According to Islamic Jurisprudence, laws may be classified into
two main categories: the “Statutory" laws and the “Instituted"
laws.
The “Statutory” laws are divided into five categories:
Mandatory
(Wajib)
An obligatory act - one must do.
Prohibited
(Haram)
A forbidden or illegal act - one must
abstain from committing such action.
Desirable
(Mutahab)
A desirable but not obligatory act - one is
encouraged to do.
Undesirable
(Makruh)
An undesirable but not forbidden act - one
is discouraged to do.
Permissible
(Mubah)
Any act which is neither mandatory nor
prohibited and one is therefore free to do
or not do.
The “Instituted" laws are those that are outside the bounds of
“Statutory” laws.9