01 Multiple choice — 16 questions
One attempt per option. A correct answer locks the question and explains itself; a wrong one only disables that option, so you can keep trying. The running score sits at the bottom of the page.
02 Written questions — 9 questions
Answer each in full before opening its model answer. The model answers are written at the length a full-mark response needs.
1. Define "Contemporary Financial Transactions" and name the four cases the definition covers.
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They are financial cases which emerged in the contemporary age — cases that changed in their rules because of progress or changed circumstances, and cases that bear new names, or consist of many old forms.
The four cases are: (1) cases unknown in earlier ages (corporate companies, banknotes); (2) rules updated due to progress or changed circumstances (the Property Registry Office replacing the handing over of the key); (3) new names for the same old ruling (bank interest is still riba); (4) transactions formulated from several old forms combined (murabaha, leasing contracts merging sale and rent).
2. List the four categories of transactions with one example each.
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Bargains — sale and leasing. Donations — grants, will, and endowment (waqf). Dropping — abolishing or ending a debt. Documentation — mortgage, bail (warranty), and draft (transfer of debt).
Dropping ends a right; documentation protects one.
3. State the four characteristics of transactions in Islamic jurisprudence, and give the evidence for the first one.
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(1) Based on general bases and principles rather than exhaustive detail; (2) the original rule is permissibility (al-ibāḥah); (3) based on reasons and benefits; (4) both flexible and constant.
Evidence for the first: An-Nisaa 4:29 (wealth is consumed only in lawful business by mutual consent); Al-Baqarah 2:275 ("Allah has permitted trade and has forbidden interest"); and the hadith narrated by Ibn Omar that the Prophet ﷺ prohibited the gharar sale — a transaction with no guarantee the seller can deliver, such as a runaway slave, fish still in the sea, or an unborn camel's fetus.
4. Explain the difference between the default ruling for acts of worship and for transactions, and why the difference exists.
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Acts of worship are restricted by default: nothing is added unless a text permits it, which prevents people inventing new religious practice. Transactions and contracts are permitted by default: nothing is forbidden unless a truthful, clear text prohibits it, so an absence of prohibiting evidence means the transaction is permissible.
This is what allows jurisprudents to accommodate newly emerged financial forms without needing a specific text for each one.
5. Trace a single thread through the whole course: how does the fiqh definition of property (māl) connect Lecture 1's characteristics to Lecture 3's incorporeal rights?
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Lecture 1 establishes that transactions rest on general bases and principles rather than exhaustive detail, that permissibility is their original rule, and that their rulings are based on reasons and benefits. Those three characteristics together mean a jurisprudent does not need a text naming a new instrument in order to rule on it.
Lecture 3 then applies exactly that machinery. Property (māl) is defined by a principle — recognised value among people plus lawful utility — not by an enumerated list of physical objects. Because the standard is a principle, an intangible creation satisfies it, so copyright, patent, and trade name are property, may be sold, bought, or leased, and are financial rights safeguarded by Shariah.
6. Define transactions, finance and contemporary, then classify sale, waqf, debt forgiveness and mortgage.
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Transactions split into four categories
7. Explain all four cases included in contemporary financial transactions, with an example distinguishing a changed procedure from a changed name.
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| # | Case | What changed | Textbook example |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cases unknown in earlier ages | The transaction itself is new | Corporate companies, banknotes |
| 2 | Rules updated due to progress | The procedure | Handing over the key to transfer property is no longer required now that Property Registry Offices exist |
| 3 | New names, same old ruling | Only the label | Bank "interest" is still riba |
| 4 | Formulated from several old forms | Classical contracts combined | Murabaha; leasing contracts merging selling and renting |
8. Name the four relevant terms used for newly emerged issues requiring a ruling.
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Four near-synonyms jurisprudents use for "a newly emerged issue that needs a ruling." Recognise them as one set; you are not asked to split hairs between them.
9. Explain the four characteristics of financial transactions, their evidence, and the contrast with acts of worship.
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1 — Based on general bases and principles
Same divine source as worship (Qur'an + Sunnah), but legislated as broad principles and integrity rules rather than exhaustive detail — deliberately leaving room for ijtihad on newly introduced forms.
b. Al-Baqarah 2:275 — "Allah has permitted trade and has forbidden interest (riba)."
c. Hadith (Ibn Omar) — the Prophet ﷺ prohibited the gharar sale: no guarantee the seller can deliver (a runaway slave, fish still in the sea, an unborn camel).
2 — The original rule is permissibility (al-ibāḥah)
| Acts of worship | Transactions / contracts | |
|---|---|---|
| Default | Restricted | Permitted |
| Rule | Nothing added unless a text permits it | Nothing forbidden unless a truthful, clear text prohibits it |
| Reason | Avoids inventing new religious practice (bid'ah) | No evidence of prohibition = permissible |
3 — Based on reasons and benefits (ta'līl / maṣlaḥah)
Rulings on transactions are caused and benefit-bearing, which is exactly why they can be extended by analogy to cases the texts never named.
4 — Both flexible and constant
Constant in its fixed principles and prohibitions; flexible in the forms and procedures those principles are applied to.