| Term | Definition |
|---|
| "Sign of God," title of a high ranking Shii religious leader | ayatollah (ayatullah) |
| for Sunni Muslims, successor of Muhammad as leader of the Islamic community | caliph |
| traditional garment, worn in public, covering a woman from head to toe | chador |
| "abode of war"; non-Islamic territory | dar al-harb |
| "abode of peace"; Islamic territory, i.e., where Islamic laws are enforced | dar al-Islam |
| "remembrance," Sufi practice of repeating or remembering God's name to become more conscious of God's presence | dhikr |
| "protected" or covenanted people, non-Muslim citizen who is subject to poll tax | dhimmi |
| religion | din |
| formal legal opinion or decision of a mufti on a matter of Islamic law | fatwa |
| "understanding"; Islamic jurisprudence, religious law | fiqh |
| "limits"; Quranically prescribed penalty or punishment for theft, adultery, fornication, false witness, drinking intoxicants | hadd (pl. hudud) |
| narrative report of the Prophet Muhammad's sayings and actions | hadith |
| annual pilgrimage to Mecca required of all Muslims at least once in their lifetime | hajj |
| permitted, lawful activities | halal |
| pure or true monotheist (Abraham) | hanif |
| prohibited, unlawful activities | haram |
| veil or head covering worn by Muslim women in public | hijab |
| emigration of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina in A.D. 622 where he established rule of Muslim community-state | hijra |
| unity of God, Allah's absolute sovereignty over the universe | tawhid |
| religious scholars or clergy | ulama |
| Islamic community, refers to the worldwide Muslim community | ummah |
| "visitation," lesser pilgrimage to Mecca which can be preformed any time of the year | umra |
| endowment of property for religious purposes such as building of mosques, school, hospitals | waqf (pl. awqaf) |
| annual alms tax or tithe of 2.5 percent levied on wealth and distributed to the poor | zakat |
| party of God | hizbullah |
| "festival of sacrifice," the last day of the hajj | Id al-Adha |
| "festival of the breaking of the fast," the end of Ramadan | Id al-Fitra |
| consensus, or agreement of the community, a source of Islamic law | ijma |
| independent analysis or interpretation of Islamic law | ijtihad |
| "Leader," prayer leader. In Shii Islam refers to successor of Prophet Muhammad, descendant of Ali, who governs as divinely inspired religiopolitical leader of Islamic community | imam |
| reform or revitalization of the Muslim community through return to the Quran and example of the Prophet | islah |
| submission or surrender to the will of God | islam |
| period of ignorance, i.e., pre-Islamic Arabia | jahiliyyah |
| "strive, effort, struggle" to follow Islam | jihad |
| "genie" | jinn |
| focal pt. of daily prayer and the pilgrimage in Mecca | kaba |
| "speech," theology | kalam |
| religious college or university, seminary | madrasa |
| divinely guided leader who is to come in the future to establish God's rule on earth, a socially just society | mahdi |
| "place of prostration," mosque, center for Muslim worship | masjid, mosque |
| "niche" in the wall of a mosque, indicating the direction of Mecca, which Muslims face when performing their daily prayers | mihrab |
| specialist on Islamic law competent to deliver a fatwa or legal interpretation/brief | mufti |
| "renewer" | mujaddid |
| soldier of God | mujahid (pl. mujahidin) |
| one who practices ijtihad or interprets Islamic law | mujtahid |
| a local religious leader | mullah |
| one who submits (islam) to God's will | musilim |
| seclusion and covering of women in public | purdah |
| judge who administers Shariah law | qadi |
| direction of the Kaba at Mecca which Muslims face when preforming their daily prayers | qibla |
| official prayer or worship observed five times daily | salat |
| fasting, the fourth pillar of Islam | sawm |
| confession or profession of faith | shahadah |
| "path"; Islamic law | shariah |
| head of a tribe or Sufi order; term applied to a ruler, religious teacher, or tribal leader | shaykh |
| those Muslims who believe that Muhammad designated Ali and his descendants the true leaders of the Muslim community | shia |
| idolatry, polytheism, or associationism; to associate any other deity, person, or thing with God | shirk |
| follower of Sufism, Islamic mysticism | Sufi |
| ruler, military commander in medieval Islamic states | sultan |
| normative practice or exemplary behavior of Muhammad | sunnah |
| revival, renewal of Islam through return to its sources, the Quran and example of the Prophet | tajdid |
| unquestioned imitation or following of tradition, past legal or doctrinal precedents; the opposite of ijtihad | taqlid |
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