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Chapter 56
Glossary if Islamic Terms

Āq al-Walidayn:    One who disobeys or angers his/her parents

 

Ahl ul-Bayt:          “People of the House”. They are the Holy Prophet (S)’s family: Janabe Fatima Zahra (s.a.), ‘Ali (a.s.) and eleven of their descendants who are successors to the Prophet (S) after Imam ‘Ali (a.s.).

 

Ahsan:                  Goodness

 

Amanat:                Trust

 

Amrbil Ma’rūf:      Enjoining others to do good

 

Ayat:                    Verse of the Holy Qur’an

 

Barakat:                Divine blessings and bounties

 

Barzakh:               Purgatory. The intermediary stage between death and the Day of the Judgement

 

Bismillah:              Literally “In the Name of Allah”. Said before commencing any task.

 

Dhuhrain:              The two ritual prayers of Dhuhr (noon) and Asr (afternoon)

 

Dhuhoor:              Reappearance (of Imam Mahdi [a.t.f.s.]).

 

Dirham:                 Unit of currency

 

Diyah:                   Blood money

 

Du’a:                    Invocation or Supplication

 

Fajr:                     Dawn

 

Faqih:                   Jurisprudent, Islamic Jurist

 

Fir’aun:                 Pharaoh (In this context Ramases II)

 

Furū ad-Dīn:         Branches of Religion or the practical laws of Islam

 

Hadd:                   Islamic legal punishment (plural: Hudūd)

 

Hadith:                  A statement of the Holy Prophet (S) or of the Holy Imams (a.s.)

 

Hajj:                     Annual pilgrimage to Makkah during the month of Dhul Hijja

 

Halāl:                    Permissible, legal

 

Harām:                 Prohibited, illegal

 

Hasana:                A good deed deserving heavenly rewards

 

Hijab:                   Statutory Islamic dress for women, veil, curtain

 

Iblīs:                     Satan

 

Iddah:                   A prescribed period a woman has to pass after divorce or her husband’s demise before she can remarry.

 

I’tikāf:                   A recommended ritual consisting of a continuous stay of at least three days in the mosque during the last ten days of the month of Ramadhan.

 

Imān:                    Faith

 

Imla:                     Respite given by Allah to the sinners in which they become more heedless of their sins

 

Insha Allah:           Common expression that literally means “If Allah wills” or “God Willing”

 

‘Isha:                    Late evening

 

Jamaat:                 Congregation

 

Janabat:                A state of ritual impurity that can be removed by performing ghusl (bath)

 

Jihād:                    Struggle in the way of Allah (S.w.T.), religious war

 

Kāba:                   The Holy House of Allah in Makkah, the directions that Muslims face during prayers.

 

Kaffara:                Religious fine, penalty

 

Kāfir:                    One who denies God

 

Kalima:                 To say: “I witness that there is no god except Allah and that Muhammad (S) is the Messenger of Allah”. Also called the Shahadayn. This testimony makes one a Muslim.

 

Kuffār:                  Plural of Kāfir

 

Kunniyat:              Patronym

 

Laylat ’l-Qadr:      The Night of Power. Believed to be one of the odd numbered nights in the last ten nights of the month of Ramadan

 

Maghribain:           The two prayers of Maghrib (early evening) and ‘Isha (late evening)

 

Makrūh:                Detestable, in the Islamic terminology it denotes an action performing which does not incur sin but refraining from which earns divine rewards

 

Ma’rifat:               Recognition, Realization

 

Masjidul-Haram:   The Holy Mosque in Makkah

 

Ma’sūmīn:             Infallible, Inerrant (Singular: Mas’um)

 

Mahram:               Relatives between whom marriage is prohibited

 

Mahshar:              The field where people will be collected on the Day of the Judgement for their final Accounting

 

Mi’rāj:                  Ascension (to heaven)

 

Mithqāl:                A measure of weight of about 4.6 gms.

 

Muhib:                  Admirer

 

Mu’min:                Believer

 

Mubāh:                 Permitted. It denotes an action performing of which earns no rewards and refraining from it is not punishable

 

Mujtahids:             Doctors of Islamic law

 

Munāfiq:               Hypocrite

 

Mushrik:               Polytheist

 

Mustahab:             Recommended. It is an action performing which earns rewards and refraining from it is not punishable

 

Mutawātir:            A frequently related tradition

 

Nahy ‘Anil Munkar:      Forbidding evil

 

Najis:                    Unclean

 

Nāma-e-Amal:      Scroll of deeds (Farsi). Arabic: Kitāb al-Amāl

 

Non-mahram:       Persons between whom marriage is possible

 

Nawāfil:                Recommended prayers (singular: Nāfila)

 

Nikah:                  Marriage ceremony

 

Qasr:                    Shortening of the ritual prayers during a journey

 

Qat’a ar-Rahm:     Breaking off relations with relatives

 

Qadha:                 An unfulfilled obligatory act

 

Qādhi:                  Judge, jurist

 

Qunut:                  Despondence

 

Rakat:                   A unit of ritual prayer

 

Riwayah:               A narration

 

Riyaa:                   An act of showing off

 

Rizq:                     Sustenance

 

Sādāt:                   Descendants of the Holy Prophet (S) through Imam Husain (a.s.)

 

Sadaqah:              Voluntary charity, alm

 

Salām:                  Salute, Islamic greeting

 

Salāt:                    Ritual prayers

 

Shābān:                A month of the Muslim calender

 

Shahadatain:         See Kalima

 

Shari’a:                 Islamic law

 

Shirāz:                  A city of Iran

 

Silat ar-Rahm:       An act of goodness towards ones relatives. The opposite of Qat’a ar-Rahm

 

Sirāt:                     Path

 

Siyām:                  Fast

 

Taqwa:                 Piety

 

Taslim:                  Acceptance

 

Tawakkul:             Reliance

 

Tawfīq:                 Divine inspiration

 

Tawhid:                Belief in the absolute Oneness of Allah

 

Thawāb:               Divine or spiritual reward

 

Toman:                 Currency of Iran

 

Ulil-Amr:              One who holds an authoritative position

 

Umma:                  Followers (of Prophets)

 

Uqūq:                   (Plural of Āq): See Āq al-Walidayn

 

Wājib:                  Obligatory

 

Wājib al-A’ini:      An obligation that is to be carried out by every person

 

Wājib al-Kifai:      An obligatory act which if performed by one ceases to be obligatory on the others

 

Wilāyat:                Love and obedience

 

Yās:                      Despair

 

Zakāt:                   Obligatory Islamic wealth tax

 

Ziyarat:                 Visitation or the recitation of salutation while facing the tomb of religious personalities

 

Zimmi:                  A non-muslim who lives under the protection of an Islamic government