Islam Glossary

ab (Heb., "father [of]"; see Arabic abu^) Used in numerous phrases and constructions, such as ab bet din(lit. "father of/in the house of judgment") for one of the presiders in the Jewish sanhedrin (see also bet/beit). See also abbot.

abu^ (Arabic, "father [of]"; see Heb. ab) Often used in Arabic naming conventions. See also ibn, bint, `abd.

`Abba^sid (Abbasid).
The second major Muslim dynasty (following the Umayyads), centered in Iraq (Baghdad, 750-1258 CE), under which Islamic civilization achieved maturity.

`abd (Arabic, "servant [of]") Often used in Arabic naming conventions. See also ibn, bint, abu^.

adha^n (Arabic, "call") The adhan is the Muslim call to prayer (salat) by the muadhdhin from the mosque 5 times each day.

AH AH = anno hegirae or year after the Hijra on 16 July 622 CE; the years AH (or before H) are Muslim lunar years (see calendar)

`Alawi^s (Arabic "of `Ali") An Islamic group in Syria (ruling party), Lebanon and Turkey with affinities to Shiite groups such as the Seveners and the Druzes. See also gnostic, syncretism.

`Ali Son-in-law (husband of Fatima) and cousin of Muhammad, and the 4th of the "rightly guided caliphs," having moved his capital from Medina to Kufa in Iraq. Ali was murdered by a Kharijite in 661 CE, and is especially revered by Shiites.

ans. a^r (Arabic, "helpers") Muhammad's Medinan supporters in the early establishment of his Arabic power base are called the ansar.

arka^n (Arabic, "pillars") See the pillars of Islam (din).

assassins (from Arabic h.ashsha^shi^n, "hashish users")
A general term for persons who justify terminating the lives of their opponents on political and/or religious grounds, derived from the name given by crusaders to the Islamic Arabic Shiite Niza^ri^s in the 11th-12th centuries.

Ayatollah (from Arabic <a>a^yat Alla^h</>, "sign of God") A title used in Iranian Islamic Shiism for highly honored members of the ulama.

baraka(h) (Arabic; see also Heb. berakah) In Islam, "blessing" or "spiritual power" believed to reside in holy places and persons, especially the Sufi master.

Bakr Abu^ Bakr was a father-in-law of Muhammad and became the first caliph, under whom the collection of Quranic materials was expedited.

Basmala or Bismillah (Arabic) The name for the sacred Islamic invocation "In the name of God, the merciful, the compassionate" bi'smilla^h al-rahma^n al-rah.i^m that introduces each Quranic sura (except sura 9) and is uttered frequently by pious Muslims, as before meals, before writing something down or making a speech, before conjugal relations, before reciting the Quran, and at other times.

bat (Heb., "daughter," "daughter of"; Arabic bint) Used frequently in "matronymics" (naming by identity of mother); see also ben, *bar, ibn.

bid`a (Arabic, "innovation") The term bida came to be used in Islam for "heresy."

bint (Arabic, "daughter," "daughter of"; Hebrew bat) Used frequently in "matronymics" (naming by identity of mother); see also ben, *bar, ibn.

calendar The Islamic calendar is "lunar," based on the relationship of earth and moon (354 days in a year). Thus every 100 solar years are equal to about 103 lunar years. Muslim calendric observances include fasting during the month of Ramadan, followed by the feast of fast breaking (id al-fitr), and the time for pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj) and associated practices such as the Feast of Sacrifice.

caliph (Arabic khila^fah, "successor, deputy, vicegerent") In the Quran it refers to people who submit in voluntary service to God and are thus empowered to carry on a free and active life as God's vice-gerents on earth; in the early history of Islam, caliph is the title for the military/political leader of the umma functioning as Muhammad's "successor" in all but the prophetic role. The "four rightly guided caliphs" are Abu Bakr, `Umar, `Uthman, and `Ali.

Constantinople (Greek, "Constantine's city"; see also Byzantium)
The city on the Bosphorus strait at the southwestern tip of the Black Sea that became Constantine's "new Rome" in 330 CE. The modern name of the site, in Islamic Turkey, is Istanbul.

