KEY TERMS: Islam Flashcards

1
Q

Abbasids

A

Classical Muslim dynasty, ruling at Baghdad, eighth to thirteenth centuries C.E.

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2
Q

Abu Bakr

A

Companion of the Prophet Muhammad and the first caliph

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3
Q

al-Ghazali

A

great thinker (1058-1111 C.E.) who synthesized orthodox Islamic thought and Sufism

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4
Q

‘Ali

A

nephew and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad and the fourth caliph (d. 661); considered by Shi’ites to be the first imam or successor to Muhammad

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5
Q

Allah

A

“the God”; Quranic designation for the one God

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6
Q

caliph

A

“deputy,” also “successor” to the Prophet Muhammad as leader of Islam

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7
Q

Dar al-Harb

A

the non-Muslim world, the “abode of warfare”

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8
Q

Dar al-Islam

A

“abode of Islam”; territories of the ummah under Muslim control, whereas the rest of the world is the Dar al-Harb, “abode of warfare”

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9
Q

da’wah

A

missionary activities directed towards spreading Islam

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10
Q

dhikr

A

“remembrance”; spiritual exercises in Sufism focusing the consciousness on God

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11
Q

Five Pillars

A

required Muslim rituals of serving God: Shahadah (confession), Salat (prayer), Zakat (alms-giving), Sawm (fasting), and Hajj (pilgrimage)

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12
Q

Hadith

A

a saying of tradition of the prophet Muhammad transmitted through a trustworthy chain of reporters; the collection of hadiths

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13
Q

Hagar

A

wife of Abraham, mother of Ishmael, and ancestress of Muslims

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14
Q

Hajj

A

annual pilgrimage to Mecca

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15
Q

haram

A

forbidden, such as certain actions or food

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16
Q

hidden imam

A

in Shi’ism, the last Imam (successor to Muhammad) who disappeared into a state of occultation and will return in the future

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17
Q

Hijra

A

emigration of the Prophet Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Medina in 622 C.E.

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18
Q

Husayn

A

son of ‘Ali, killed at Karbalah (680); considered by Shi’ites as an Imam and a great marytr

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19
Q

‘id

A

‘feast” or festival in Islam; the two major festivals are ‘Id al-adha (Feast of Sacrifice) during the Hajj month and ‘Id al-fitr (Feast of Breaking the Ramadan Fast)

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20
Q

ihram

A

state of ritual purity and consecration appropriate for entering the sacred precincts of Mecca on the Hajj (Mecca pilgrimage)

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21
Q

ijma

A

“consensus”; for formulating Muslim law, consensus among the legal scholars is necessary

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22
Q

ijtihad

A

independent legal reasoning in Islam; one who dies this is a mujtahid

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23
Q

imam

A

Islam scholar or leader, especially in ritual prayer; for Shi’ites, the proper successors to the Prophet are called Imams

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24
Q

iman

A

“faith,” complete certitude about the truth of Islam

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25
Q

Ishmael

A

son of Abraham and Hagar, ancestor of the Muslims

26
Q

jihad

A

“striving” for religious perfection and for God’s cause including bearing arms in defense of Islam if necessary

27
Q

Judgement Day

A

the day on which God will judge all according to their deeds

28
Q

Ka’bah

A

the cube-shaped stone shrine in the Great Mosque at Mecca, focal point of prayer and pilgrimage for Muslims

29
Q

kafir

A

a non-believer, in Muslim terms

30
Q

Khadija

A

the first wife of the Prophet Muhammad

31
Q

Kharijites

A

“seceders”; strict moralistic sect of early Muslims

32
Q

mihrab

A

niche in the mosque wall indicating the direction to Mecca

33
Q

minbar

A

pulpit from which the sermon is given during the Friday prayer in the Islamic mosque

34
Q

mosque (masjid)

A

place of communal worship in Islam

35
Q

muezzin (muadhdin)

A

person who calls the people to ritual prayer, chanting out the call from atop a minaret or mosque roof

36
Q

Mughal

A

Muslim dynasty established by the Mongols in India

37
Q

mulla

A

Persian word for learned Muslim teacher and expounder of the law

38
Q

Muslim

A

one who has surrendered to God in accepting the authority of the Quran

39
Q

Mu’tazilites

A

school in the classical period of Islam that accepted reason as a primary criterion for establishing beliefs

40
Q

Ottoman

A

caliphate ruling much of the Muslim world from Istanbul from the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries C.E.

41
Q

prophets

A

messengers through whom God has given revelation to all peoples, culminating with Muhammad as the Seal of the Prophets

42
Q

quiyas

A

“analogy” in legal argumentation and decision-making in Islam

43
Q

Quran

A

“recitation,” primarily the revelation sent down by God upon the Prophet Muhammad; the Holy Book

44
Q

Ramadan

A

sacred month in which Muslims perform the Fast

45
Q

Safavid

A

Muslim dynasty in Iran beginning in the sixteenth century, featuring rule by the shahs

46
Q

Salat

A

required Muslim ritual of prayer five times daily

47
Q

Sawm

A

required Muslim fasting during the month of Ramadan

48
Q

Shahadah

A

the Muslim formula bearing witness to the unity of God: “I testify that there is no God but God; I testify that Muhammad is the messenger of God”

49
Q

Shari’ah

A

Islamic law, based on the Quran and on the sunnah of the Prophet

50
Q

Shi’ites

A

the “faction” of ‘Ali that believes that ‘Ali and his descendants are the proper successors of the Prophet

51
Q

shirk

A

“association”; Muslim term for the great sin of idolatry or associating something else with God

52
Q

sunnah

A

“custom” or “way of acting”; primarily of the prophet Muhammad. the Prophet’s sunnah is known through the hadiths

53
Q

Sunnites

A

term for the Muslim majority, those who acknowledge the first four caliphs and the interpretation of the Quran and the Prophet’s sunnah by the orthodox ‘ulama (religious scholars)

54
Q

Twelvers

A

the largest group within the Muslim Shi’ites, those who hold there have been twelve Imams; also called the Imamis

54
Q

tawhid

A

Muslim term for maintaining the unity of God

55
Q

‘ulama

A

the class of learned Muslim legal scholars who study and apply the religious sciences

56
Q

‘Umar

A

the second caliph in Islamic history

57
Q

Umayyad

A

dynasty ruling Islam from Damascus from 661 to 750 C.E.

58
Q

ummah

A

a community having a common religion; specially the Muslim community

59
Q

‘Uthman

A

the third caliph in Islamic history

60
Q

Wahhabi

A

strict reform movement founded in Arabia in the eighteenth century and influential throughout Islam

61
Q

Zakat

A

the required Muslim practice of almsgiving or wealth-sharing