List of Islamic terms in Arabic

Template:Islam It is sometimes difficult to separate concepts in Islam from concepts specific to Arab culture, or from the language itself. The Qur'an is expressed in Arabic and traditionally Muslims deemed it untranslatable, though this view has changed somewhat in recent decades. Concepts that derive from both Islam and Arab tradition, which are expressed as words in the Arabic language, and are sufficiently specific to these to require their own articles here, are:

Contents: Top - 0-9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A

adab (أدب): describes one's behaviour. For example, following the hadith rules is good adab.
adhan (أذان): call to salah (prayer)
adl (عدل): justice especially distributive justice: social, economic, political, environmental. Shi'as regard 'Adl (Justice of God) as the second Pillar of Islam.
ahl al Kitab (أهل الكتاب): "People of the Book", or followers of pre-Islamic monotheistic religions with some form of scripture believed to be of divine origin: Jews, Christians, "Sabians" (probably Mandaeans), and sometimes Zoroastrians
Ahlul Bayt (أهل البيت): members of Prophet Muhammad's Household. Also known as the Masumin (infallibles; spiritually pure).
Alhamdulillah (الحمد لله): "Praise to God!" Qur'anic exclamation
Allah (الله): literally "The God" (Allah is thus God in Arabic)
al-isra (الإسراء): "night journey" of the prophet
akhirah (آلآخرة): the afterlife, and accountability for present deeds
alim (عالم): "(he) who knows"; a scientist (who knows science) or a theologian (who knows religion); similar to Japanese sensei, "teacher"
aqidah (عقيدة): An Islamic creed or article of faith, usually one longer and more comprehensive than the Shahada
arba'in (اربعين): a Shi'a religious festival that marks the end of the period of mourning for Imam Husayn
assalamu alaikum (السلام علايكم): "peace be upon you", the Islamic greeting
awra (عورة): the part of a person's body that must be covered before everybody but a spouse. It may also be used to refer to what must be concealed of a woman before non-related men
ayah (آية) (plural ayat, آيات): a sign. More specifically, a verse in the Qur'an.
'azl (عزل): coitus interruptus, intercourse characterized by withdrawal of the penis before ejaculation
azhan: See adhan

B

barakat (بركة): a blessing. Also, spiritual wisdom and blessing transmitted from master to pupil
basher (بشر): literally means 'face' but generally it refers to a person (man/woman)

C

caliph (خليفة): literally successor; refers to the successor of the prophet Muhammad, the ruler of the Islamic world

D

dajjal (دجّال): the Islamic counterpart to the Antichrist; means "liar"
da'wa (الدعوة): the call to Islam
dervish (درويش): a Sufi ascetic
dhimmi (ذمّي): Jews and Christians (and sometimes others (http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/bukhari/053.sbt.html#004.053.384),), whose right to practice their religion is tolerated under Islamic law, but with lower legal status. Dhimmis are freed from conscription and have to pay less tax than muslims. If they choose to join the army, they are totally freed from the obligation of paying taxes for the rest of their life.

E

Eid ul-Adha (عيد الأضحى): The four day celebration starting on the tenth day of Dhul-Hijja
Eid ul-Fitr (عيد الفطر): a religious festival that marks the end of the fast of Ramadan

F

fana (فناء): Sufi term meaning extinction - to die to this life while alive. Having no existence outside of God. A unity with Allah.
fard (فرض): a religious duty, or an obligatory action: praying 5 times a day is fard
fatwa (فتوى): legal opinion of an (alim) binding on him and on those who follow his taqlid
fiqh (فقه): jurisprudence built around the shariah by custom (al-urf)
fitna (فتنة): trial or tribulation; originally applied to the initial schism between Sunnis and Shi'as, now may refer to a period of disorder before the end of the world or any civil strife