Da^r al-Isla^m (Arabic, "the household of submission/Islam")
The territories governed by Muslims under the sharia constitute Dar al-Islam; the term's opposite is <a>Da^r al-H.arb</>, "The Household of Warfare," those lands lacking the security and guidance of God's law.

da`wa (Arabic) The "calling" of people to the religion of Islam; thus, "missions."

dhikr (Arabic) "Remembering" or "mentioning" God by means of his names in response to his words in the Quran is the central practice of Sufi meditation (see also prayer).

dhimmi^ (Arabic, "protected") Refers to one of the "people of the Book" (see ahl) who receives protective treatment in exchange for certain obligations such as paying a head tax (<a>jizya</>).

di^n (Arabic, "religion") In Islam, din is a general term for religion, but usually for the true religion of Islam (compare millah) or for religious practice in particular. See pillars of Islam. In other contexts, din can also mean divine judgment (e.g. <a>yawm al-din</>); compare in Judaism the <h>bet din</> (see uunder *bet/beit).

du`a^' (Arabic, lit. "calling") Individual, private prayer in Islam. See also salat, dhikr.

faqi^r (Arabic, "poor person") In Islamic Sufism, a faqir is a mendicant who pursues spiritual as well as economic poverty.

Fa^tih.a(h) (Arabic, "opening")
Al-Fatiha(h) is the title of the initial sura of the Quran, which serves Islam as a prayer used in various contexts.

Fa^tima A daughter of Muhammad and his first wife, Khadija, and herself wife of `Ali (see also "rightly guided caliphs"). Her name was used by the impressive Shiite "Fatimid" dynasty in Egypt in the 10th and 11th centuries.

fatwa (Arabic) In Islamic law, an advice rendered by an appropriate authority (see mufti).

fiqh (Arabic) "Understanding" in matters of religious law (sharia); Islamic jurisprudence as developed by the several schools of law (Hanbalite, Shafiite, Hanafite, Malikite).

fitnah (Arabic, "trial, testing") A term used of early antagonism to individual Muslims, and later of threats to the health of the state (umma) as well.

fit.ra (Arabic) In Islam, fitra is the original constitution or nature of humans as created by God, and is considered healthy.

Gabriel An angel or archangel from Jewish tradition who is closely associated with the virgin birth in Christianity, and with the revelation of the Quran in Islam.

God A general designation for the deity (Hebrew Elohim, Yhwh; Greek Theos; Arabic Allah).

gospel (from the German for "good news" = Greek euaggelion;
In the Muslim Quran, "gospel" is the main term for Christian scripture.

h.adi^th (Arabic, "report, account") A tradition about Muhammad -- what he said or did on a particular occasion; the hadiths were collected and they came to be a record of the Prophet's Sunna, which is second only to the Quran in authority for Muslims.

H.ajj (Arabic) Hajj denotes the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca in the appointed sacred (12th) month (see calendar) and is one of the five pillars of Islam (din). One who performs hajj is called a muhajirun (Arabic).

h.ani^f (Arabic; pl. h.unafa^')
In Islamic tradition, a hanif is a pre-Islamic (Arabian) monotheist whose beliefs are thought to have descended from the time of the hanif Abraham, independently of Judaism, Christianity or Quranic Islam.

Hassan or Hasan In Islamic history, a son of Ali (and brother of Husayn) who abdicated his claims to be calif in favor of the first Umayyad ruler Muawiyah; usually numbered as second Imam by the Shiites.

Hejaz The mountainous area along the western-central coast of the Arabian penninsula in which both Medina (Yathrib) and Mecca are located, and which gave rise to early Islam.

Hijra(h) (Arabic; also "hegira") The "emigration" of Muhammad and the Muslims from Mecca to Medina in 622 CE; the Muslim lunar calendar dates from that year (see AH, calendar).

hikma(h) (Arabic, "wisdom"; see Heb. hokma) In Islam, the highest level of human understanding, and especially the intuitive wisdom illuminating the mystic.

