William andrew kopwe the open university of tanzania

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

Adab (Arabic) Manners, etiquette.

AÈmadiyya(Arabic) Offshoot of Islam founded in India by Mirsa Ghulam Ahmad(died in 1908); he is believed to be the Muslim Messiah. This is a sect who claims to be Islamic, but Muslims largely repudiate this.

Allāhu Akbar (Arabic) Greater is God.

Akida (Kiswahili) Head of an army; headman during colonial administration; messenger.

Allāh (Arabic) God.

Ansār (Arabic) These were the helpers or natives of Medina who welcomed Muhammad and the emigrants and became Muslims in the new community.

Awqaf(Arabic) A religious endowments foundation; pious Muslims give to the institution to be used for stated purposes, which may include building and restoring mosques, education, propagation of Islam; singular is waqf.

Aya (Arabic) A verse of the Qur’ān.

Baraza (Kiswahili) Council.

Baleghe (Arabic) Puberty.

Bid’ah (Arabic) Renewal, innovation.

Chama (Kiswahili) Party, association.

Dār harb al-Èarb(Arabic) House of War; the areas of the world yet unsubdued by Islam.

Dār al-Islam (Arabic) House of Islam; the geographical realm in which Islam is in full Devotional, political, and legal actuality.

Daladala (Arabic) Public town transport.

Dhimmī (Arabic) Christians and Jews who live in a Muslim state subject to special taxes called jizya in place of zakat, which is required of Muslims.

Dīn (Arabic) Religion in general; religious duties in particular.

Diya (Arabic) Compensation.

Du’a (Arabic) Petition and intercession (It also refers to personal prayer).

Faqīr (Arabic) poor, ‘fī mendicant, believed possessed of barakat (special spiritual powers).

Faqīh (Arabic) Legal expert; jurisprudence.

Fardh (Arabic) Something commanded or obligatory.

Fatwā (Arabic) A legal opinion given by a high religious leader like an ayatollah or mufti in which the sharī’a is applied to cases or issues so that its authority may be upheld.

Fiqh (Arabic) Jurisprudence; the legal system of Islam adjudicated in courts and interpreted by the schools of law.

Fitri (Arabic) Breakfast usually done at sunset during Ramadhan fasting.

Fur (Arabic) Branches of sharī’a (the Islamic law).

Hādīth (Arabic) Tradition; reports of the words, actions, and attitudes of the Prophet Muhammad, constituting a body of literature second only to the Qur’ān in authority for Muslims; plural is AÈādīth.

Hakam (Arabic) Arbitrator.

Halal (Arabic) Lawful, legal; opposite of harām.

Harām (Arabic) Forbidden.

Hudd (Arabic) Punishments defined in the Qur’ān and the Hadīth.

‘Ibādāt (Arabic) Acts to be performed in religious ritual.

Ibādhi (Arabic) Community of Kharijites (see Khārijī).

‘Id (Arabic) Feast.

Ijmā’ (Arabic) The third foundation of Islam, and expresses the unanimous agreement of the learned doctors of Islam (originally the unanimous agreement of the whole community).

Ijthād (Arabic) The individual initiative of experts or leaders in the Islamic community.

Islah (Arabic) Reform.

Islām (Arabic) Submission (to God).

Isnād (Arabic) The chain of authorities preceding a Hādīth.

Istihsan (Arabic) General good of the Muslim community.

Jāhiliyya (Arabic) The age of ignorance in pre-Islamic Arabia preceding Islam; the age of ignorance involves an element of unruliness or uncouthness.

Jaiz (Arabic) Acts which are permissible, but neither rewarded nor punished.

Jamaa (Arabic) Group.

Jihād (Arabic) The concept of extraordinary effort in the belief and practice of Islam; often understood as a militancy (holy war) in defending and/or extending the interests of Islam.

Jilbab (Arabic) An outer garment; a long gown covering the whole body, or a cloak covering the neck and bosom.

Jizya (Arabic) Tribute, poll tax; levied on the dhimmīs by the Muslim rulers.

Jumbe (Kiswahili) Headman.

Khārijī (Arabic) Seceders', Muslim sect.

Staarabika (Kiswahili) Be civilized (Follow Arabic life style or civilization, civilized).

Khalifa (Arabic) Vicegerent, successor.

Liwali (Kiswahili) Local head man in charge of law cases.

Madhahib (Arabic) Schools of law.

Madrasa (Arabic) Institution where the Islamic subjects are taught; usually attached to a mosque and supported by endowments (Awqaf).

