Glossary Of Arabic Terms

adhan - the call to prayer, mu’adhdhin - the one who calls to prayer.

Akhirah - what comes later, the next life.

calim pi. culama - a man of knowledge. ‘The ‘calim is only someone who knows, then acts according to what he knows, and whose knowledge is in accord with his action,’ Sayyiduna cAli, amir — commander. Amir al-Mu’minin — the Commander of the Believers, a title of respect given to the khalifah. Imarah — amirate.

Ansar - lit. Helpers, the people of Madinah who welcomed and aided the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. See also Muhajirun.

caqiqah - at the birth of a child when the head is shaved and the hair’s weight in silver given away as sadaqah, and a sheep sacrificed and the meat shared with others and given away.

Arafah - the plain upon which the pilgrims stand during the pivotal day of the Hajj in prayer and supplication.

ayah pi. ayat - a sign, miracle and a verse of the Qur’an.

al-Bait al-Maqdis - lit. The Purified Dwelling, i.e. the mosque of Jerusalem or all of Jerusalem.

bait al-mal - lit. House of Property, where the collected zakat of the Muslims and other revenues are stored while awaiting distribution.

al-Baqic- the graveyard of Madinah where many of the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, are buried.

Dajjal - lit. Liar, the false Messiah whose appearance marks the imminent end of the world.

deen - the life-transaction, lit. the debt (<dayn) of exchange between two parties, in this usage between the Creator and the created.

dhikr - lit. remembrance, mention. In a general sense all acts of worship are dhikr. In common usage it has come to mean invocation of Allah by repetition of His names or particular formulae.

dhimmah - obligation or contract, in particular a treaty of protection for non-Muslims living in Muslim territory.

dinar - a gold coin of approximate value $107/£57.4 (2008).

dirham - a silver coin of approximate value $3.18/£1.76 (2008). Note that for zakat purposes only, 10 dirhams equals 1 dinar.

Dunya — what is lower and closer to hand, the ‘world’. The word is most often an adjective o f‘life’, thus meaning the ‘lower life’.

cEid - the celebration at the end of Ramadan and also at the end of the Hajj, marked by a general public prayer, dhikr and mutual visiting and hospitality.

faqih fuqaha'- a man learned in knowledge offiqh (see below).

fatwa - an authoritative legal opinion or judgement made by a faqih who is a Mufti authorised by an amir.

fiqh - science of understanding the sharicah in terms of the obligations, recommendations, sunnahs, permitted matters, disapproved and forbidden matters.

fitnah - a trial or affliction whereby one is tried or proved, a temptation, civil war and strife, faction and slaughter. Originally derived from a root meaning ‘burning’, with the sense of the burning of a metal such as gold to remove the dross.

ghusl - a washing of the entire body in order to enter Islam, after sexual intercourse or ejaculation, or preparatory for the weekly Jumucah and ‘Eid prayers.

hadd pi. hudud - lit. the limits, Allah’s boundary limits for the halal and the haram. The hadd punishments are the specific fixed penalties laid down by sharicah for specified crimes.

hadith pi. ahadith — reported speech, particularly of the Prophet Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Not to be confused with Sunnah.

Hajj — the yearly pilgrimage to Makkah halal - permitted by the sharicah haram - forbidden by the sharicah-, also an inviolable place or object.

hasan - lit. good, beautiful, and thus a category of hadith, which is reliable, but whose isnad is not perfect.

hawd - the ‘pond’ of the Prophet Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, on the Last Day, which is replenished by rivers from the Garden and from which he will give the believers to drink. Whoever drinks from it will not thirst again.

hijab - veil, the covering by adult women of their hair, and all of their bodies excepting the face and hands.

Hijaz - the western area of Arabia which includes Makkah and Madinah.

Hijr — the semi-circular un-roofed enclosure at one side of the Kacbah, whose wall outlines the shape of the original building built by the Prophets Ibrahim and Ismacil, peace be upon them.

hijrah - emigration in the way of Allah. Islam takes its dating (indicated by AH ‘After Hijrah’) from the Hijrah of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, from Makkah to Madinah.

ihram - state entered to perform Hajj or cUmrah, which includes, for males, wearing two pieces of cloth also known as ihram.

imam - the one who leads, often a term for the amir or khalifah.

