Islamic Terms1

Ansar: The supporters. The people of Medina who received, welcomed, and protected the Prophet (S) and the Muhajirs.

Ashura: The tenth of Muharram, celebrated as a day of mourning (the anniversary of the martyrdom of Imam Al-Husayn, peace be upon him.)

Asr Prayer: The afternoon prayer.

Azan: Announcement. The Muslim call to ritual prayer.

Caliph: The chief civil and religious ruler of the Muslim community.

Dhimmi: Non-Muslims subject who enjoys the protection of the Islamic state.

Dhu’l-Hijja: The twelfth month of the year in the Islamic calendar during which the season of the hajj, as well as the Eid ul-Adha, occurs.

Dhuhr Prayer: The obligatory four-rak’a prayer of noon.

Eid ul-Adha: Feast of sacrifice. A festival marking the culmination of the annual pilgrimage (Hajj) to Mecca.

Eid ul-Fitr: Feast of breaking fast. A festival marking the end of Ramadan.

Esha’ Prayer: The obligatory four-rak’a prayer of evening.

Fajr Prayer: The obligatory two-rak’a prayer of dawn.

Farsakh: A unit of length, usually reckoned as equal to between 3 and 312 miles (5 to 512 km).

Fatihah: The short first sura of the Qur’an, used by Muslims as an essential element of the ritual prayer.

Ghayba: The stage of invisibility of Imam Al-Mahdi (‘a).

Hadith: The body of traditions concerning the sayings, doings, and confirmations of the Prophet Muhammad (S).

Hajj: The pilgrimage to the Sacred Mosque at Mecca undertaken in the twelfth month of the Muslim year and constituting one of the religious duties of Islam.

Halal: The allowable according to the Islamic Shari’a.

Haram: The forbidden according to the Islamic Shari’a.

Iblis: The Devil.

Ihram: 1. The sacred state into which a Muslim must enter before performing the hajj, during which sexual intercourse, shaving, cutting one's nails, and several other actions are forbidden.
2. The costume worn by a Muslim in this state, consisting of two lengths of seamless usu. white fabric, one worn about the hips, the other over the shoulders or sometimes only over the left shoulder.

Imam: 1. One of the twelve immaculate Imams namely Ali Ibn Abi Talib, Al- Hasan Ibn Ali, Al-Husayn Ibn Ali, Ali Ibn Al-Husayn (As-Sajjad), Muhammad Ibn Ali (Al-Baqir), Ja’far Ibn Muhammad (As-Sadiq), Musa Ibn Ja’far (Al-Kadhim), Ali Ibn Musa (Ar-Ridha’), Muhammad Ibn Ali (Al-Jawad), Ali Ibn Muhammad (Al-Hadi), Al-Hasan Ibn Ali (Al-Askari), and Muhammad Ibn Al-Hasan (Al-Mahdi) peace be upon them all.
2. A leader generally or of a collective prayer.

Inshallah: If God wills it; Deo volente.

Iqama: The prefatory statements of the ritual prayers.

Jahilism: The pre-Islamic period. It stands for definite ill deeds that Islam censured.

Jihad: Religious warfare or a war for the propagation or defense of Islam.

Kaaba: The square-shaped building in the center of the Great Mosque in Mecca, in the direction of which Muslims must face in doing the obligatory prayer.

Khums: The obligatory payment of one-fifth of the wealth made once under Islamic laws.

Kiblah: The direction of the place to which Muslims must turn for prayer, now the Kaaba at Mecca.

Quraysh: The tribe that inhabited Mecca in the time of The Prophet Muhammad (S) and to which he belonged.

Maghrib Prayer: The obligatory three-rak’a prayer of sunset.

Mahdi: For Shi’a, the twelfth Imam Muhammad Ibn Al-Hasan Al-Mahdi (‘a) ; the restorer of religion and justice who will rule before the end of the world.

Mihrab: A niche in a mosque directing to the kiblah.

Miqat: The definite points at which the hajjis should dress the uniform of the hajj as a sign of the beginning of the ritual hajj.

Mosque: A place of worship.

Muhajirs: The emigrants. The early Muslims of Mecca who had to flee their homeland to Medina.

Mujahid: The performer of jihad.

Muhrim: An individual in ihram.

Munkar and Nakeer: The two angels whose mission is interrogating the dead in their graves.

Nafila: The recommendable prayers.

Qira’a: The ritual reciting [obligatorily Sura of Fatihah and any other (recommendably short) Sura] during prayers.

Qunut: The supplication of the prayer.

Qur’an (Koran): The Divine Book that was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (S).

Rak’a: The unit of a prayer.

Ramadan: The ninth month of the year in the Islamic calendar, during which Muslims observe strict fasting between dawn and sunset.

Ruku’: The obligatory genuflection in the prayers.

Salaam: A greeting, meaning 'Peace', used by Muslims.

Shahada: The Muslim profession of faith, La ilaha illa (A) llah, Muhammadun rasul Allah [There is no God but Allah, (and) Muhammad is the messenger of Allah].

Shaytan: The Shaytan.

Shari’a: The Islamic code of religious law, based on the teachings of the Qur’an and the traditional sayings of the Prophet Muhammad (S).

Sujud: The obligatory prostration of the prayers.

Sura: Any of the sections of the Qur’an.

Tahajjud: The night rituals of worship.

Takbir: Saying ‘Allahu Akbar’ (Allah is the greatest).

Taqiyah: (pious dissimulation). The belief of the concealment of the true beliefs in situations where harm or death will definitely be encountered if the true beliefs are declared.

Tarawih Prayer: The (not obligatory) one thousand rak’a prayer that is distributed on nights of Ramadan.

Tasbih: The saying of ‘subhaanallah’—extolment of God.

Tashahhud: The last obligatory part of the prayer, in which the performers declare Allah’s only godhead and Muhammad’s prophethood.

Taslim: The last obligatory pillar of a prayer referring to salutation.

Umma: The Islamic nation.

Umrah: A lesser pilgrimage to Mecca made independently of or at the same time as the hajj, and consisting of a number of devotional rituals performed within the city.

Witr Prayer: The one-rak’a prayer that is performed after midnight, unobligingly.

Zakat ul-Fitr: The obligatory payment made on the night just before the Eid ul-Fitr under certain laws on everybody.

Zakat: The obligatory payment made annually under Islamic law on certain kinds of property and used for charitable and religious objects.

• 1. Most of the following explanations and definitions are excerpted from Oxford Talking Dictionary. Copyright © 1998 The Learning Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.