Formation of Islam terminology

Question 1

JAHILIYYA

الجاهلية

Answer 1

Ignorance of the truths of God.

As a historical period, the pre-Islamic era.

Question 2

QURAYSH

القريش

Answer 2

Powerful Arab tribe that controlled Mecca and its trade from the late fifth to the seventh centuries. It included several important clans, such as the Nawfal, Hashim, and Umayya.

Question 3

ARABISSOS

Answer 3

Peace treaty of 629 between Byzantium and Persia, by which Egypt, Syria, and Palestine were restored to the Byzantine Empire

Question 4

SUNNA

السنة

Answer 4

The ways, or customary practices, of the Prophet. Along with the Hadith, it provided Muslims a guideline for determining appropriate behavior when the Quran was not explicit.

Question 5

HADITH

الحديث

Answer 5

One of the sources of Islamic law. As a common noun, a saying of or story about the Prophet Muhammad, which includes not only the saying or story, but also the chain of transmission (isnad). As a proper noun, it is plural and refers to all of the sayings or stories regarded as genuine. They are not divine revelations and thus not found in the Quran, but are (1) the advice Muhammad gave when questions of appropriate behavior arose and (2) narratives about Muhammad’s life.

Question 6

HIJRA

الهجرة

Answer 6

Emigration of Muhammad and the early Muslims from Mecca to Medina, which was completed in September 622. This migration marks the beginning of the Muslim calendar.

Question 7

UMMA

الأمة

Answer 7

The Muslim community

Question 8

SHAHADA

الشهادة

Answer 8

The Arabic word for witness or testimony, signifying the Muslim creed of faith. It is the first of the Five Pillars of Islam and states simply that “there is no god but God and Muhammad is the messenger of God.”

Question 9

SALAT

الصلاة

Answer 9

Arabic word for ritual Muslim prayer. This is one of the Five Pillars of Islam and is to be performed five times daily, facing Mecca.

Question 10

ZAKAT

الزكاة

Answer 10

Tithing, one of the Five Pillars of Islam. The alms given for it, technically 2.5% of the individual Muslim’s wealth, were customarily collected once yearly for the purposes of helping the underprivileged members of Muslim society and for the building of public works such as hospitals and schools.

Question 11

SAWM

الصوم

Answer 11

Arabic word for fasting. One of the Five Pillars of Islam, it is required of all Muslims during the daylight hours of the month of Ramadan. The fast lasts from dawn to dusk. No food, drink, smoking, or sex is allowed. The fast is not incumbent upon the infirm, pregnant women, soldiers engaged in war, or travelers, although all are exhorted to make up any days they have missed at a time when fasting will not put them in danger of illness or death.

Question 12

HAJJ

الحج

Answer 12

Pilgrimage to Mecca, and one of the Five Pillars of Islam. It is required at least once in the lifetime of a Muslim, provided the person is in good health and financially capable of making the trip.

Question 13

UHUD

Answer 13

Battle in November 625 between the Meccans and the Muslims in which the Meccans were victorious; however, they failed to pursue their victory against Medina.

Question 14

DHIMMIS

الذميون

Answer 14

Literally, “protected individuals;” this term refers to all members of the recognized religious communities - especially Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians - that enjoyed a special status under Islam. As “People of the Book,” they were required to pay a special poll tax (jizya) for protection and were exempt from military conscription. They were allowed to live under their own jurisprudence, i.e., their religious laws as administered by their clergy.

Question 15

TRUCE OF HUDAYBIYYA

صلح هديضية

Answer 15

Ten-year truce concluded in 628 between Muhammad and the Quraysh at the Plain of Hudaybiyya near Mecca. When the treaty was broken in 630, Muhammad led his followers into Mecca.

Question 16

MUSHAF

المصحف

Answer 16

The authoritative compendium of the written and memorized Quranic revelations that was ordered to be collected in 633 by the Caliph Abu Bakr.

Question 17

SURA

سورة

Answer 17

The term for a chapter of the Quran. There are 114 of them in the Quran, of varying lengths from 287 to three ayat. The longer ones are nearer to the beginning of the Quran, and the shorter ones nearer the end.

Question 18

KHUTBA

الخطبة

Answer 18

Sermon delivered by the imam in Friday mosque services

Question 19

WAQF

وقف

Answer 19

Religious endowment, usually of land or buildings. The proceeds of the property are collected and maintained by the ulama to support charity. In the 20th century, many Muslim states assumed their administration.

Question 20

SUNNISM

السنة

Answer 20

Muslims who recognize the traditions of the Prophet and abide by his decision to designate his successor (khalifa) through consultation and consensus

Question 21

SHIISM (SHIA)

الشيعة

Answer 21

Literally, the “party” of Ali, it traces its origins to the political struggle over the caliphate in the years after Muhammad’s death. A central teaching is that there exists an esoteric content to the Quran that can only be properly interpreted by an Imam who is a direct descendant of the Prophet. Thus, they insisted that the caliphate rightfully belonged to the Imams Hasan and Husayn, the sons of Ali ibn Abi Talib and Fatima. There are three sects.