H

hadith (حديث): recorded saying or tradition of the prophet Muhammad validated by isnah; with sira these comprise the sunnah and reveal shariah
halal (حلال): lawful, permitted, good, beneficial, praiseworthy, honourable
hafiz (حافظ): someone who knows the Qur'an by heart. Literal translation = memorizer or Protector.
hajj (الحجّ)or haj: pilgrimage to Mecca. Sunnis regard this as the fifth Pillar of Islam
hanif (حنيف): one of the five monotheist prophets; namely, Prophet Adam, Prophet Abraham/Ibrahim, Prophet Moses/Musa, Prophet Isa (Jesus), and Prophet Muhammad. Plural hunafa' (حنفاء).
haram (حرام): (stress on final syllable) forbidden. Antonym: halal. (stress on initial syllable) sanctuary.
hijab (حجاب): describes the self-covering of the body for the purposes of modesty and dignity. For example, several schools of Islamic law teach that a woman must conceal her hair and body from the sight of all men except her husband and immediate relatives. Hijab can be broadly understood to be a prescribed system of attitudes and behaviour regarding modesty and dignity.
hijra (الهجرة): Muhammad and his followers' emigration from Mecca to Medina. Literally, "migration".
hima: wilderness reserve, protected forest, grazing commons, important to khalifa
hizb (حزب): one half of a juz', or roughly 1/60th of the Qur'an
hudna (هدنة): cease-fire (often temporary)
hudud (حدود): Literally, limits or boundaries. Usually refers to limits placed by God on man; penalties of the Islamic law which are described in the Qur'an.

I

ibadah (عبادة): worship, but not limited to ritual: all expressions of servitude to Allah, including the pursuit of knowledge, living a pious life, helping, charity, and humility, can be considered ibadah.
ihram (إحرام): state of consecration for hajj. Includes dress and or prayer.
ijma (إجماع): the consensus of either the ummah (or just the ulema) - one of four bases of Islamic Law. More generally, political consensus itself.
ijtihad (إجتهاد): during the early times of Islam, the possibility of finding a new solution to a juridical problem. Has not been allowed in conservative Islam since the Middle Ages.
ilm (علم): all varieties of knowledge, usually a synonym for science
imam (إمام): literally, leader; e.g. a man who leads a community or leads the prayer; the Shi'a sect use the term only as a title for one of the twelve God-appointed successors of Prophet Muhammad.
imamah (إمامة) or imamate: Successorship of Prophet Muhammad and the leadership of mankind. Shi'as regard this as the fourth Pillar of Islam.
iman (إيمان): personal faith; injil (الإنجيل) : Muslim term for the holy book said to have been given to Jesus, who is known as Isa to Muslims; the holy book has been lost and the New Testament gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) are not the word of Allah, only Christian stories about Isa
insha'Allah (إن شاء الله): God Willing.
Islam (الإسلام): "submission to God".
isnad (إسناد): chain of transmitters of any given hadith
isnah: process of validating the hadith; citation methodology
Isra (الإسراء): the night journey during which Muhammad is said to have visited Heaven. See miraj.
istislah (إستصلاح): public interest - a source of Islamic Law.
istish-haad (إستشهاد): heroic martyrdom.

J

jahiliya (الجاهليّة)

the time of ignorance before Islam was realized. Describes polytheistic religions.

jamia (جامعة)

"gathering"; i.e. a university, a mosque, or more generally, a community or association.

jilbab (جلباب)

long outergarment

jihad (جهاد)

struggle. Any earnest striving in the way of Allah, involving personal, physical, intellectual or military effort, for righteousness and against wrong-doing;

"Lesser Jihad": fighting to protect Islam from attack or oppression. In such fighting, no woman, child or innocent civilian is to be harmed, and no tree is to be cut down. Shi'as believe that only Prophet Muhammad and the twelve Imams had authority to declare positive jihad of the lesser kind.