Fisadi (Kisahili) A Corrupted person ,

Mahr (Arabic) Bride price, dowry, bride wealth.

Makr(Arabic) Reprehensible acts.

Mandb (Arabic) Recommended acts.

Mapinduzi (Kiswahili) Revolution.

Mar’ufat (Arabic) Permissible acts.

Mawlid (Arabic) The Prophet's birthday; or a saint's birthday; festivities and celebrations.

Mihadhara (Kiswahili) Muslim public polemical preaching.

Mrima (Swahili) East African coastal strip opposite the island.

Mu’āmlāt (Arabic) Transactions (people's relations with others).

Mubāh (Arabic) Indifferent acts.

Mujitahid (Arabic) Traditionally one that engages in ijtihad on the basis of ra’y.

Munkarat (Arabic) Vices.

Mufti (Swahili/Arabic) A qualified Islamic religious leader who may issue a Fatwa (opinion) on a matter of law or of Islamic concern.

Mujahidun (Arabic) Soldiers of Allāh.

Murtadd (Arabic) Apostate.

Mwalimu (Kiswahili) Teacher.

Mzee (Kiswahili) Honorific name for a man.

Nafs (Arabic) Soul.

Qaßīda (Arabic) Traditional Arabic poem, usually having a rigid, tripartite structure.

Qißāß (Arabic) Retaliation

Qiyās (Arabic) Analogy; a provision whereby the law of Islam may be extended to cover matters analogous to but not explicitly in the Qur’ān and Hadīth.

Ramadhan(Arabic) The ninth month of the Muslim year; it is the month of obligatory fasting when one should not eat, drink, or participate in sexual intercourse; 27th of Ramadan is the day the fast is concluded.

Rasul (Arabic) Messenger or apostle; title of the prophet Muhammad(PBUH).

Ra’y (Arabic) Personal opinion (of a judge or jurisconsult).

Ribā (Arabic) Usurious interest, profiteering.

Ridda (Arabic) Apostasy.

Ruksa (Kiswahili) Permission.

Sahaba (Arabic) Companions of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

Salat (Arabic) Ritual prayer; performed five times daily; one of the pillars of Islam.

Salaffiya (Arabic) Ancestors.

Sharifs (Arabic) Those in line to Muhammad.

Shela (Kiswahili) Veil usually worn by the bride during marriage ceremonies.

Sheria (Kiswahili) Law in general.

Shī’ā (Arabic) Partisan; followers of branch of Islam, the Shī’ā, who accept Ali as the legitimate successor to Muhammad; believe the descendants of Muhammad should rule the Islamic community.

Shrā (Arabic) Consultative Counsel.

Sunnah (Arabic) The path of tradition; orthodoxy; way of faith and conduct followed by the Sunni community of Islam.

Sunnī (Arabic) Term describing the larger branch of Islam which relies on the Qur’ān and the Hadīth; differs from the branch of Shī’ā who rely on the Imams.

Surah (Arabic) A chapter of the Qur’ān.

Sf (Arabic) Wool.

‘f ī(Arabic) Muslim mystics.

Tabi’un (Arabic) Students of the Companions (Sahaba).

Tab’ Tabi’un (Arabic) Successors of the Tabi’un.

Tajdid (Arabic) Renewal .

£alāq (Arabic) Divorce.

Taqlīd (Arabic) Unquestioning acceptance of the doctrine and the rulings of earlier established r authorities.

Tariqa (Arabic) ‘fī path, ‘fī order.

Tasawwuf (Arabic) Putting on wool, the practice of ‘f īsm.

TawÈīd (Arabic) Monotheism (oneness); doctrine of one God.

‘Ulama (Arabic) Scholars of Islamic law and theology plural of ‘Alim.

Umma (Arabic) The community of Islam; the solidarity of faith and prayer; the political incorporation of the Islamic faith.

Umayyads (Arabic) The dynasty which succeeded the rightly guided Caliphs.

‘Uqbāt(Arabic) Punishments, criminal sanctions.

Ushunguzi (Kisambaa) Traditional Shambala sendoff part.

‘Ustādh (Arabic) Muslim instructor usually teaching at the madrassa .

Usl (Arabic) Basic sources of law.Top of Form

Wahhabī, (Arabic) Puritanical Islamic movement founded by al-Wahhab (A.D. 1703-92) of Arabia; accepts only the authority of Qur’ān and Sunnah.

Wājib (Arabic) Obligatory.

Zāhid’ (Arabic) Ascetic.

Zakat (Arabic) Almsgiving; an obligatory pillar of Islam.