Glossary
Entries related to tasawwuf can be learned best from Ahmad al-Farûqî as-Sirhindî’s (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’aleyh) Maktûbât.
’âbid: one who performs much ’ibâda.
Ahl al-Bait: immediate relatives of the Prophet (’alaihi ’s-salâm): (according to most ’ulamâ’) ’Ali, first cousin and son-in-law; Fâtima, daughter; Hasan and Husain, grandsons (radiy-Allâhu ta’’âlâ ’anhum).
a’immat al-madhâhib: pl. of imâm al-madhhab.
’âlim: (pl. ’ulamâ)’) a Muslim scholar of Islam.
Allâhu ta’âlâ: Allah to Whom all kinds of superiority belong.
Ansâr: Those Medinans who embraced Islam before the conquest of Mekka.
aqcha: a coin, unit of money.
’Arafât: open space located 24 kilometers north of Mekka.
’Arsh: end of matter bordering the seven skies and the Kursî, which is outside the seventh sky and inside the ’Arsh.
’Asr as-Sa’âda: the ‘Era of prosperity’, time of the Prophet (’alaihi ’s-salâm) and the Four Khalîfas (radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’anhum).
Awliyâ: pl. of Walî.
awqâf: (pl. of waqf) pious foundations.
âyat (kerîma): a verse of al-Qur’an al-kerîm.
’azîma: difficult way of doing a religious act or affair.
Basmala: the Arabic phrase “Bismillâhi ’r-rahmâni ’r-rahîm” (in the Name of Allah the Compassionate, the Merciful.)
bid’a(t): An act, a belief, an utterance which does not originally exist in Islam and which was invented later.
bâtil: invalid, wrong, vain.
dhikr: (phrase of) remembering, keeping in mind, Allâhu ta’âlâ every moment.
dirham: weight unit of three grams.
Efendi: title given by the Ottoman State to statesmen and especially to religious scholars; a form of address, meaning “Your Great Personage”.
faqîh: (pl. fuqahâ’).
Fard: (an act or thing) that is commanded by Allâhu ta’âla in Qur’ân al-kerîm.
Fard ’ain: fard for every Muslim. fard kifâya: fard that must be done at least by one Muslim.
Fâtiha: First of the 114 sûras of Qur’an al-kerîm, containing seven âyats.
fatwâ: i) ijtihâd (of a mujtahid); ii) conclusion (of a muftî) from books of fiqh whether something not shown in them is permitted or not; answer given to religious questions by Islamic scholars; iii) rukhsa.
fiqh: knowledge dealing with what Muslims should do and should not do; actions, ’ibâdât.
fitna, fasâd: widespreading of statements and actions that harm Muslims and Islam.
fuqahâ: (pl. of faqîh).
ghaban fâhish: (being cheated much by buying at a) price higher than the current prices; an exorbitant price.
ghazâ: battle against non-Muslims, to convert them to Islam; jihâd.
ghâzî: Muslim engaged in ghazâ.
hadîth (sherif): i) a saying of the Prophet (’alaihi ’s-salâm); al-Hadîth ash-sherîf:all the hadîths as a whole; ii) ’ilm al-hadîth; iii) Books of the hadîth ash-sherîf. iv) Al-hadîth al-qudsî, as-sahîh, al-hasan: kinds of hadîths (for which, see Endlees Bliss, II).
Hadrat: title of respect used before the names of Islamic scholars.
hajj: fard pilgrimage to Mekka.
halâl: (act, thing) permitted in Islam.
Hanafî: (a member) of Hanafî Madhhab.
Hanbalî: (a member) of Hanbalî Madhhab.
harâm: (act, thing) forbidden in Islam.
hasan: (see hadîth).
Hegira: emigration of the Prophet (’alaihi ’s-salâm) from Mekka to Medina; al-Hijra.
Hijâz: the region on the Arabian Peninsula on the Red Sea coast where Mekka and Medina are situated.
hijrî: of the Hegira.
Hujrat at-Sa’âda (al-Mu’attara): the room where the graves of the Prophet (’alaihi ’s-salâm) and of his two immediate Khalîfas are.
’ibâda: (pl. -ât) worship, rite; act for which thawâb (rewards) will be given in the Hereafter.
’îd: one of the two Islamic festivals.
ijtihâd: (meaning or conclusion drawn by a mujtahid through) endeavouring to understand the hidden meaning in an âyat or a hadîth.
’ilm: knowledge, science;
’ilm al-hâl: (books of) Islamic teachings (of one Madhhab) ordered to be learned by every Muslim;
’ilm al-usûl: methodologic sciences, esp. those of fiqh and kalâm.
imâm: i) profound ’âlim; ii) leader in jamâ’a; iii) the Caliph (Khalîfa).
