Glossary

Every word, in plain English

The Arabic words Lantern uses, each one explained as if you had never heard it. 109 so far.

Awaiting scholar review

Adhan: The call to prayer, made aloud five times a day.
Ahad: "One": what Bilal kept repeating under torture, saying God is one.
Ahl al-Kitab: "People of the Book": Jews and Christians, who received earlier scriptures.
Akhlaq: Character and manners. The branch of Islamic teaching about how to treat people and carry yourself.
Allah: The Arabic word for God, used by Arabic-speaking Muslims, Christians and Jews alike. It is not the name of a separate god.
Ansar: "The helpers": the Muslims of Madinah who took in the Prophet and the migrants from Makkah.
Aqidah: Creed: what Muslims believe, rather than what they do (fiqh).
Ar-Rahman: The Most Merciful: one of the names of Allah, and the name of surah 55.
Ayah (plural: ayat): A verse of the Qur'an. The word also means "sign": each verse is treated as a sign pointing to Allah.
Barzakh: A barrier. Used for the barrier between two seas, and for the state between death and resurrection.
Caliph: Khalifah: the title of the leaders of the Muslim state after the Prophet, beginning with Abu Bakr and then 'Umar. Shi'a Muslims hold that leadership rightly belonged to 'Ali. In the Qur'an the word also means a steward: humankind on earth.
Dajjal: The false messiah who, in Muslim belief, will appear before the end of time. Al-Kahf is described as protection from him.
Dhikr: Remembrance of God, often by repeating short phrases of praise.
Du'a: Personal prayer: asking God for something, in any language, at any time.
Eid: Festival. Muslims have two each year: Eid al-Fitr after Ramadan, and Eid al-Adha during the Hajj.
Fiqh: Islamic law: the detailed understanding of how worship and daily life are practised.
Fitnah: A trial or strife. Used especially for the civil wars among early Muslims.
Ghayb: The unseen: what lies beyond the senses, such as God, angels and the afterlife, known only through revelation.
Ghibah: Backbiting: saying something true about someone behind their back that they would dislike.
Ghusl: A full ritual bath, required in some cases, such as after marital relations.
Hadith: A report of what the Prophet said, did or approved of, passed on through a chain of named narrators.
Hadith qudsi: A hadith in which the Prophet relates words from Allah. It is not part of the Qur'an.
Hajj: The pilgrimage to Makkah in the month of Dhu al-Hijjah, required once in a lifetime of every adult Muslim who can afford and make it.
Halal: Permitted. Often said of food prepared by Islamic rules, but applies to any action.
Hanafi: The school of law named after Abu Hanifah. Lantern follows it by default for fiqh, says so, and notes other views where they differ.
Haram: Forbidden, the opposite of halal. The same root gives "sacred", as in al-Masjid al-Haram, the Sacred Mosque in Makkah.
Hijab: Literally a screen or cover. Today usually the headscarf many Muslim women wear.
Hijrah: The Prophet's migration from Makkah to Madinah in 622. The Islamic calendar counts its years from it.
Hudud: The few fixed criminal punishments in Islamic law, which classical scholars hedged with very high standards of proof.
Iblis: The jinn who refused to bow to Adam out of pride, and became Shaytan (Satan).
Iddah: The waiting period a woman keeps after divorce or her husband's death, before she may remarry.
Iftar: The meal that breaks the fast at sunset.
Ihram: The state a pilgrim enters for Hajj or Umrah, with simple clothing and rules such as no perfume or arguing.
Ihsan: Excellence: worshipping Allah as though you see Him, knowing that He sees you.
Imam: The person who leads a prayer. Also used for a leading scholar, and in Shi'a Islam for the leaders from the Prophet's family.
Iman: Faith. Sunni Muslims sum it up as six beliefs: in God, His angels, His books, His messengers, the Last Day and destiny. Shi'a Muslims usually list five roots of belief.
In sha' Allah: "If Allah wills." Said about anything planned for the future (Al-Kahf 23 to 24).