Question 22

KHARIJISM

الخارجية

Answer 22

Muslim puritanical movement, initially allied with the forces of Ali, which broke off this alliance over the issue of arbitration with the Umayyad general Muawiya. They held that salvation depends on good works (as opposed to faith alone), and that Islam requires the faithful to “command the good and forbid evil,” by the sword, if necessary. They also believed that the leader of the community should be a man of irreproachable reputation and faith, rather than someone necessarily from the Quraysh tribe.

Question 23

SUFISM

التصوف

Answer 23

Mystical dimension of the Islamic faith that seeks a closer knowledge of God through a variety of rituals, such as chanting, dancing, fasting, or otherwise reachign a state of spiritual ecstasy. They try to attain a transcendental union with God, a concept that contemporary orthodox Muslims reject. Their orders (tariqas) maintained a “popular” version of Islam as opposed to “official” - later, “state-sanctioned” - versions of the faith.

Question 24

SHURA

الشورة

Answer 24

Consultative assembly of the leaders of the Umma. The institution was established during the period of the Rightly Guided Caliphs (Rashidun) to facilitate the selection of the Caliph.

Question 25

ULAMA

العلماء

Answer 25

Muslim theologians, legal experts, and preachers. These are “learned men,” and the closest approximation of Christian-style clergy in Islam.

Question 26

KHALIFA

خليفة

Answer 26

The official term to designate the successor to the Prophet Muhammad in his political and social functions. He does not inherit Muhammad’s prophetic mission. After Muhammad’s death in 632, this position was held successively by four of his original companions, recognized as the Rightly Guided Caliphs (Rashidun). The Rashidun were succeeded by the Ummayad (661-750) and Abbasid (750-1258) dynasties.

Question 27

RIDDA WARS

حروب الردى

Answer 27

Wars of apostasy, fought shortly after the death of Muhammad under the command of Abu Bakr, who defeated the rebellious tribes and forced them to maintain their allegiance to Islam.

Question 28

JIZYA

الجزية

Answer 28

Poll tax levied on the dhimmis

Question 29

KHARAJ

الخرج

Answer 29

Agricultural land tax collected by the Muslim administration

Question 30

FITNA

الفتنة

Answer 30

In the early history of Islam, this term referred to the persecution of Muslims by non-Muslims. Later, as the Muslims grew into a powerful majority, the word came to mean sedition or conspiracy against the state.

Question 31

BATTLE OF SIFFIN

معركة صفين

Answer 31

Battle between the forces of Muawiya Ibn Abu Sufyan, governor of Syria, and the supporters (Shia) of Ali ibn Abi Talib in 657.

Question 32

COMMISSION OF ADHRUH

Answer 32

In 658, the commission of arbitration that ruled in favor of Muawiya and found Ali responsible for the civil strife. The ruling strengthened the position of the Umayyads and led to the first permanent schism in Islam.

Question 33

KARBALA

كربلاء

Answer 33

Site of Husayn’s defeat and death at the hands of the Umayyad forces in 680, after he had refused to recognize Yazid ibn Muawiya as the legitimate caliph. Husayn’s martyrdom at this site is a significant event in the evolution of Shiism and is commemorated annually by Shiites in the holy month of Muharram.

Question 34

IQTAA

اقطاع

Answer 34

Grant of land (fief) or of its revenues by the Muslim state to a member of its military or civil administration as remuneration for services and in return for a share of the revenues

Question 35

MAWALIS

Answer 35

Signifies “clients” and refers to the non-Arab Muslims who by the 8th centuary outnumbered the Arab Muslims in all parts of the Umayyad Empire, except in the Arabian peninsula. These were converts to the faith who attached themselves, as clients, to prominent Arab families.

Question 36

MAHDI

المهدي

Answer 36

Literally, the “guided one.” The messiah or redeemer according to the Muslim faith, who is expected to return close before Judgment Day to lead the faithful to salvation.

Question 37

QARMATIAN REVOLT

ثورة القرامطة

Answer 37

Rebellion led by members of an Ismaili Shiite movement that aimed at reforming caliphal institutions, restoring purity of faith, simplicity of life, and practicing equality and justice in the Abbasid Empire. They declared that the arrival of the mahdi needed to be prepared by cleansing the Umma of unjust rulers like the Abbasids.

Question 38

ZANJ REVOLT

ثورة الزنج

Answer 38

Revolution of African slave laborers from the Sudan and East Africa against Abbasid rule between 869 and 883. Their rebellion was motivated by social and economic discontent but also capitalized on religious opposition to the Abbasids in southern Iraq.

Question 39

DAR AL-HIKMA

دار الحكمة

Answer 39

A center founded by Al-Mamun for translating the Greek legacy of philosophy, medicine, mathematics, astronomy and alchemy

Question 40

IJMAA

الاجماع

Answer 40

Consensus of Muslim jurisprudents on a question of Islamic law. Generally accepted as a source in the extrapolation of Islamic law.

Question 41

MUTAZILAH

المعتزلة

Answer 41

Adherents of the theological position that held moderate ground between the Kharijites and the Murjiites in the formative years of Muslim theology. They accepted the doctrine of free will. On many theological issues, they were influenced by Aristotelian philosophy and applied Greek rationalism to the development of Muslim theology.