There is a powerful idea in the juristic notion that all matters in relation to rights of man ( Adami ) or humankind (as opposed to haqq Allah ) is the subject matter of muamalat (transactions) and thus negotiable.

The Muslim contract was a great invention and it facilitated ordinary dealings and commerce beyond the shores of the great Muslim empire. We take the contract so much for granted today.

In the classical Mejelle Ahkame Adliye , the first compilation of an Ottoman Muslim civil code, it is stated that the aqad or concluded bargain is composed of the combination of an offer ( ijab ) and an acceptance ( qabul ).

This invention was extended to the aqad nikah (marriage contract). When a theologian friend reminded me that the Muslim marriage was derived from a sales-and-purchase agreement, we fell about laughing. The marriage contract has its basic foundations from a contract for the sales of goods.