îmân: faith, beliefs of Islam; kalâm, i’tiqâd.
i’tiqâd: îmân.
Jâhiliyya: era of nescience, that is, pre-Islamic Arabia.
jamâ’a: community; body of Muslims (except the imâm) in a mosque; companions; union.
jâriya: non-Muslim female slave captivated in war and treated like a sister.
jihâd: war against non-Muslims (or the nafs) to convert them (it) to Islam.
Jum’a: (salât of) Friday
Ka’ba(t al-mu’azzama): the big room in the great mosque in Mekka.
kalâm: knowledge of îmân; ’ilm al-kalâm.
kalimat ash-shahâda: the phrase beginning with “Ashhadu...” The first of the five fundamentals of Islam; declaring one’s belief in Islam.
karâma: (pl. -ât).
khalîfa: (pl. khulafâ’) the Caliph.
Khârijî: (of) those heretical Muslims hostile to Ahl al-Bait and to their posterity.
Khutba: the homily delivered at the pulpit by the imâm at Jum’a and ’îd prayers, which must be read in Arabic all over the world (sinful if made in another language).
madhhab: (pl. madhhâhib) all of what an imâm of (especially) fiqh or i’tiqâd communicated.
Madînat al-munawwara: the illuminated city of Medina.
Mahshar: the Last Judgement.
Makkat al-mukarrama: the honoured city of Mekka.
makrûh: (act, thing) improper, disliked and abstained by the Prophet (’alaihi ’s-salâm); makrûh tahrîma: prohibited with much stress.
Mâlikî: (a member) of the Mâlikî Madhhab.
Ma’rifa: knowledge about Allâhu ta’âlâ’s Dhât (Essence, Person) and Sifât (Attributes), inspired to the hearts of Awliyâ’.
Marva (Marwa): one of the two hills near the Masjid al-Harâm.
masjid: mosque; al-Masjid al-Harâm: the great mosque in Mekka; al-Masjid ash-sherîf (as-Sa’âda, an-Nabî): the mosque in Medina, built in the time of the Prophet (’alaihi ’s-salâm) and later enlarged several times, in which his grave is.
mawdû’: (kind of hadîth) lacking one of the conditions (for a hadîth to be sahîh) laid down by an ’alim of hadîth.
Mîlâdî: of the Christian era; of the Gregorian calendar.
Minâ: a village six kilometers north of Mekka.
mubâh: (act, thing) neither ordered nor prohibited; permitted.
mufsid: act, thing that nullifies (especially, salât).
muftî: great ’âlim authorized to issue fatwâ.
Muhâjirûn: Those Mekkan people who embraced Islam before the conquest of Mekka.
mujaddid: strengthener, renewer, of Islam.
mu’jiza: miracle peculiar to prophets, alone, and worked by Allâhu ta’âlâ.
muqallid: Muslim who practices taqlîd; a follower of an imâm al-madhhab.
mustahab: (act, thing) deserving thawâb if done but no sin if omitted, nor disbelief if disliked.
Mu’tazila: one of the 72 heretical groups in Islam.
Muwâjahat as-Sa’âda: the space in front of the qibla wall [to which the Prophet’s (’alaihi ’s-salâm) blessed head corresponds] of his shrine, where the visitor stands facing the shrine.
Muzdalifa: the area between the city of Mekka and ’Arafât.
nafs: a force in man which wants him to harm himself religiously.
najâsa: religiously impure thing.
nâ-mahram: (a relative of the opposite sex) not within forbidden (harâm) degrees of relationship for marriage.
nikâh: (act of engagement for) marriage in Islam.
Pâsha: title given by the Ottoman State to statesmen, governors and especially officers of high rank (now general or admiral).
qâdî: Muslim judge; qadi.
qibla: the direction turned towards during worshipping (in Islam, toward the Ka’bat al-mu’azzama).
Qouraish: Arab community of Qouraish, an ancestor of the Prophet (’alaihi ’s-salâm).
Qur’an al-kerîm: the Holy Koran.
rak’a: the series of reciting and the acts of standing, bowing and prostration (and sitting) in salât, which consists of at least two and at most (for fard salâts) four rak’as.
Ramadân: the Sacred Month in Muslim Calendar.
Rasûlullah (Rasûl-Allah): Muhammad (’alaihi ’s-salâm), the ‘Prophet of Allâhu ta’âlâ’; the Messenger of Allah.
Rawdat al-Mutahhara: the space between the Prophet’s (’alaihi ’s-salâm) shrine and the pulpit of the Masjid ash-Sherîf.
rukhsa: to permit; easy way of doing a religious act or affair.
