Glossary
IIFA
The International Islamic Fiqh Academy, the OIC's own council of scholars, whose resolutions carry great weight across the Muslim world.
مجمع الفقه الإسلامي الدوليMajma' al-Fiqh al-Islāmī al-Duwalī
The Academy is an organ of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and issues numbered resolutions from periodic sessions. Its rulings are persuasive rather than binding law, but they are the closest thing to a global scholarly consensus position. Three of its resolutions matter for cards: No. 108 (2/12) on unsecured credit cards in 2000, No. 109 (3/12) on penalty clauses in the same session, and No. 179 (5/19) on organised tawarruq in 2009. Note that the Academy's own English site numbers the tawarruq resolution 179 (5/19); some secondary sources transpose it.
Related terms
AAOIFIThe Bahrain-based body that writes the standards most Islamic banks are measured against.FatwaA scholar's or council's formal answer to a religious question.TawarruqBuying something on credit and selling it on for cash, so you end up with money now and a bigger bill later without paying interest.RibaAny extra amount a lender gets back on top of what was lent, which Islamic law forbids.