Injil: The scripture given to 'Isa (Jesus), as the Qur'an calls it. Muslims do not hold it to be the same as the four Gospels of today's Bible.
I'tikaf: A spiritual retreat in the mosque, usually in the last ten days of Ramadan.
Janazah: The funeral prayer, said standing with no bowing or prostration. Sunni Muslims say four takbirs, Shi'a Muslims five.
Jihad: Striving or struggle: against your own faults, for justice, and in some cases armed fighting under strict rules.
Jinn: Beings created from smokeless fire, unseen by us, who like humans have free will and are accountable.
Jizyah: A tax paid by non-Muslim subjects of a Muslim state, in return for protection and exemption from military service.
Jumu'ah: The Friday midday congregational prayer, with a sermon, which replaces the usual noon prayer.
Juz: One of thirty roughly equal parts the Qur'an is divided into, so it can be read in a month.
Ka'bah: The cube-shaped house of worship in Makkah. Muslims everywhere face it in prayer.
Kafan: The plain white shroud a Muslim is buried in.
Khutbah: A sermon, especially the one given before the Friday prayer and after the Eid prayers.
Kramat: A shrine over the grave of a respected Muslim figure, as found around Cape Town.
Kursi: Usually translated as footstool or seat, and not the Throne ('Arsh). It is a sign of God's power, and Ayat al-Kursi (2:255) is named after it.
Laylat al-Qadr: The Night of Decree, in the last ten nights of Ramadan, when the Qur'an was first revealed.
Ma sha' Allah: "What Allah has willed." Said when admiring something, as a reminder of who gave it.
Madhhab: A school of Islamic law. The four main Sunni schools are the Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali.
Madrasah: A school, especially one for Islamic learning.
Makkan and Madinan: Revealed before, or after, the Prophet's emigration from Makkah to Madinah in 622. Makkan surahs tend to focus on belief; Madinan ones also cover law and community.
Maqasid: The aims of Shari'ah: protecting religion, life, mind, family and property.
Masjid: A mosque: literally "a place of prostration".
Mihrab: The niche in a mosque's front wall that shows the direction of Makkah.
Minaret: The tower of a mosque, from which the call to prayer was traditionally made.
Minbar: The stepped pulpit in a mosque from which the Friday sermon is given.
Mu'adhdhin: The person who makes the call to prayer. Bilal was the first.
Mufassir (plural: mufassirun): A scholar of tafsir. Lantern draws on Ibn Kathir, Mufti Muhammad Shafi (Ma'ariful Qur'an), Mawdudi (Tafhim al-Qur'an) and Ibn 'Ashur, among others.
Muhajirun: "The migrants": the Muslims who left Makkah for Madinah, often leaving homes and property behind.
Mushaf: A written or printed copy of the Qur'an.
Niqab: A face veil. Scholars differ: some hold it is required in front of unrelated men, others that it is recommended or optional.
Nisab: The least wealth a person must hold before zakat is due.
Qadar: Divine decree or destiny: that God knows and has measured out all that happens. Held alongside human responsibility for choices.
Qiblah: The direction of the Ka'bah in Makkah, which Muslims face to pray.
Quraysh: The leading tribe of Makkah. The Prophet was from Quraysh, and its leaders were his strongest early opponents.
Qurbani: The animal sacrifice offered at Eid al-Adha, its meat shared with family, friends and the poor.
Rak'ah (plural: rak'at): One unit of prayer: standing, bowing and two prostrations. Each of the five daily prayers has two, three or four.
Ramadan: The ninth month of the Islamic calendar, when Muslims fast from dawn to sunset and the Qur'an was first revealed.
Riddah wars: The campaigns after the Prophet's death, in 632 and 633, against tribes that broke away or followed false prophets.
Riya': Showing off: doing good deeds to be seen by people. The Prophet called it "the minor shirk".
Ruh: The soul or spirit. The Qur'an says knowledge of it is with Allah (17:85).
