Islam Guidance

Glossary of Islamic Terms

Chapter 56

Glossary if Islamic Terms

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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’rÅ«f:      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)

FurÅ« ad-DÄ«n:         Branches of Religion or the practical laws of Islam

Hadd:                   Islamic legal punishment (plural: HudÅ«d)

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

IblÄ«s:                     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)

MakrÅ«h:                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’sÅ«mÄ«n:             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

TawfÄ«q:                 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)

UqÅ«q:                   (Plural of Ä€q): See Ä€q 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