Husayn In Islamic history, a son of Ali and brother of Hassan who is martyred in 680 at Karbala and becomes a hero for Shiites.

`Iba^da (Arabic) Ibada is literally "service" to God through worship by means of the five pillars of Islam (din).

Ibli^s (Arabic, from Greek diabolos, whence English "devil")
See Satan, angels.

ibn (Arabic, "son [of]"; Heb., ben; Aramaic, *bar)
Used frequently in "patronymics" (naming by identity of father); see also bat, bint.

`id (Arabic, "festival, holy day") Used in names of Muslim special days such as `id al-fitr at the end of Ramadan or `id al-adha during the hajj.

idolatry A Greek term for t he worship of what are perceived to be "idols" or false "gods," forbidden in the biblical traditions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

ijma^` (Arabic) Ijma or "consensus" (of legal scholars, representing all Muslims) is one of the four sources of Sunni Muslim jurisprudence (fiqh; see also sharia).

ijtiha^d (Arabic)
Intellectual "effort" of Muslim jurists to reach independent religio-legal decisions (thus producing ijma), a key feature of modern Islamic reform; one who exercises ijtihad is a mujtahid.

ima^m (Arabic)
"Leader," specifically of the salat prayer service in the mosque; in Shiite Islam, imam also refers to one of the revered (early) leaders of the community (a designated descendant of `Ali) who both ruled in the political sense and also interpreted doctrine with infallible, God-given wisdom.

i^ma^n (Arabic, "faith"; see Heb. <h>emuna</>)
A highly regarded religious virtue in the Quran. One who has iman (faith) is a mu'min, "believer."

Isla^m (Arabic, "surrender, submitting") Islam is the name of the true religion, according to the Quran; one who submits to God is a Muslim.

isna^d (Arabic, "support") In Islam, the isnad of a tradition (see hadith) is the chain or linkage of human reporters that authenticate the material as deriving from the time of Muhammad and his companions.

Istanbul A major city in Muslim Turkey, in the area formerly called Constantinople and even earlier, Byzantium.

ja^hili^ya (Arabic) Al-Jahiliya is the pre-Islamic Arabian age of "ignorancce," marked by barbarism and unbelief; Islam came to end this evil age, according to its view. The period is subdivided in some Islamic traditions -- e.g. the period of Abraham, of Jesus (or alternatively, of infidelity, of corruption, etc.).

Jerusalem From the religious viewpoints of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, the main city in ancient Palestine (= modern Israel), where the Temple of David/Solomon had been located, Jesus/Joshua had been crucified/resurrected, Muhammad had journeyed to heaven (his miraj), among other significant things. Thus for all three religions, in some senses Jerusalem is a or the "holy city."

jiha^d (Arabic) In Islam, jihad denotes "exertion" or struggle in the work of God, including, sometimes, armed force (thus, "holy war").

jizyah (Arabic) The special tax levied on dhimmi in Islam.

Ka`ba (Arabic) The sacred cubical shrine in Mecca, toward which Muslims face in prayer and to which they make pilgrimages (see hajj); Islamic traditon claims the Kaba (or Kaaba) was built by Abraham and Ishmael (see Quran 2.124-127).

ka^fir (Arabic) In Islam, kafir means "infidel"; see also pagan.

kala^m (Arabic, "speech") In Islam, kalam refers especially to speculative theology (see also Mutazilite).

kalima (Arabic) The formal content of the shahada(h) witness is called the Kalima. See also creed.

Karbala^' (Arabic) Karbala is the place in Iraq where Husayn, grandson of Muhammad and son of `Ali and Fatima was ambushed and killed on his way to assume leadership over the Shiites in Iraq, a tragic event commemorated each year on the tenth (`A^shu^ra^') of the Muslim month of Muharram (see calendar).

