Glossary
| ʿayn (ʿayn) | The evil eye. A traditional belief that individuals can harm other people, animals or objects by looking at them. |
| Abaya (ʿabāya, ʿabāʾa) | A loose, long-sleeved women garment covering the whole body except the head, feet and hands. Originally worn in Arab countries, nowadays popular amongst Muslim women all around the world. |
| Adhab al-qabr (ʿaḏāb al-qabr) | Punishment of the grave. According to some Hadith, sinners are punished in the grave by two angels. |
| Ahl al-bayt (ahl al-bayt) | the smaller of the two major branches of Islam, the Shiʿah, or the family of prophet Muhammad. |
| Alhamdulillah (al-ḥamd lillah) | literally ‘praise be to God’, usually used as ‘thank God’. |
| Allah yubarik fik (Allāh yubārik fik) | ‘God bless you’, sometimes used as say ‘thank you’ or as a reply to mabrook ‘congratulations’. |
| Allahu aʿalam | (Allāh aʿalam) ‘God knows best’, is an Islamic phrase that finds frequent usage in Islamic texts (legal opinions, tafsirs, etc.), meaning that only God is all knowing. |
| Aqiqa (ʿaqīqa) | tradition of the sacrifice of an animal seven days after a baby is born. |
| Arkan al-din (Arkān ad-dīn, Arkān al-islām) | ‘Pillars of Islam’ the five religious duties: the profession of faith (šahāda), prayer 5 times a day (ṣalā), the alms tax for benefit the poor and the needy (zakā), fasting during the month of Ramadan (ṣawm), pilgrimage to Mecca (ḥaǧǧ). |
| Ar-Rahman ar-Rahim (Ar-Raḥmān ar-Raḥīm) | ‘[God] the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful’. |
| Ashura (ʿĀšūrāʾ) | a Muslim holy day observed on the 10th of the month of Muharram. For Sunnis, Ashura is a commemoration of the day when the Red Sea was parted for Musa and his people. This holiday is especially important for the Shiʿah, as the commemoration of the Battle of Karbala. |
| Assalamu alaykum wa rahmatullahu wa barakatuhu (as-salam alaykum wa raḥma Allāh wa barākatuhu) | ‘Peace be upon you and God’s mercy and blessings’. A Muslim greeting. |
| Bidʿah (bidʿa) | any innovation that does not originate from the Quran and Sunnah. Modern Islamic movements are particularly invested in popularising this concept as prohibited. |
| Dabbat al Ard (Dābbat al-arḍ) | ‘The Beast of the Earth’, one of the signs of the coming of the Day of Judgement. |
| Dai (dāʿī) | a person practising Islamic proselytism (daʿwā). |
| Dars (dars) | lesson. |
| Dawah (daʿwā) | the act of calling people to embrace Islam. For some fundamentalist and purist movements within Islam, dawah is considered as one of the most important aspects of their activity. |
| Dhikr (ḏikr) | ‘remembering God’ by reciting prayers or litanies (God’s names, ritual expressions) practised aloud or silently. Dhikr plays a central role in Sufi practices and each Sufi brotherhood has established its own particular dhikr to be recited in solitude or during community gatherings. |
| Dua (duʿāʾ) | a prayer of invocation, supplication or request. |
| Eid (ʿeid) | Islamic festival. |
| Eid al-Adha (ʿĪd al-ʾAḍḥā | called also al-ʿĪd al-Kabīr) one of the two main Muslim holidays, celebrated on the 10th day of Dhu al-Hijjah. It marks the culmination of the pilgrimage (ḥaǧǧ), and is a commemoration of Ibrahim’s sacrifice. During the festival, animals are ritually sacrificed, then the meat is divided equally among the poor. |
| Eid al-Fitr (ʿĪd al-Fiṭr | also called al-ʿĪd aṣ-Ṣaḡīr) one of two main Muslim holidays. Eid al-Fitr marks the end of Ramadan, the month of fasting, and is celebrated in the month of Shawwal. |
| Fajr (ṣalāt al-faǧr) | the dawn prayer, one of the five mandatory prayers. |
| Fi sabili Allah (fī sabīl Allāh) | ‘in the path of God’, used also in the meaning ‘in the cause of God’, ‘for the sake of God’. |
| Galabiyya (ǧalābiyya) | a traditional Egyptian male garment, the term is now used for any loose and long garment worn by Muslim men. |
| Ghusl (ġusl) | the major ablution, performed in a state of major ritual impurity, it entails the washing of the entire body. |
| Hadith qudsi (ḥadīṯ qudsī) | ‘holy hadith’, a special category of Hadith, whose content is attributed to God but the actual wording is credited to Prophet Muhammad. This category of Hadith enjoy elevated status between Quran and the regular Hadith. |
| Hajj (ḥaǧǧ) | the pilgrimage to Mecca, the fifth of the Pillars of Islam which every adult Muslim who is physically and financially able to do, must perform once in a lifetime. It begins on the 7th and ends on the 12th day of Dhu al-Hijjah. |
| Halal (ḥalāl) | permissible acts, as opposed to haram (forbidden) acts. In common usage, the term is particularly associated with Islamic dietary laws and animal slaughter. |