Safâ: one of the two hills near the Masjid al-Harâm.
Sahâbî: (pl. as-Sahâbat al-kirâm) Muslim who saw the Prophet (’alaihi ’s-salâm) at least once; the Companion(s).
sahîh: i) religiously lawful, valid; congruous to Islam; ii) (of a hadîth) soundly transmitted, authentic according to the conditions laid by the scholars of hadîth.
salât: i) prayer; (with salâm)= salawât; ii) ritual prayer of at least two rak’as; namâz, in Persian; salât janâza: funeral prayer.
salawât: (pl. of salât) special prayers in which blessings and high ranks are asked on the Prophet (’alaihi ’s-salâm).
sâlih: (pl. sulahâ’) one who is pious and abstains from sins, (opposite: fâsiq); see Walî.
Shafi’î: (a member) of Shâfi’î Madhhab.
Shaikh al-Islam: Head of the Religious Affairs Office in an Islamic State.
Shî’ites: one of the 72 non-Sunnî groups in Islam.
shirk: (statement, action, causing) polytheism; ascribing a partner to Allâhu ta’âlâ.
sulahâ: pl. of sâlih.
sunna: (act, thing) that was, though not commanded by Allâhu ta’âlâ, done and liked by the Prophet (’alaihi ’s-salâm) as an ’ibâda (there is thawâb if done, but no sin if omitted, yet it causes sin if continually omitted and disbelief if disliked; the Sunna; i) (with fard) all the sunnas as a whole; ii) (with the Book or Qur’an al-kerîm) the Hadîth ash-sherîf; iii) (alone) fiqh, Islam.
sûra: a chapter of Qur’ân al-kerîm.
Taba’ at-Tâbi’în: those ’âlims who had seen neither the Prophet (’alaihi ’s-salâm) nor a Sahâbî but saw (one of) the Tâbi’ûn; so their successors.
tâ’a: those acts that are liked by Allâhu ta’âlâ but might be done without the need of knowing that they are liked by Him.
Tâbi’ûn (al-i’zâm): most of those Muslims who had not seen the Prophet (’alaihi ’s-salâm) but saw (one of) as-Sahabat al-kirâm; so their successors.
ta’dîl al-arkân: keeping the body motionless for a while after becoming calm during and between the various acts in salât (see Endless Bliss, III, Chapters 14-16).
tafsîr: i) book of, ii) science of (’ilm at-tafsîr), iii) interpretation of Qur’ân al-kerîm.
taqlîd: living up to, following, being a member of one of the four Madhhabs.
taqwâ: fearing Allâhu ta’âlâ; abstention from harâms; practising ’azimas (See wara’ and zuhd).
tasawwuf: (Islamic mysticism of sufism as defined by Islam) knowledge and (after adapting oneself to fiqh) practice of the manners of the Prophet (’alaihi ’s-salâm) which strengthens îmân, makes the practice of fiqh easy and provides one to attain ma’rifa; ’ilm at-tasawwuf.
tawâf: the ’ibâda of going round the Ka’bat al-mu’azzama during hajj.
tawakkul: trusting in, expecting everything from Allâhu ta’âlâ exclusively; expecting from Allâhu ta’âlâ the effectiveness of the cause after working or holding on to the cause – before which tawakkul is unadvised.
tawhîd: (belief in) the Oneness, Unity of Allâhu ta’âlâ.
ta’zîr: a kind of penalty as described in Islam; chastisement.
thawâb: (unit of) reward promised and will be given in the Hereafter by Allâhu ta’âlâ as a recompence for doing and saying what He likes.
’ulamâ: pl. of ’âlim.
Umma: the community, body of Believers, of a prophet; the Umma(t al-Muhammadiyya): the Muslim Umma.
usûl: i) methodology or fundamentals of an Islamic science; ii) methodologies of basic Islamic sciences, ’ilm al-usûl; iii) îmân, kalâm.
wâjib: (act or thing) never omitted by the Prophet (’alaihi ’s-salâm), so almost as compulsory as fard and not to be omitted.
Walî: (pl. Awliyâ’) one who is loved and protected by Allâhu ta’âlâ; a sâlih who has also corrected his nafs.
wara’: (after avoiding harâms) abstention from doubtful things (mushtabihât).
zâhid: a man of zuhd; ascetic.
zakât: (fard duty of giving annually) certain amount of certain kinds of property to certain kinds of people, by which the remaining property becomes purified and blessed and the Muslim who gives it protects himself against being (called) a miser.
zuhd: not setting one’s heart on worldly things; abstention (even) from mubâhs.