‘Leaders and nobles who order them (the people) and they obey them.’ (Sayyiduna Abu Bakr). It is now more often restricted to one who leads people in prayer.

imamah — imamate, the office of imam, iman - belief in the heart and affirmation on the tongue.

insha’Allah - if Allah wills.

iqamah - the act of establishing the prayer, and also the call made immediately prior to prayer in order to summon the people in the mosque.

isnad - chain of transmission of a hadith.

Isra - the Night Journey of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, from Makkah to Jerusalem from whence he went on the Micraj (the ascension through the heavens).

ftizal — lit. withdrawal or secession, and thus the theology of that group which withdrew from the circle of Hasan al-Basri, who became know as Muctazilah.

Jahiliyyah - the Time of Ignorance, before the coming of Islam jama0ah — the group, particularly referring to the group of people performing the prayer together.

jihad - struggle, particularly warfare to defend and establish Islam.

jinn - unseen beings created of smokeless fire who cohabit the earth with mankind.

jizyah - a tax levied on people of previous revelations who make a contract to live under Muslim rule (see dhimmah). The tax was four dinars per adult male per year. It is interesting to note that this sum in present terms (2008) is approximately $428/£230.

Jumada al-Ula - a month of the Muslim lunar calendar.

Jumada al-Akhirah - a month of the Muslim lunar calendar.

Jumucah - Friday, and particularly the prayer performed on that day which it is necessary for all adult males to attend if they are able and if its conditions are fulfilled.

junub - condition after sexual intercourse or ejaculation, requiring the complete washing of the body known as ghusl.

kafara - he covered over the truth, he showed ingratitude, he disbelieved, thus kufr disbelief, kajir disbeliever pi. kajirun/kujfar.

kalam - lit. speech, but also the science of investigating the tenets of iman.

khalifah pi. khulafa’ — lit. successor, both the rank of Adamic man, one who stands in for Allah in His creation, and a Caliph or successor of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.

khilafah - the office of the khalifah.

Khawarij—a sect who believed that committing major wrong actions turns a Muslim into an unbeliever.

al-Khulafa’ ar-Rashidun - (see khalifah above) the khulafa’ who took the right way.

khutbah — public address, particularly in the mosque on Friday or one of the cEid prayers.

kunyah - a respectful and affectionate way of calling, such as the ‘father of so-and-so’, the ‘mother of so-and-so’ or the ‘son or daughter of so-and-so’.

ma.crifah - lit. recognition, which in its first level is a rational knowledge of what is necessary to know about Allah and His Messengers, peace be upon them, and which can then deepen to become gnosis rather than scholastic knowledge.

Maghrib - the West, specifically northwest Africa.

al-Masjid al-Haram - the Inviolable Mosque of Makkah.

marfuc— a tradition ascribed to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.

mawla - ‘a master’, the freed slave but also his former master.

minbar — steps on which the imam stands to deliver the khutbah on the day of Jumucah.

Muhajirun - Companions of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, who accepted Islam outside Madinah and emigrated to Madinah, particularly those who came with him from Makkah.

Muharram - the first month of the Muslim lunar year.

mu’min, pi. mu’minun and mu’minin - a believer (see iman above).

al-Murji ’ah - a sect which was characterised by an indulgent attitude towards wrong action in the sense that they felt that ‘believers’ would not be diminished in their iman by the wrong actions they did.

mursal- a hadith attributed directly to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, by one of the Followers or Followers of the Followers when it is not known from which Companion it was transmitted.

mushaf- a written copy of the Qur’an.

musnad - a book containing ahadith arranged according to their isnad, e.g. the author mentions the Musnadas-Siddiq which contains ahadith narrated by Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him.

mufah - a temporary form of marriage common among pre-Islamic Arabs which was prohibited by the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.

mutawatir - the strongest isnad possible for a hadith. This is when a number of Companions have narrated the text of the hadith to large numbers of knowledgeable Followers who each in turn transmitted it to numbers of later students, etc., so that there is no possible doubt about the hadith.

al-Qadariyyah - sect of Muslims who believe more in man’s freewill than in predestination.

qadi — a judge.

ar-Rafidah — a group of the Shicah known for rejecting Abu Bakr and cUmar as well as cUthman (as opposed to the Zaydiyyah Shicah who accept them).

rafcah pi. rakaca t- a complete unit of salah consisting of standing, bowing and two prostrations.

ar-Riddah - the reneging or apostasy of the desert Arabs after the death of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.