Khadi^ja Merchant widow who became the first wife (and business partner) of Muhammad, and mother of Fatima. Khadija was an important influence in encouraging and supporting Muhammad.
Kha^rijites (Arabic <a>khawa^rij</>, "those who split off or depart")
The name of a reactionary Islamic group that emerged during the fighting between `Ali and the Umayyad founder and tried to establish its own purified caliphate to enforce justice and a more Quran oriented Islam. They rejected "compromising" Califs such as Uthman, and `Ali in the latter part of his rule. The Kharijites never became a major force in overall Islamic history after the death of `Ali, who was murdered by a Kharijite.

kiai An Indonesian Muslim term for a religious teacher of high status.

Mahdi (Arabic, "guided one") An eschatological, messianic figure expected in Sunni Islam.

mah.ram (Arabic) In Islam, mahram designates the bounds of close blood relationship within which it is unlawful to marry, and thus lawful for members of the opposite sex to associate socially (as between brothers and sisters aunts and nephews and so forth).

masjid (Arabic, "place of prostration") See mosque.

mawlid or maulid (Arabic) "Birthday" celebration, especially used in connection with Muhammad (Mawlid al-Nabi = birthday of the Prophet; compare Christmas) and the saints of Islam.

Mecca The city in the west-central Hejaz area of the Arabian penninsula from which Muhammad came, and to which he returned in triumph in the hijra from Medina. The location of the sacred Kaba, central to Islamic worship (see hajj).

Medina (Arabic, "the city" [of the Prophet]) The city of Yathrib, about 200 miles north of Mecca along the Hejaz (western mountain belt) of the Arabian penninsula, in which Muhammad achieved political success (see ansar) and from which the hijra to Mecca was launched.
messiah

mih.ra^b (Arabic) The mihrab is the niche in the wall of the mosque that marks the direction (qiblah) to Mecca, and into which the imam prays.
Z
millah (Arabic, "religion"; Turkish millet) A general term usually used for one of the varieties of sects/religions (over against din, for the true religion of Islam), such as millat Ibra^hi^m (the religion of Abraham). In Ottoman Turkey, millet was used for the religious groups within the empire, but is also used more generally for any major sub-group in society (people, nation, state).

minaret Tower-like architectural feature of many mosques, from which the muadhdhin/muezzin recites the call (adhan) for prayer (salat).

minbar (Arabic) The raised pulpit near the mihrab in a Muslim mosque, from which the Friday sermon (khutba) is delivered. See also altar, bima.

mosque English corruption of the Arabic word masjid, "place of prostration" for performing the salat. See also mihrab, qiblah. Functionally, the mosque as an architectural entity is similar to synagogue and church.

mu'adhdhin (Arabic, "caller"; see adhan) More popularly spelled and pronounced "muezzin," the muadhdhin serves to call the Muslim faithful to salat (prayer worship).

mufti (Arabic) A Muslim legal scholar who can deliver a fatwa.

muha^jiru^n (Arabic, "emigrants"")
In Islam, used especially for those who accompanied Muhammad on the hijra. See also hajj.

Muh.ammad Muhammad is the ultimate prophet/rasul of Islamic radical monotheism whose revelations are collected in the Quran and whose efforts in Arabia (died 11 AH = 632 CE) provided impetus for Islam to become a world religion.

Muhammadiyah
Twentieth-century Indonesian Islamic reform movement emphasizing purity of faith and practices and service to fellow Muslims, especially through education.

mujtahid (Arabic)
A Muslim jurist who exercises ijtihad.

Muslim (Arabic, "submitter")
One who follows Islam. Also the name of a famous Islamic collector of hadith in the late 9th century.

Mutazila(h) (Arabic, "standing aloof") The Mutazilites in Islamic history (especially 9th century CE) are the "rationalist" and speculative theologians and philosophers (see kalam) against whom the emerging classical position reacted. The issues included the nature of the Quran (created or eternal) and the problem of human free-will in relation to predestination/determinism.

