شورى
Shūrā
Mutual consultation in decisions of the community, praised in the Quran (42:38).
What it means
The Quran praises believers “whose affair is a matter of consultation among themselves” (42:38) and tells the Prophet: “consult them in the matter” (3:159), though he is the one chosen. Abu Bakr, Umar and Uthman were each chosen by a form of consultation. Modern scholars differ on how consultation relates to elected assemblies.
Term and Arabic as listed in Ismail al Faruqi, Toward Islamic English (International Institute of Islamic Thought, 1995), p. 37, listed as SHŪRĀ. The definition is restated here.