"Greater Jihad": internal struggle for the soul (nafs) against evil, e.g. to overcome the temptation to sleep when it is time to pray the morning prayer is a greater jihad.

jinn (جنّ): An invisible being of fire
jumuah (جنّ): Friday prayer
juz' (جزء): one of thirty parts of the Qur'an

K

kafir (كافر): "one who refuses to submit to the one true God". Kafirs include polytheists and atheists.
kalam (علم الكلم): Islamic theology
khalifa (خليفة): Caliph, more generally, one performing the duties of khilafa.
khilafa (خلافة): Man's trusteeship and stewardship of Earth; Most basic theory of the Caliphate; Flora and fauna as sacred trust; Accountability to God for harms to nature, failure to actively care and maintain. Three specific ways in which khalifa is manifested in Muslim practice are the creation of haram to protect water, hima to protect other species (including those useful to man), and by resisting infidel domination over Muslim lands, in jihad.
kharaj (خراج): a land tax
kufr (كفر): disbelief in God, and/or aspects of God's law, names or attributes.

L

la'nat (لعنة): curse

M

madhab (مذهب): school of religious jurisprudence, school of thought
madrasa (مدرسة): school, university
mahdi (مهدي): "a guide". More specifically al-Mahdi (the guide) is a figure who will appear with Prophet Jesus before the end of time, when God allows it, to bring world peace, order and justice, after it has been overcome with injustice and aggression. The Shi'as regard the twelth Imam as the Mahdi. The Sunnis regard someone else as the Mahdi.
mahram (محرم): a relative of the opposite gender usually described as being "within the forbidden limits"; a better description is "within the protected limits". means relatives who one can appear before without observing hijab and who one cannot marry.
manzil: one of seven parts of the Qur'an
masha Allah (ما شاء الله): God has willed it.
masum: a person who does not commit sins, does not make mistakes, does not forget, etc. although he/she does have the choice to commit sins. The Shi'as regard the Prophet Muhammad, his daughter Fatimah, and the twelve Imams to be the fourteen Masumin.
me'ad: the Resurrection; God will resurrect all of humankind to be judged. Shi'as regard this as the fifth Pillar of Islam.
Mecca (مكّة): the holiest city in Islam
Miraj (المعراج): see isra
muhajabah: woman who wears hijab
mujahid (مجاهد): a fighter for Islam. Plural mujahideen.
munaqabah: woman who wears niqab
murshid (مرشد): a Sufi teacher

N

nafs (النفس): soul, one's self
nahw (النحو): Arabic grammar
niqab (نقاب): veil covering the face
nass (نصّ): a known, clear legal injunction
nubuwwah (نبوّة): prophethood. Shi'as regard this as the third Pillar of Islam.

P

purda (پردة): not an Arabic term; means "curtain" in Persian. Metaphorically refers to the practice of secluding women.

Q

qadi (قادي): judge of Islamic Law
qiyas (القياس): analogy - foundation of legal reasoning and thus fiqh
Qur'an (القرآن): Muslims believe that the Qur'an is the literal word of God and culmination of God's revelation to mankind, revealed to Muhammad in the year 610 A.D.

S

salah (صلاة) or salat

any one of the 5 daily obligatory prayers. Sunnis regard this as the second Pillar of Islam

salaam (سلام)

Peace

sawm (صَوم)

fasting during the month of Ramadhan. Sunnis regard this as the third Pillar of Islam.

Sayyid (سيّد)

a descendent of any one of the Masumin (the fourteen infallibles)

sema

refer to some of the ceremonies used by various sufi orders

shahadah (الشهادة)

The expression of faith: La ilaha illa Allah ("There is no god but God"). Sunnis regard this as the first Pillar of Islam

shaheed (شهيد)

"witness". More specifically refers to a person killed whilst striving in Islam, a martyr. Often used in modern times for deaths in a political cause (including victims of soldiers, deaths in battle, suicide bombers, etc.)

shaikh (شيخ)

a spiritual master

sharia/shariah (الشريعة)

"the path to a watering hole"; the eternal ethical code and moral code based on the Qur'an and Sunnah; basis of fiqh

Sharif (شريف)

a title bestowed upon the descendants of Muhammad

Shi'a (الشيعة)

a follower of Prophet Muhammad and his successors (the twelve Imams), the first being Ali. Shi'as constitute the second largest sect in Islam.

