A general shari’ah maxim that all commercial and financial activities are originally permissible by the primary sources of shari’ah, unless proved to be otherwise. For instance, shari’ah does not forbid any type of sales (ba’i) insofar as it constitutes no violation to the principles and rules of fiqh al-mu’amalat. The term “ibahah asliyah” derives from the rule stating that “al-asl fi al-mua’malat al-ibahah” (i.e., in essence, all types of economic transactions are considered permissible).

Ibahah asliyah is one type of ibahah as fuqaha usually divide ibahah into ibahah asliyah and ibahah shar’iyyah. The former is one for which there is no definitive “prohibiting” text (nass) in the primary sources of Islamic law. The latter arises due to some emerging circumstances that render an impermissible thing or act permissible, subject to specific stipulations.

Ibahah asliyah is Arabic (إباحة أصلية) for presumed permissibility, basic permissibility, or original permissibility.