Ruku': The bow in prayer, with hands on knees. Muslims say "Subhana Rabbiyal-'Azim" (glory be to my Lord, the Most Great) in it.
Sabr: Patience, in an active sense: staying steady in hardship, holding back from wrong, and keeping up what is right.
Sadaqah: Voluntary charity of any size or kind, beyond the obligatory zakat. Even a kind word counts.
Sahabah: The Companions: people who met the Prophet as Muslims and died as Muslims.
Sahih, hasan and da'if: The main gradings of a hadith: sahih (authentic), hasan (good, acceptable) and da'if (weak). Lantern shows each grading, and who gave it where known.
Sa'i: Walking seven times between the hills of Safa and Marwah in Makkah, recalling Hajar's search for water for her son Isma'il.
Sajdah: Prostration: forehead, nose, hands, knees and toes on the ground. The Prophet said a servant is closest to his Lord in sajdah.
Sajdah at-tilawah: The prostration of recitation: a single prostration made on reciting or hearing certain ayat, such as As-Sajdah 15 and Al-'Alaq 19.
Salah: The ritual prayer, five times a day: standing, bowing, prostrating and sitting.
Sawm: Fasting: no food, drink or marital relations from dawn to sunset. Obligatory in the month of Ramadan.
Sayf Allah: "The Sword of Allah": the title the Prophet gave Khalid ibn al-Walid after the battle of Mu'tah.
Seerah: The life story of the Prophet Muhammad, from his birth to his death.
Shari'ah: The path God set out for Muslims, covering worship, ethics and law. Scholars' understanding of it is called fiqh.
Shi'a: The second largest Muslim group, who hold that leadership after the Prophet belonged to 'Ali and his descendants.
Shirk: Associating partners with Allah in worship. The Qur'an treats it as the gravest sin.
Subhan Allah: "Glory be to Allah." With al-hamdu lillah (praise be to Allah), la ilaha illallah (there is no god but Allah) and Allahu akbar (Allah is greatest), the "enduring good deeds".
Suhur: The meal eaten before dawn on a fasting day.
Sunnah: The Prophet's way: his teaching and example, known through the hadith.
Sunni: The majority of Muslims, about 85 to 90 percent, who hold that the community rightly chose the first four caliphs.
Surah: A chapter of the Qur'an. There are 114, of very different lengths.
Tafsir: Explanation of the Qur'an: what an ayah means, why it was revealed, and how scholars have understood it.
Takbir (plural: takbirs): Saying "Allahu akbar", God is greater. It opens the prayer and marks each movement.
Tariqah: A Sufi order: a path of spiritual training under a teacher, such as the Qadiriyyah or Naqshbandiyyah.
Tasawwuf: Sufism: the inner, spiritual side of Islam, aiming at a pure heart and nearness to God.
Tawaf: Walking seven times around the Ka'bah, counterclockwise, as an act of worship.
Tawhid: The oneness of God: that God alone creates, alone deserves worship, and is unlike anything He made. The core of Islamic belief.
Tawrat: The Torah: the scripture given to Musa (Moses), as the Qur'an calls it. Muslims do not hold it to be exactly the Torah of today's Bible.
Tayammum: Dry purification with clean earth, allowed in place of wudu' when water is unavailable or harmful.
Ummah: The worldwide community of Muslims.
Umrah: The "lesser pilgrimage" to Makkah, which can be made at any time of year and is not obligatory in the same way as Hajj.
Wajib: Required. In the Hanafi school it is a level of obligation just below fard (strictly obligatory).
Wudu': The ritual washing before prayer: the hands, mouth, nose, face and arms are washed, and the head is wiped. Sunni Muslims wash the feet; Shi'a Muslims wipe them.
Zabur: The Psalms: the scripture given to Dawud (David), as the Qur'an calls it.
Zakat: The yearly obligatory charity: usually 2.5 percent of savings held for a lunar year above a minimum (the nisab), given to set groups such as the poor.