shirk (شرك)

idolatry, the sin of believing in any divinity except Allah

shura (شورى)

consultation

majlis ash-shura (مجلس الشورى): advisory council

Sira (السيرة): life or biography of the Prophet Muhammad; his moral example - with hadith this comprises the sunnah
sufi (صوفي): a Muslim mystic; Sufism (tasawwuf) is a fairly recent sect in Islam.
Sunnah (السنّة) or sunnah al-Nabi (سنّة النبي): The "path" or "example" of the Prophet Muhammad, i.e., what the Prophet did or said or agreed to during his life. He is considered by Muslims to be the best human moral example, the best man to follow.
sunni (سنّي): the largest sect in Islam, having no single central authority
sura (سورة): chapter; the Qur'an is comprised of 114 suras

T

tafsir (تفسير): exegesis, particularly such commentary on the Qur'an
tajwid (تجويد): a special manner of reciting the Qur'an according to prescribed rules of pronunciation and intonation.
taqlid (تقليد): blind imitation of precedent, normally of a classical jurist of fiqh, in contrast to ijtihad and ijma which imply a role for the community and lay public.
taqiyya (تقيّة): the mostly Shi'a principle that one is allowed to hide one's true beliefs in certain circumstances.
Tasawwuf (التصوّف) or Sufism
tarkib
tariqa (طريقة): a Muslim religious order, particularly a Sufi order
tartil (ترتيل): slow and measured (meditative) recitation of the Qur'an
tawheed (توحيد): monotheism; affirmation of the Oneness of God. Shi'as regard this as the first Pillar of Islam. The opposite of Tawheed is shirk

U

ulema (علماء) or ulama: the leaders of Islamic society, including teachers, Imams and judges. Singular alim.
ummah (الاُمّة) or umma: the global community of all Muslim believers; international personhood of Islam
urf (عرف): custom of a given society, leading to change in the fiqh

W

wahdat al-wujud (وحدة الوجود): "unity of being". Philosophical term used by some Sufis. Related to fana
warraq (ورّاق): traditional scribe, publisher, printer, notary and book copier

Z

zakat (زكاة): tax, alms, tithe as a Muslim duty; Sunnis regard this as the fourth Pillar of Islam. Neither charity nor derived from Islamic economics, but a religious duty and social obligation.
zina (زناء , زنى): sexual activity outside of marriage (covering the English words adultery and fornication)

NOTE: Wikipedia is not a general Arabic-to-English dictionary. The list above includes only those concepts sufficiently specific to Islam or Muslim culture to merit their own full articles. The prime purposes of this list are to disambiguate multiple spellings, make note of spellings no longer in use for these concepts, define the concept in one line to make it easy to pin down the one you're looking for, and provide a guide to unique concepts of Islam all in one place.

There is an English/Arabic dictionary on wiktionary.

Other notes

The English word algorithm is derived from the name of the inventor of algebra - an Arabic word like alchemy, alcohol, azimuth, nadir, zenith and oasis, which mean the same as in English.

Arabic numerals are what we use in English ("0", "1", "2",...). The modern Arabs in Arabia generally use the Hindi numerals.

Some English words or phrases would translate very poorly into Arabic for cultural reasons, for instance the English word "crusade" would most likely be interpreted as meaning "genocide", and "infinite justice" would most likely be interpreted as meaning "divine judgement" - adl in Arabic implying Allah's justice. Probably it is best to avoid such terms for anything one intends to translate into Arabic, or knows will be translated.

Some Islamic concepts are usually referred to in Persian or Turkic. Those are typically of later origin that the concepts listed here - for completeness it may be best to list Persian terms and those unique to Shi'a on their own page, likewise Turkic terms and those unique to the Ottoman period on their own page, as these are culturally very distinct.

References

Suzanne Haneef, What Everyone Should Know about Islam and Muslims, (Kazi Publications, Chicago), popular introduction
Ziauddin Sardar, Muhammad for Beginners, Icon Books, 1994, some sloppiness, from very modern Sufi point of view.
Hans Wehr, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic (Spoken Language Services, Ithaca, NY, 1976). ed. J. Milton Cowan. ISBN 0-87950-001-8.

List of Islamic terms in Arabic

A

B

C

D

E

F

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

P

Q

S

T

U

W

Z

Other notes

References

See also

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