Akhirah
Belief in life after death
Al-Jannah
Heaven
Barzakh
A time of waiting between the resurrection and the journey to the afterlife
Jahannam
Hell
Al-Tawhid
One of the Shi’a five roots of Usul ad-Din. Belief in the oneness of Allah
Al-Adl
One of the Shi’a five roots of Usul ad-Din. belief in divine justice.
Al-Nubuwah
One of the Shi’a five roots of Usul ad-Din. belief in prophethood
Al-Imamah
One of the Shi’a five roots of Usul ad-Din. belief in imams
Al-Ma’ad
One of the Shi’a five roots of Usul ad-Din. belief in the day of ressurection
Asharism
A Sunni belief. The middle between belief in predestination and belief in free will.
Allah
God
Al-Qadr
Predestination
Ten obligatory acts
ten rules that Shi’a Muslims have to follow (similar to five pillars): Salah, Sawm, Zakah, Hajj, Jihad, Khums, Amir-bil-Maroof, Nahil Anril Munkar, Tawalla and Tabarra
Amir-bil-Maroof
Encouraging people to do what is right. One of Shi’a 10 obligatory acts.
Nahil Anril Munkar
Discouraging people from wrongs. One of Shi’a 10 obligatory acts.
Tawalla
Expressing love towards good. One of Shi’a 10 obligatory acts.
Tabarra
expressing dissociation form evil. One of Shi’a 10 obligatory acts.
Jihad
struggle. One of Shi’a 10 obligatory acts.
Lesser Jihad
The struggle against opponents of Islam
Greater Jihad
The inner struggle against evil
Khums
A 20% tax paid by Shi’a Muslims. One of Shi’a 10 obligatory acts.
Five pillars of Islam
Things that all adult Muslims must perform
Shahadah
Declaration of faith. One of the 5 pillars of Islam
Salah
Prayer 5 times per day. One of the Shi’a 10 obligatory acts and 5 pillars of Islam
Zakah
giving money to charity. One of the 5 pillars of Islam and 10 obligatory acts
Sawm
Fasting during the month of Ramadan. One of the 5 pillars of Islam and 10 obligatory acts
Hajj
Pilgrimage to Makkah that needs to be completed once in a lifetime. One of the 5 pillars of Islam and 10 obligatory acts.
Angels
God’s messengers. Without free will
Israfil
Angel who blows the horn on to begin the day of resurrection
Izra’il
The angel who takes a person’s soul after death
Jibra’il
The angel who delivers Allah’s messages to his prophets
Mika’il
Guardian of Heaven and holy places
Recording angels
Angels who record the lives of people for the day of judgement
Ashura
Celebrates when Musa parted the sea. Shi’a Muslims remember the tragedy of Hussayn and his family being killed
Eid-ul-Adha
The festival of sacrifice. Celebrates Ibrahim’s devotion to Allah. Occurs at the end of Hajj where an animal is sacrificed
Eid-ul-Fitr
Celebrates the end of Ramadan and the breaking of the fast
Eid-ul-Ghadeer
Celebrated by Shi’a Muslims on the day Muhammd gave his last sermon. Also believed to be the day Muhammad appointed Ali as his succesor
Benevolent
All loving → Allah’s qualities
ominpotent
All powerful → Allah’s qualities
Transcendent
Above all time and space → Allah’s qualities
Immanent
Within all → Allah’s qualities
Tawhid
Oneness of God
Prophets
Ordinary people given a special mission by Allah
Adam
Allah’s first creation (from clay). Disobedient so sent from Al-Jannah
Ibrahim
An early prophet who rejected polytheism and created many rituals that are a part of Hajj. Allah asked him to sacrifice his firstborn but stopped him at the last minute
Isma’il
Son of Ibrahim and prophet. Left in a deserted place (Makkah) and a spring appeared where he kicked his heel
Musa
A prophet in Islam. Taught people to worship one God and freed the people from Egypt. Tawrat was revealed to him
Dawud
Prophet and became king of the Israelites. Zabur was revealed to him
Isa
Performed many miracles and foretold the coming of Muhammad. Sunni Muslims believe him to be the messiah.
Muhammad
Seal of the prophets
Laylat ul-Qadr
Night of power → when jibr’il revealed the qur’an to Muhammad
Lailat ul Miraj
The night journey, the spiritual journey Muhammad took when he met all previous prophets and met Allah.
the Hijrah
the immigration to Medinah where all idols were destroyed
Hanif
Believers in one God in Arabia in Muhammad’s time
Last sermon
The last time Muhammad preached. Emphasised importance of equality and following the Qur’an.
Sunnah
Muhammad’s example
The straight path
The way Muslims are expected to act following the Sunnah and shariah law
Rasuul
Prophets who had a holy book revealed to them: Muhammad, Isa, Musa, Dawud and Ibrahim
Qur’an
The holy book revealed to Muhammad on the night of power. Thr last ‘pure’ holy book
Kutub
Holy books
Sahifah
scrolls revealed to Ibrahim
Zabur
book of psalms revealed to Dawud
Tawrat
Holy book revealed to Musa
Injil
Holy book revealed to Isa
Hadith
Sayings of Muhammad
Ihram
The state of purity Muslims enter for the Hajj pilgrimage. Usually wearing white clothes
Kaaba
The black box in the centre of the mosque in Makkah
Quibla
The direction Muslims have to face to pray (towards the kaaba)
Shariah
Islamic law
Khalifa
Humankind as stewards to look after the Earth. Also those who lead Muslims following Muhammad (Caliphs)
Ramadan
The Islamic month of fasting
Sunni
the largest group of Muslims who follow the Sunnah (Muhammad’s examples)
Shi’a
A small group of Muslims who believe Ali followed Muhammad as the leader of Islam. Believe in the twelve Imams
Infallible
A person who does not make any mistakes. Used to describe the Imams who had spiritual authority passed down through Muhammad
Mu’tazilite
Follower of the Mu’talizah. They interpret Tawhid to mean that Allah does not have human qualities so could not write the Qur’an
Du’a
personal prayers
Wudu
The ritual of washing before praying or reading the Qur’an
Raka’t
A prayer following a series of actions (standing, kneeling, bowing, sitting) after the example of Muhammad
Fajir
Morning prayer
Zuhr
Midday prayer
Asr
late afternoon prayer
Maghrib
prayer just after sunset
Isha
night-time prayer
Jummah
Friday prayers where Muslims hear a sermon and pray in a congregation if they can attend
Khutba
The sermon given at Jummah
Sadaqah
An act of charity outside of obligations
Niyyah
Intention. Muslims say their intentions before any act.
Shirk
Seeing something as equal or connected to Allah. Worst sin to be committed and cannot be forgiven
Sifat
Allah’s foreknowledge
Ummah
All Muslims belong to a big world-wide family.