Ahl-e-Bait — The members of the household of the Holy Prophet (sas).
Allahu Akbar — Arabic expression meaning ‘Allah is the Greatest.’
Aryah Samaj — A Hindu sect founded by Pundit Dayanand in 1875. Their first and foremost belief is that Parmeshwar [God] is not the Creator of matter and souls. Rather, that all of these things are eternal and self-subsisting like Parmeshwar.
Ashabus-Suffah — A term used for those indigent emigrants who lived in the Mosque of the Holy Prophet (sas) in Madinah and dedicated themselves to the worship of Allah, company of the Holy Prophet (sas) and recitation of the Holy Quran.
Auliya’ — Plural of wali. See Wali
Avatar — A term in Hinduism referring to the appearance of a deity upon earth in reincarnated form.
Bai‘at — An oath of allegiance to a religious leader; initiation at the hands of a Prophet or his Khalifah. Literally means ‘to be sold’.
Barahin — Convincing arguments or proofs; the singular is burhan.
Brahmu Samaj — A Hindu revival movement that believes in the One God, but believes that reason alone is enough to guide mankind towards Him. They do not believe in divine revelation.
Dajjal — An Arabic word literally meaning a ‘great deceiver’. In Islamic terminology Dajjal refers to those satanic forces which would be unleashed in the Latter Days to oppose the Promised Messiah and Imam Mahdi (as).
Furqan — Another name for the Holy Quran, meaning the discrimination between right and wrong.
Hadith — A saying of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (sas). The plural is ahadith.
Hazrat — A term of respect used to show honour and reverence for a person of established righteousness and piety. The literal meaning is: His/Her Holiness, Worship, Eminence, etc. It is also used for God in the superlative sense.
Hakam — Arbiter. A title bestowed upon the Promised Messiah and Imam Mahdi by the Holy Prophet (sas).
Haqqul-Yaqin — True certainty.
Holy Prophet (sas) — A title used exclusively for the Founder of Islam, Hazrat Muhammad (sas).
Holy Quran — The final and perfect Scripture revealed by Allah for the guidance of mankind for all times to come. It was revealed word by word to the Holy Prophet Muhammad (sas) over a period of twenty-three years.
Ijma‘ — Concensus of Muslim scholars regarding a religious matter.
Istighfar — Seeking forgiveness of Allah.
Jama‘at — Community.
Ka‘bah — The first house built for the worship of God. Located in Makkah. Muslims face the Ka‘bah while performing their daily Prayers and perform circuits around it as an act of devotion.
Kafir — Disbeliever.
Kazzab — Liar.
Khairul-Qurun — The Best of Centuries—of early Islam
Khalifatullah — Vicegerent of God.
Khalq-e-Akhar — The sixth and highest stage of physical and spiritual development. Literally means ‘the other creation.’
Khatam-e-Nubuwwat — Bearer of the Seal of Prophethood.
Khatam-e-Wilayat — Bearer of the Seal of Sainthood.
Khatamul-Anbiya’ — The Seal of the Prophets, a title accorded to the Holy Prophet (sas).
Kufr — Disbelief.
La‘nat — Curse. Literally means ‘Absence of exaltation’.
Maulawi — A Muslim religious cleric.
Mubahalah — A prayer duel.
Muhaddath — A recipient of divine revelation. Plural is muhaddathin or muhaddathun.
Muhaddith — A scholar of the Hadith.
Muhammad (sas) — Founder of Islam. See Holy Prophet (sas).
Mujaddid — A Reformer.
Nafs-e-ammarah — The self that incites to evil.
Nawwab — An honorific title ratified and bestowed by Mughal emperors to semi-autonomous Muslim rulers of princely states in South Asia. The female equivalent is ‘Begum’ or ‘Nawwab Begum’.
Parmeshwar — A term in Hinduism for God, sometimes also written as Parmeshar.
Qasidah — An ode.
Quran — See Holy Quran.
Rahim — Merciful—an attribute of God as mentioned in Surah al-Fatihah and throughout the Holy Quran. The verbal noun of this attribute is Rahimiyyat.
Rahman — Gracious—an attribute of God as mentioned in Surah al-Fatihah and throughout the Holy Quran. The verbal noun of this attribute is Rahmaniyyat.
Rububiyyat — The divine quality of sustaining or nurturing; the verbal noun of the attribute Rabb or ‘Lord’.
Shariah — Religious Law of Islam. The term is also used in a general sense for any religion’s revealed legal code.
Shurti — Any Vedic text.
Surah — A chapter of the Holy Quran.
Taba‘ Tabi‘in — The generation after that of the Tabi‘in.
Tabi‘in — The generation of pious Muslims after the generations of the Companions.
Tafrid — Uniqueness.
Takfir — The practice of adjudging Muslims as non-Muslims, used chiefly by Muslims.
Taqwa — Righteousness.
Tauhid — The Oneness of God—the fundamental Islamic belief that there is none worthy of worship except Allah.
Tawaf — To perform circuit.
Vedas — The most ancient Hindu scriptures, written in Sanskrit and containing hymns, philosophy, and guidance on rituals for the priests of the Vedic religion. There are four Vedas— Rigveda, Samaveda, Yajurveda, and Atharvaveda.
Walayat — The state of being a friend of God, or waliyyullah.
Wali — Literally, ‘friend’. In the terminology of Islamic mysticism, it refers to a very pious person or a friend of Allah. The singular form is wali [friend] or waliyyullah [friend of Allah], the plural form is auliya’ullah which is sometimes abbreviated as auliya’.