Ruh al-Quds — the Spirit of Purity, the angel Jibril.

sabeel — a way, often jihad, ‘the way of Allah’.

as-Sabiqun al-Aivwalun — the First Foremost ones, i.e. those Muhajirun and Ansar who accepted Islam before the conquest of Makkah and strove with their lives and their wealth in jihad, sadaqah pi. sadaqat - giving in the way of Allah, often used synonymously with zakat.

sahih - authentic or sound. A technical term of the science of hadith which indicates the strength of the isnad.

as-Sakinah -lit. tranquillity. The presence of Allah sometimes made clear by a sign, also the feeling of peace of mind and security.

salah - the prayer consisting of standing reciting Qur’an, bowing, prostrating and sitting.

salat at-tarawih - the prayers performed after the cIsha{night) prayer during Ramadan.

as-Saqifah - roofed building, particularly the roofed gallery of Bani Sacidah in which the Ansar and some of the Muhajirun met after the death of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, to choose a khalifah.

shahadah - witnessing and bearing witness that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, i.e. the first pillar of Islam.

sharifah - lit. a road, and in particular the pathway leading down to drinking water at an oasis. It is the legal modality of a people based on the revelation of their Prophet. The last sharicah in history is that of Islam, which abrogates all previous shari‘ahs.

Shawwal - the month of the Islamic lunar calendar immediately following Ramadan.

Shaykh - lit. an old man. Title of respect used for a man of great knowledge or a leader among his people shaytan - a devil, particularly Iblis.

Shicah - the sect which differed from the Muslims over their allegation of the prior right of cAli, may Allah be pleased with him, to the khilafah.

shirk - the unforgivable wrong action of associating something in partnership with Allah and worshipping it or them along with Him.

sidq - truthfulness and thus sadiq - a truthful one and siddiq - one eminently truthful and affirmative of the truth.

siwak and miswak - toothstick cut from the caraq tree.

Sultan — the ruler.

Sunnah pi. sunan - lit. a form, the customary practice of a person or group of people. It has come to refer almost exclusively to the practice of the Messenger of Allah, Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, but also comprises the customary practice of al-Khulafa ar-Rashidun and of the first generation of Muslims in Madinah. Sunan is also a title often used for certain collections of hadith.

surah - a large unit of Qur’an linked by thematic content, composed of ay at. There are 114 surahs in the Qur’an.

takbir - the declaration Allahu Akbar - Allah is Greater’ talbiyah - the cry of the pilgrim to Makkah ‘Labbayk Allahumma labbayk At Your service, O Allah, at Your service ...’ taqiva or tuqa — lit. self-protecting, fearful obedience of Allah in avoiding all that is forbidden and undertaking all that is obligatory.

Higher degrees then involve avoiding that which is disapproved of and undertaking that which is recommended, and so on.

at-Tasawwuf— Sufism. It is held by the culama to be a fard cayn - a science which is an individual obligation on every Muslim man and woman.

at-tawfiq - being directed to the right direction, the grace of Allah.

ummah - a nation. The Ummah of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, are the Muslims.

cUmrah - the lesser pilgrimage to Makkah which may be undertaken at any time of the year.

wird or hizb - two synonymous terms for a set portion of dhikr, ay at of Qur’an and supplications to be recited regularly at any time of the day or night. The latter often more particularly is used to refer to a portion of one sixtieth of Qur’an.

wudu’ - the minor washing of the face and limbs in preparation for the salah.

zakat - a wealth tax. It is an act of worship of Allah and one of the arkan (indispensable pillars) of Islam. It is levied on certain storable crops, cattle and other livestock, gold and silver, items of trade, etc.

and distributed among a number of categories including the needy and the bereft, travellers, the indebted, for the freeing of slaves, and in the way of Allah {jihad).

Reference: History of Khulafah Rashideen - Jalal ad-Din as-Suyuti - translated by Abdassamad Clarke