Ottomans A powerful Muslim clan that settled in what is now Turkey and established a Muslim dynasty that ruled from about the 13th century CE until 1924 (when it fell to the rebellious "young Turks"). It was the major preserver of "official" Islamic continuity in the Mediterranean and adjacent areas during most of that period.

pillars of Islam (arkan ad-din) The five basic devotional-ritual duties of Islam (see ibada): shahada, testifying that "There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the Messenger of God"; salat, five daily prayer services; zakat, almsgiving; sawm, fasting during daylight in the month of Ramadan; hajj, pilgrimage to Mecca (see also umra).

pondok pesantren An Islamic boarding school in Indonesia with a traditional curriculum based on the Quran.

qadar (Arabic) In Islamic thought, divine determination of human actions and events; predestination by the decree of God.

qadi (Arabic) An Islamic religious judge.

qiblah (Arabic, "orientation") The direction towards Mecca in which Muslims situate themselves for prayer (salat), marked by the mihrab in the wall of each mosque.

qiya^s (Arabic, "analogy") In Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh), qiyas is one of the four accepted Sunni methods of deriving law (see also sharia). Legal principles from Quran or hadith can be extended by analogy to cover other similarly appropriate situations; see also ijtihad.

Qur'a^n (Arabic, "recitation") Quran (or "Koran") is the name given to the collection of Islamic scriptures, consisting of 114 suras (sections), believed to have been revealed verbatim orally to Muhammad over a period of time through the angel Gabriel.

Quraysh The leading Meccan tribe, to which Muhammad belonged.
Rabb (Arabic, "Lord") In Islam, a frequent title for God (Allah). From the same Semitic root as Hebrew rabbi.

Ramad.a^n In Islam, the 9th month, Ramadan, is the holy month of fasting, during which the Quran was first revealed. See calendar.

rasu^l (Arabic, "messenger")
In the Muslim shahada, rasul has specific reference to Muhammad as the special prophet (nabi) of God entrusted with a divine message: "There is no god but God (Allah), and Muhammad is God's rasul." Rasul is a type of nabi/prophet, or apostle.

ra'y (from Arabic, "to see") In Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh), ray indicates personal opinion in adapting law (see sharia).

s.adaqa^t (or zadakat; Arabic) Charity (voluntary alms), going beyond the obligatory zakat tax; righteous acts.

Safavid A Shiite Iranian/Persian dynasty that fought against the Ottoman rulers.

saki^na (Arabic) Sakina is a divine "tranquility" that is believed to descend when the Quran is recited.

S.ala^t (Arabic) Salat designates the obligatory Muslim prayer service held five times daily, one of the five pillars of Islam (din).

S.awm or s.aum (Arabic) Sawm refers to "fasting" during daylight in the month of Ramadan, one of the five pillars of Islam (din).

sayyid (Arabic) A title borne by descendants of the Prophet Muh.ammad.

Shaha^da (Arabic, "witnessing") The formal content of the shahada(h) witness is the Kalima(h): "There is no god but God (Allah), and Muhammad is the messenger (rasul) of God," which serves as a kind of minimal creed for Muslims and is one of the pillars of Islam (din). The Arabic form is: La^ ila^ha illa^ Alla^h, Muhammad rasu^l Alla^h.

Shari^`a(h) (Arabic, "way to the water") Sharia is the "way" of Islam (see fiqh; compare halaka) in accord with the Quran and Sunna (hadith), ijma and qiyas. It is the comprehensive path of duty for Muslims, including law, ritual, and life in general.

shaykh (Arabic) Word meaning an old man with grey hairs, a term that came to mean a respected leader and in Islam a religious teacher or person learned in religion or respected for piety.

Shi^`a (Arabic, "party," of `Ali) The Shi^`ites believe that Muhammad designated his son-in-law, `Ali, to succeed him as leader of the umma of Islam; members of the Shiite communities (which often vary from each other on important issues) number about 10 to 15 percent of the total Muslim community today. See also Sunna, from which Shiite Islam often differs radically in a variety of ways (e.g. interpretation of Quran, eschatology, jurisprudence, worship).

shirk (Arabic) In Islam, "association" of something with God, thus "idolatry," the one unforgiveable sin according to the Quran.

sira (Arabic) The life story of Muhammad in Islam.

S.u^fi^ (from Arabic for "wool"?) Sufi is a general term for a Muslim mystic and/or ascetic. Sufism refers to the mystical path of Islam in general (not to a specific sect or denomination).

