FIOR. - An Arabic word that literally means “expedient,” “reasonableness.” In its earliest usage it denoted, in contrast to “ita” (“science” in the sense of certain knowledge of specific provisions derivable from the Koran and tradition), autonomous, logical consideration based on personal opinion. In a broader sense, f. subsequently came to denote Muslim “jurisprudence” in general.
It extends very broadly, however, to encompass all relations of religious, state, and civil life. It includes the laws governing man’s ritual relationship with God (ibāāt), the entire field of inheritance, family, property, and obligations law (legal relations conditioned by social life, mu'āmalāt), as well as criminal law and procedure, the laws concerning the government and administration of the State, and the law of war, all considered according to the rule of a law recognized as “religious.”