| Hamza (hamza) | a letter in the Arabic alphabet, representing the glottal stop. |
| Hanafi (ḥanafī, maḏhab Ḥanīfa) | one of the four Sunni schools of law, with the largest number of followers. |
| Haram (ḥarām) | the term means ‘forbidden’ and may refer to either something sacred and forbidden to access or to an anything evil and forbidden as sinful. In Islamic jurisprudence, haram is any act forbidden by God. |
| Hasanat (ḥasanāt) | Good deeds, weighed up against believer’s bad deeds. |
| Haya (ḥayāʾ) | modesty. |
| Hijab (ḥiǧāb) | is a veil worn by certain Muslim women in the presence of any male outside of their immediate family or sometimes by men. It covers the head and chest. Its second meaning is that of more broadly understood modesty that encompasses clothing and behaviour. In the Quran, the term hijab is used to refer to a curtain, rather than a headscarf. |
| Hijabi | A woman who wears the Islamic head-covering (hijab). |
| Iʿtikaf (iʿtikāf) | a practice of a period of staying in a mosque for a certain number of days, spending time praying and reading the Qurʾan, especially during the last 10 days of Ramadan. |
| Ibadat (ʿibādāt) | a part of Islamic jurisprudence – practices concerning the relations between God and humans. |
| Iftar (ifṭār) | the evening meal ending the daily Ramadan fast at sunset. |
| Ijaz al-Quran (iʿğāz al-Qurʾān) | the doctrine of inimitability of the Quran, holding that it has a unique, miraculous quality in content and form. |
| Imam (imām) | (here) one who leads Muslim worshippers in prayer. |
| Iman (imān) | faith. |
| Inna lillahi wa ilayhi rajiʾun (inna li-llahi wa ilayhi rāğiʿūn) | ‘Verily, we belong to God and verily to Him do we return’. The phrase used by Muslims upon hearing news about someone’s death. |
| Inshallah (in šāʾ Allāh) | ‘if God wills’, ‘God willing’. Used by Muslims when talking about the future. |
| Jahanna ğahanna) | hell. |
| Jahiliyya (ğāhiliyya) | the period preceding the revelation of Islam. |
| Janaza (ğanāza) | funeral. |
| Janna (ğanna) | Paradise. |
| Jazaka Allahu hayran (ğazāka Allāh ẖayran) | ‘May Allah reward you’ Islamic expression of showing gratitude or thanks. |
| Jihadi brides | women who travelled to Syria to live as wives of ISIS combatants in the ‘Islamic State’ established in Syria in 2013. |
| Jumu’ah (Ṣalāt al-ǧumuʿa) | the Friday congregational prayer. |
| Kafir (kāfir) | a person who disbelieves in God. The term has been understood differently by classical Islamic scholars and modern Islamic movements. |
| Khutbah (ẖuṭba) | religious narration, usually this term refers to Friday sermon. |
| Kufr (kufr) | an act of unbelief. |
| Laylat al-Qadar (Laylāt al-Qadar) | ‘Night of Power’ or ‘Night of Destiny’. The night on which the Quran was revealed. It is believed to have taken place on one of the final 10 nights of Ramadan, but the exact date is unknown. |
| Masdar (maṣdar) | an Arabic verbal noun. |
| Mashallah (mā šāʾ Allāh) | literally ‘what God has willed’, a phrase used to express a feeling of awe or beauty and to wish for God’s protection from the evil eye. |
| Masjid (masğid) | mosque. |
| Mawlid (mawlid, mawlid an-Nabī) | the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad, celebrated on the 12th day of the month of the Rabiʾ al-Awwal. |
| Muamalat (muʿāmalāt) | that which guides the relations between humans. Generally, all aspects of fiqh that are not ibadat (acts of worship). |
| Mufti (mufti) | an Islamic legal scholar who gives a private, legal opinion (fatwa) in answer to an inquiry. |
| Muhasaba (muḥāsaba) | the retrospection of one’s deeds and anticipation of the Last Judgment through self-assessment. |
| Munafiq (munāfiq) | a hypocrite in a religious sense. |
| Mutah (nikāḥ mutʿa) | a temporary marriage contracted for a limited period. This kind of marriage is practised only by the Twelver Shiʿah. |
| Nafs (nafs) | translated as ‘psyche’, ‘ego’, ‘self’ or ‘soul’. Contemporary popular understanding of this term is based on the Sufi doctrine, in which nafs is considered as the lowest dimension of human soul and identified by believers as the ‘ego’. |
| Nikah (nikāḥ) | Islamic marriage. |
| Niqab (niqāb) | a veil covering the face, worn by some Muslim women, reflecting their interpretation of modest Islamic dress. |
| Radiya Allahu anhu/anha (raḍiyā Allāh ʿanhu/ʿanha) | ‘May God be pleased with him/her’, an expression mainly used while mentioning the Companions of the Prophet. |