Sunna(h) (Arabic) The "custom" of the prophet Muhammad, that is, his words, habits, acts, and gestures as remembered by the Muslims and preserved in the literary form of the hadith reports. The Sunna is second in authority only to the Quran for Muslims.

Sunni^s The majority of Muslims, who are viewed as connected to the authoritative Sunna (Ahl al-Sunna wa 'l-Jama^`a = people of the Sunna and the broad-based community) and believe that any good Muslim can be leader; they prefer to reach agreements by means of consensus and do not recognize special sacred wisdom in their leaders as Shiites do.

su^ra (Arabic) In Islam, a sura(h) is a section ("chapter") of the Quran, of which there are 114 in all. Suras are subdivided into a^ya^t or "verses."

tafsi^r (Arabic, "explanation, commentary") In Islam, tafsir refers to interpretation (especially of the Quran), of which there are various types (e.g. grammatical, historical, allegorical, traditional).

taqli^d (Arabic) In Muslim jurisprudence, taqlid denotes uncritical adoption and imitation of traditional legal decisions. Criticized by reform-minded legal thinkers as blind imitation -- the opposite of ijtihad.

T.ari^qa (Arabic) The Islamic Sufi special "way" of discipline and mystical insight in contrast to the sharia, the ordinary religious law; tariqa can also refer to a specific Sufi organization or method of meditation.

tawh.i^d (Arabic) Tawhid (or tauhid) means asserting and maintaining the divine unity, Islam's central doctrine.

ta`zi^ya (Arabic, "consolation") Specifically, in Islam taziya refers to a Shiite passion play commemorating the tragic death of the third Imam, Husayn (son of `Ali), at Karbala, in 680 CE.

tila^wa (Arabic) In Islam, tilawa is ritual recitation of the Quran.

twelvers The main surviving sub-group of Shiite Islam, named for its distinctive allegience to the imam they count as the legitimate 12th in the succession. See also seveners, Zaidis.

`ulama^' (Arabic) The Ulama is the collective name for the top class of religious officials in Islam -- scholars "learned" in Islamic law (see sharia, fiqh).

`Umar (or Omar) Second successor (caliph) to Muhammad (and a father-in-law). Sometimes called the "St. Paul" of Islam because of his sudden conversion and his success in spreading the message (including militarily).

Umma(h) (Arabic) The Muslim "community" or ideal state worldwide.

Umayyad The first major Muslim dynasty, established in Damascus by Mu`a^wiya the nephew of Uthman (of the Quraysh clan from Mecca) after fierce rivalry with `Ali, the last of the four "rightly guided caliphs." The events leading to the Umayyad takeover were influential in the establishment of Shiite Islam and also the Kharijite movement. After about a century (660-750 CE), the Umayyad dynasty was defeated and replaced by the Abbasids in Baghdad, but a branch of the Umayyads survived and prospered for centuries in Spain.

`umra (Arabic) A "lesser pilgrimage," or religious visit to Mecca at a time other than the appointed month for hajj (see also calendar, pillars).

`Uthma^n (or Othman) `Uthman was the third successor (caliph) to Muhammad, under whom an authorized collection of Quran materials was established.

Wahha^bis Adherents of the puritanical Muslim reform movement that arose in Arabia in the eighteenth century under Muhammad ibn `Abd al-Wahha^b (1703-1787) are called Wahhabis.

wah.y (Arabic) In Islam, wahy refers to "revelation" of the Quran to Muhammad by a kind of verbal/mental process of inspiration and communication.

wali^ (Arabic) "Friend," "client," "kinsman," "patron"; in English wali most often means Muslim "saint" or "holy person."

yawm al-di^n (Arabic, "day of judgment") A key eschatological idea in Islam, paralleling the same concept in Judaism and Christianity.

zadakat See sadakat. Islamic voluntary almsgiving.

zaka^t (Arabic) Zakat is legal almsgiving required as one of the five pillars of Islam (din). See also sadakat.

z.ulm (Arabic) Zulm is the most basic Quranic term for sin (wrong-doing, wrong-dealing).

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