12 Glossary
The following is a list of Arabic, Urdu and dialect words used in this guide and a brief definition. Where appropriate, a fuller explanation is given in the guide itself. Note that spelling in English of Arabic and Urdu words is quite arbitrary so one may find many variations, e.g. alternatives of ‘q’ and ‘k’, ‘s’ and ‘z’, use of apostrophes or hyphens for glottal stops, accents or double letters for elongated vowels, vocalised or un-vocalised word endings, the definitive article ‘al’ with or without the literal ‘l’ replaced by phonetic ‘s’, ‘d’, ‘t’, ‘r’ etc.
 salallahu alayhi wa salaam
|
Peace and Blessings of
Allah be upon him – an epithet invariably applied in respect whenever the name or title of the Messenger of Allah is mentioned.
|
| adhaan | the call to prayer |
| ahl-al-Kitab | the People of the Book - Christians and Jews |
| ahl-as-Sunnah |
the People of the
Sunnah - the followers of the Prophet Muhammad and his companions |
| akhirah | the afterlife |
| Allah | the name of God the Creator |
| 'asr | the late afternoon period, the third prayer of the day |
| bayaans | speeches |
| bismillah | 'With the name of Allah' |
| bodna, lota or shattaf | vessel used to wash the private parts |
| burqa | lady's garment to cover the body |
| deen | the religion, the faith |
| dhikr | remembrance (of Allah) – meditation |
| dhuhar | the early afternoon period, the second prayer of the day |
| dhul-Hijjah | a month of the Islamic calendar |
| du'ah | prayer as in supplication |
| dupatta | a lady's thin scarf |
| ’eid | feast day |
| ’eid-gah | open place set aside for performing Eid-day prayers |
| ’Eid-ul-adha | feast of the day of sacrifice |
| ’Eid-ul-fitr | feast of the ending of the fast |
| ’esha | the late evening period, the fifth prayer of the day |
| fajr | the period before sunrise, the first prayer of the day |
| fatwas | religious rulings in individual cases |
| ghusl | ritual bath |
| hadeeth or hadith |
a 'tradition', i.e. a
record of the sayings and actions of the Prophet and his companions |
| hafiz, pl. hufaaz | someone who has memorised the entire Qur'an recital |
| Haji | someone who has performed the Hajj to Makkah |
| Hajj | the pilgrimage to Makkah |
| halaal | lawful, usually referring to permissible food |
| Hanafi | ritual practice in accordance with the Hanafi 'school' |
| haraam | forbidden by Islam |
| hijab | literally a screen, used nowadays to refer to any kind of Muslim lady's scarf |
| hudood | the Islamic penal code |
| ’ihtikhaaf | seclusion for 10 days in Ramadhaan |
| imaan | faith, belief |
| imam | whoever leads a congregational prayer |
| imamah | turban |
| istinjah | washing the private parts after toilet |
| ittar or attar | oil-based scent |
| izhar | sarong-like cloth |
| Jahannum | Hell |
| jai-namaaz, musalaah | prayer mat |
| jalsas | religious street marches |
| jama’at | community, congregation, party of travelling preachers |
| janazah | funeral prayer |
| Jannah | Paradise, the Garden |
| Jibreel | the angel Gabriel |
| jihad, mujahid, mujahidah | struggle |
| jubbah | a man's long coat or shirt |
| juma'a | the main Friday prayer |
| Kaabah | the temple of Abraham in Makkah |
| kaffan | cloths used to wrap corpse for burial |
| kafir | a non-Muslim, literally an ungrateful |
| kameez or qamees | long shirt down to the calves |
| khilafat |
Muslim leadership,
literally 'representative' [of the Prophet]
|
| khutbah | Arabic speech forming part of Juma'a ritual |
| madhab | system of juridical and religious practice |
| Madinah |
the city in which the
Prophet is buried and
the first Muslim community was established |
| madressah | (in Arabic) any school, generally a religious school |
| maghrieb | sunset, the fourth prayer of the day |
| Makkah |
Mecca, the city
in which the Prophet was born
|
| masjid | mosque |
| Masjid-al-Aqsa | ‘the farthest mosque’ - the masjid next to the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem |
| mas'lah, pl. masail | a point of religious practice or a legal point |
| maulana, maulvi, mullah | religious teacher, paid imam |
| mayat | corpse |
| mehr | dowry |
| mehrab | alcove at the front of the masjid |
| mimbar | steps making a pulpit |
| Mina | valley outside Makkah |
| minar | tower, light, minaret |
| miswak, sawaak | root used for cleaning teeth |
| Moosa | Moses |
| muezzin | the man who makes the call to prayer |
| mufti | a religious scholar qualified to give fatwas |
|
Muhammad
|
the Messenger of
Allah, the Prophet of Allah
|
| Muharram | a month of the Islamic calendar |
| muta | Shi'a temporary marriage |
| nabi | a prophet |
| namaaz | ritual prayers |
| nikkah | marriage |
| niqaab | face veil |
| qadi | judge |
| qamees, kamiz, kameez | long shirt down to the calves |
| qari | reciter of Qur'an |
| qatila | to fight, wage war |
| qiblah | the direction towards the Kaabah in Makkah |
| Qur'an |
the revelation of
Allah's Word to Muhammad
|
| qurbani, udhiyah | sacrificed animal |
| Rabi' al Awwal | a month of the Islamic calendar |
| rakaah | bowing, a unit of ritual prayer |
| Ramadhaan | the fasting month |
|
rasul, Rasulullah
|
messenger,
Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah
|
| risaalah | the Message |
| roza, sawm | fasting |
| salaah, namaaz | ritual prayers |
| salaam | peace, greeting |
| salwar, shalwar | Pakistani-style lower garment |
| sawm, roza | fasting |
| sayyadina | our chief', nobleman |
| Shabaan | a month of the Islamic calendar |
| shaheed | a martyr |
| shalwar-kameez | long shirt and big trousers |
| shari'ah | Islamic law |
| shattaf, lota, bodna | vessel used to wash the private parts |
| Shawwal | a month of the Islamic calendar |
| shaykh | gentleman, scholar, leader |
| sufism, tassawwuf | Islamic mysticism and self-purification |
| sunnah |
the practice of
Muhammad
|
| Sunnis |
those who follow the
practice of Muhammad and his
companions
|
| surah | a chapter of the Qur'an |
| sutra | a barrier in front of someone praying |
| ta'alaq | divorce, literally 'I break off from you' |
| tabligh | preaching to Muslims |
| tahajjud | extra salaah in the last part of the night before the crack of dawn |
| takbeer | pronouncement of 'Allahu akbar', Allah is Great |
| tarawih | extra salaah in Ramadhaan |
| tasbeeh | chaplet used for Dhikr of Allah |
| tassawwuf, Sufism | Islamic mysticism and self-purification |
| taweez | Qur'anic verse on paper sealed up and worn on the person |
| tayyamum | cleaning before salaah, alternative to Wudhu when water cannot be found |
| udhiyah, qurbani | sacrificed animal |
| Umrah | ritual at Makkah outside of Hajj time |
| walimah | feast to proclaim completion of a wedding |
| wasilah | means by which Allah's power is manifested in the world |
| wudhu | ritual washing prior to salaah |
| wyaz | speech in the language of the congregation |
| yaum | day |
| yaum-al-Ashura | 10th day of Muharram |
| yaum-al-Jumaa | Friday |
| yaum-ul-Arafat | Day of Arafat, part of Hajj |
| zakaah, zakaat | obligatory tax on wealth for relief of the poor |