| Rahimahu(ha) Allah (raḥimahu(ha) Allāh) | ‘May God have mercy on him/her’, an expression used while mentioning righteous deceased Muslims. |
| Ramadan (Ramaḍān) | the holy month of fasting, the ninth month of the Muslim calendar. |
| Sabr (ṣabr) | patience. |
| Sahabah (Aṣ-ṣaḥāba) | the companions of the Prophet Muhammad. |
| Salafi | a member of the Salafi movement (Salafiyya), whose doctrine is based on the return to the beginnings of Islam, to the traditions of the ‘ancestors’ (salaf), the first three generations of Muslims to practice the ostensibly unchanged, pure form of Islam. |
| Salam alaykum (as-salām alaykum) | ‘Peace be upon you’, Islamic greeting. |
| Salat (ṣalā) | the daily ritual prayer, one of the five pillars of Islam (arkan al-Islam). Five obligatory prayers: salat al-fajr (dawn), al-dhuhr (midday), al-ʿasr (afternoon), al-maghrib (sunset), and al-ʿishaʾ (evening). |
| Salat al Eid (ṣalāt al-ʿEīd) | Holy Holiday prayers. |
| Salat al jumuah (ṣalāt al ğumʿa) | the Friday congregational prayer. |
| Salla Allah alayhi wa sallam (ṣallā Allāh alayhi wa sallam) | ‘blessings of God be upon Him and grant Him peace’, an expression used by Muslims after mentioning the name of the Prophet Muhammad. |
| Shafi’i (šāfiʿī, maḏhab al-šāfiʿī) | one of the four Sunni schools of religious law. |
| Shahadah (šahāda) | the first of the five Pillars of Islam (arkan al-Islam), the Muslim profession of faith: ‘There is no god but God; Muhammad is the Prophet of God.’ The only thing required to become a Muslim is a sincere recitation of the shahadah. |
| Sheikh (šayẖ) | Arabic term signifying honourable, middle aged or elderly people. The title can be held by chiefs of tribes, villages and town quarters. In the religious sense, it can be applied to Islamic scholars (ʿulamaʾ), heads of religious orders and people who memorized the entire Quran. |
| Shia (šīʿī) | member of the less populous of the two major branches of Islam, the Shiʿah (ahl al-bayt). |
| Shifa (šifāʾ) | healing. |
| Shirk (širk) | denial of the oneness of God (tawhid), the association of God with other deities, worshipping anything besides God. Both concepts are of special interest for contemporary fundamentalist movements. For some, they became synonymous with any belief or practice not accepted as ‘truly Islamic’ by a particular sect. |
| Subhana Allah (subḥāna Allāh) | ‘May He be praised’, an expression used after mentioning the name of God. |
| Subhana wa taʿala (subḥāna wa taʿālā) | ‘May He be praised and exalted’, an expression used after mentioning the name of God. |
| Sufi (ṣufī) | a Muslim practising Sufism (taṣawwuf), mystical Islam. Believers seek to know God on the path of love and personal experience. |
| Sunni (Sunnī) | member of Sunnism, the larger of the two branches of Islam (Sunnism, ahl al-Sunna wa al-ğamāʿa). |
| Ta marbuta (ta marbūṭa) | a variant of the letter tāʾ used at the end of a word, mostly marking grammatically feminine gender. |
| Taghut (ṭaġūṭ) | concentrating on worship of an entity other than God. In the modern usage, the term can be associated with worshipping tyrannical power. |
| Tajweed (tağwīd) | rules of Qurʾanic recitation. |
| Takfir (takfīr) | accusing another Muslim to be an apostate. This concept was broadly discussed by classical Islamic scholars, representing different opinion in this topic. At the end of 20th century using takfir became a tool used by some individuals and organizations against political and ideological opponents. The radical ‘takfirism’, has been utilised by extremists, terrorists, and jihadist organisations. |
| Talaq (ṭalāq) | divorce. |
| Taraweeh (tarāwīḥ) | special prayers performed in congregation during Ramadan nights. They involve recitation of the Quran and performing many rakaṯs̱. |
| Tarbiyyah (tarbiyya) | pedagogy. |
| Tawhid (tawḥīd) | the oneness of God, the central concept of Islam, reinterpreted differently by different movements within Islam. |
| Ukht (uẖt) | sister. |
| Umm al muminin (umm al muʾminīn) | ‘Mothers of the Believers’, the title given to the wives of the Prophet Muhammad. |
| Ummah (umma, umma al-Islām) | the collective, global Muslim community. |
| Wa alaykum assalam (wa alaykum as-salām) | ‘and unto you peace’, a response to salam alaykum. |
| Wa iyaki (wa iyāki) | ‘and to you too’, response to jazaka Allahu hayran. |
| Wasila (wasīla) | in religious contexts, the tawassul is the use of an intercession to arrive at or obtain favour of God. The concept has a special importance for Sufi practices. |
| Wudu (wuḍūʾ) | ritual ablution consisting of washing the face, arms, head, nose, ears and feet. |
| Zina (zināʾ) | fornication. |