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gharar

English translation: ambiguity/uncertainty

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Arabic term or phrase:gharar
English translation:ambiguity/uncertainty
Entered by: Conor McAuley

10:54 May 25, 2005
Arabic to English translations [PRO]
Law/Patents - Religion
Arabic term or phrase: gharar
In a text regarding Algeria in French:

"en raison du lucre illicite et l’incertitude qu’elle génèrent se heurtent précisément au « principe de l’équivalence des prestations », et à son corollaire la prohibition du « ***gharar*** » (aléa)."

Random events?
Conor McAuley
France
Local time: 22:45
ambiguity/uncertainty
Explanation:
This term is used a lot in Islamic law and finance concerning contracts and how to draft them.

http://www.amanahfinance.hsbc.com/amanah/hsbcaf.nsf/Pages/Gl...
Gharar: Uncertainty. One of three fundamental prohibitions in Islamic finance (the other two being riba and maysir). Gharar is a sophisticated concept that covers certain types of uncertainty or contingency in a contract. The prohibition on gharar is often used as the grounds for criticism of conventional financial practices such as short selling, speculation and derivatives.

http://www.berwinleighton.com/news/pdf_files/Islamicfinancec...
It involves the element of uncertainty (gharar)

I'm not sure how to tie it in exactly to your sentence though. Does this make sense to you?
Selected response from:

Aisha Maniar
Grading comment
Thanks again Aisha! I used the website extract as you posted as a footnore, slightly edited. Apologies to Hazem - I needed a broad definition of the concept in the context I had, not necessarily the defintion of "gharar" in a finance context. Thanks to all.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +4ambiguity/uncertainty
Aisha Maniar
4 +2imperilment
Hazem Hamdy
4aleatory
Randa Farhat


Discussion entries: 3





  

Answers


11 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +4
ambiguity/uncertainty


Explanation:
This term is used a lot in Islamic law and finance concerning contracts and how to draft them.

http://www.amanahfinance.hsbc.com/amanah/hsbcaf.nsf/Pages/Gl...
Gharar: Uncertainty. One of three fundamental prohibitions in Islamic finance (the other two being riba and maysir). Gharar is a sophisticated concept that covers certain types of uncertainty or contingency in a contract. The prohibition on gharar is often used as the grounds for criticism of conventional financial practices such as short selling, speculation and derivatives.

http://www.berwinleighton.com/news/pdf_files/Islamicfinancec...
It involves the element of uncertainty (gharar)

I'm not sure how to tie it in exactly to your sentence though. Does this make sense to you?

Aisha Maniar
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 59
Grading comment
Thanks again Aisha! I used the website extract as you posted as a footnore, slightly edited. Apologies to Hazem - I needed a broad definition of the concept in the context I had, not necessarily the defintion of "gharar" in a finance context. Thanks to all.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Fuad Yahya: It is closer to the concept of "irresponsible risk." Every business transaction involves some risk, but some risks are unreasonable and irresponsible.
4 hrs
  -> yes, depending on the context, but an explanatory translation is required for such a term in any case
agree  Muna Abdi
8 hrs
  -> thank you
agree  Mohamed Gaafar
20 hrs
  -> thank you
agree  Nancy Eweiss
21 hrs
  -> thank you
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

39 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
imperilment


Explanation:
This is one of my upstream translations. Having done exhaustive research on this term while translating some Islamic financial material, I reached a conclusion that "uncertainty" represents only one aspect of "gharar", the broad indication of which is:
الخطر والتعريض للهلكة، وبيع الغرر ما يجهله المتبايعان أو ما لا يوثق بتسليمه كبيع السمك في الماء أو الطير في الهواء. (المعجم الوسيط)
Imperilment seemed to represent a closer match in contexts that are broader than selling transactions, e.g. in Islamic discourse about commercial insurance contracts, والله تعالى أعلم.


    Reference: http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=39358&dict=CA...
Hazem Hamdy
Egypt
Local time: 22:45
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in ArabicArabic
PRO pts in category: 16

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Fuad Yahya: You are right in seeking a more precise term than "uncertainty." In my opinion, the concept is closer to "irresponsible risk." Every business transaction involves some risk, but some risks are unreasonable and irresponsible.
4 hrs
agree  Nancy Eweiss
20 hrs
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1 day 2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
aleatory


Explanation:
such as in "aleatory contract"

available in al-Mawrid


Randa Farhat
Lebanon
Local time: 23:45
Native speaker of: Arabic
PRO pts in category: 72
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