with filth.

Reference: Zād al-Mustaqniʿ · Kashshāf al-Qināʿ

Ṭāhir

الطَّاهِر · Тахир · Ṭāhir · Тагір
Brief definition
That which is clean in itself of filth, and may be used for food, drink and clothing, yet does not serve to lift ritual impurity.
Linguistically
That which is free of defilement; the active participle of ṭahura, to be clean and free of dirt.
In the Sharia
The counterpart of the impure: everything not ruled impure by the Law; and if it is water, it is the pure-but-not-purifying — drunk and cooked with, but not used for ablution.
Technically
Hanafi

Water used to lift ritual impurity or in an act of devotion, or mixed with something pure that overpowered it and took it out of its nature, or pressed from a plant: pure, yet it does not lift ritual impurity.

Reference: Al-Hidāyah · Radd al-Muḥtār

Maliki

Water changed by something pure that usually adheres to it, such as saffron or soap; used for ordinary purposes, but not for purification.

Reference: Al-Sharḥ al-Kabīr · Ḥāshiyat al-Dasūqī

Shāfiʿī

Water used in an obligatory purification, or changed by a pure admixture so that the name of water no longer applies to it unqualified: pure in itself, not purifying of other things.

Reference: Minhāj al-Ṭālibīn · Mughnī al-Muḥtāj

Hanbali

Water changed by a pure admixture, or used to lift ritual impurity or in a recommended bath, or into which a person newly woken from the night's sleep dipped his hand before washing it: pure, lifting no ritual impurity and removing no filth.

Reference: Zād al-Mustaqniʿ · Al-Inṣāf

Taḥarrī

التَّحَرِّي · Тахарри · Taḥarrī · Тахаррі
Brief definition
Striving to reach what is right when matters are indistinguishable, by examining the signs and indications until one of them becomes the more probable.
Linguistically
Seeking the more fitting and the more suitable; from taḥarrā, to aim carefully at a matter and pursue what is nearest to right in it.
In the Sharia
Exercising judgement to identify the right one among indistinguishable options by predominant supposition — as in seeking the qibla, or the pure among garments and vessels; legitimate when certainty cannot be had.
Technically
Hanafi

Applied to the qibla when signs are lacking, to indistinguishable garments, and to vessels when the pure outnumber the impure; but if pure and impure are equal, or the impure outnumber, he does not use it and performs dry ablution instead.

Reference: Al-Hidāyah · Radd al-Muḥtār

Maliki

Applied to the qibla and to garments; but with indistinguishable vessels he does not use it, rather performing ablution from each vessel and praying, so that he prays as many times as there are vessels, and one more.

Reference: Al-Sharḥ al-Kabīr · Al-Tāj wa-al-Iklīl

Shāfiʿī

Called exercising judgement by signs; applied to the qibla, to garments and to vessels when each option has a presumption of purity — not to what is impure by origin, such as urine and water together.

Reference: Minhāj al-Ṭālibīn · Al-Majmūʿ

Hanbali

Applied to the qibla when signs are lacking, but not to indistinguishable vessels and garments: he avoids the vessels and performs dry ablution, and prays in the garments as many times as the impure ones number, and one more.

Reference: Zād al-Mustaqniʿ · Kashshāf al-Qināʿ

Farīḍah and Nāfilah

الفَرِيضَة والنَّافِلَة · Фарида и нафиля · Farīḍah y nāfilah · Фаріда та нафіля
Brief definition
The farīḍah is what God has made binding; the nāfilah is what exceeds the farīḍah of acts by which one draws near to Him, with no sin in leaving it.
Linguistically
Farīḍah is from farḍ, cutting and apportioning; nāfilah is from nafl, increase and spoil.
In the Sharia
The farīḍah is what a decisive demand attaches to by proof, such as the five daily prayers; the nāfilah is what is asked for without insistence, beyond the obligatory, such as the regular sunnah prayers and the night vigil.
Technically
Hanafi

A distinction is drawn between the farḍ, by decisive proof, and the wājib, by probable proof — such as the witr prayer; the nāfilah includes the emphasised and non-emphasised sunnahs and the recommended acts.

Reference: Al-Hidāyah · Marāqī al-Falāḥ

Maliki

The farīḍah and the wājib are one; the nāfilah is of three ranks — the sunnah, such as the witr; the faḍīlah; and the unrestricted nāfilah.

Reference: Al-Sharḥ al-Kabīr · Mawāhib al-Jalīl

Shāfiʿī

The farīḍah and the wājib are synonyms; the nāfilah covers everything other than the obligatory, whether regular sunnahs or otherwise, and is synonymous with sunnah and mandūb.

Reference: Minhāj al-Ṭālibīn · Mughnī al-Muḥtāj

Hanbali

The farīḍah and the wājib are one in principle; the nāfilah is what is other than the obligatory — the regular sunnahs, the witr and the tarāwīḥ — the most emphasised being the witr.

Reference: Zād al-Mustaqniʿ · Al-Inṣāf

Qaḍāʾ

القَضَاء · Када · Qaḍāʾ · Када
Brief definition
Performing an act of worship after the time appointed for it by the Law has passed; its counterpart is adāʾ, performing it within its time.
Linguistically
Completing, finishing and being done with a thing; hence the Qurʾānic usage in Sūrat al-Nisāʾ, verse 103.
In the Sharia
Performing a time-bound act of worship after its time has passed, whether for an excuse or otherwise — such as a missed prayer, or the fast of Ramadan for one who broke it.
Technically
Hanafi

Delivering the like of what was due after the time has passed; the missed prayers must be made up in order if they are fewer than six, so the current prayer is not performed before them unless the time is short.

Reference: Al-Hidāyah · Tabyīn al-Ḥaqāʾiq

Maliki

Performing the act after its time; the few missed prayers — four or fewer — must be ordered with the current one, and missed prayers must be made up promptly.

Reference: Al-Sharḥ al-Kabīr · Ḥāshiyat al-Dasūqī

Shāfiʿī

Performing all or part of the act after its time; what was missed without excuse must be made up promptly, and ordering the missed prayers and placing them before the current one is recommended if its time is ample.

Reference: Minhāj al-Ṭālibīn · Al-Majmūʿ

Hanbali

Performing the act after its time; missed prayers must be made up promptly and in order, however many, unless he fears missing the current prayer or would be harmed by it.

Reference: Zād al-Mustaqniʿ · Al-Inṣāf