| islam/arabic | definition |
| suras | Koran's chapters |
| Kaaba | the shrine in the center of Mecca. before Muhammad took it over and made it an Islamic shrine, it was pagan. |
| Quraysh | council of members of influential families in Mecca, they governed it. it was a group/clan/tribe. they controlled the Kaaba. they were the cause of much conflict for early Islam. |
| Bedouin | pre-Islamic tribal people. they were pagan. they held loyalty to their clan highly. |
| Asabiyya | "clan spirit." the Bedouin principle that means that Bedouins must be loyal to their tribe. |
| Hijaz | mountainous section of northern arabia. contained Mecca and Medina. |
| Allah | before Islam, Allah was the primary deity (in pagan times). Muhammad comes in and says, "no, he's the one TRUE god." |
| Abu Talib | Muhammad's paternal uncle. "reared" him to manhood. Protected him against Quaresh. dies in the Year of Sorrow |
| Khadija | a widow for whom Muhammad worked. He married her. she was influential on his life. he stayed faithful to her until she died. she was a jew. she was Islam's first female convert. |
| Ali | Muhammad's younger cousin/son in law. he is important in Islam's rise. 4th caliph. His son was the one who caused the Sunni-Shi'ite split. |
| Zayd | a slave Muhammad frees. one of the first converts. |
| Abu Bakr | first caliph. important in Islam's rise because he spreads it to the North: Byzantine and Persia. he was close to Muhammad when he was alive. he was gentle, wise, pious, humble. father of A'isha, Muhammad's favorite wife at the time of his death. |
| Hijra | migration of Muslims from Mecca to Medina (then Yathrib) in 622 AD. beginning of Muslim calendar. |
| Bilal | an abyssinian convert; the first crier who summons Muslims to pray. he is important for Islam b/c he's the start of Muezzin (?) |
| Muezzins | crier who summons Muslims to pray at certain hours |
| pilgrimage | travels to worship deities, old pagan custom. in Islam, it is the pilgrimage to the Kaaba that is required of all Muslims for whom it is feasible. must be done once in lifetime. |
| Caliph | successor to the prophet. the four people who succeeded the prophet. Shi'as believe that all four are models for the ideal Muslim |
| Jabal-Al-Nur | "Mountain of light" small mountain outside of Mecca where Muhammad would go to meditate-recieved enlightenment/revelation there. |
| Koran | Muhammad's HOLY HOLY text. each word of the Koran is spoken through Muhammad's lips, as opposed to various prophets (Tanakh, Bible). however, Muslims believe that every word in it, Muhammad recieved directly from Allah. |
| muhajirun | "the immigrants"--Muslims who migrated to Medina to escape religious persecution in Mecca |
| fatiha | the first chapter of the Koran. reveals the essence of the Koran. |
| paraclete | advocate who would come to assist humanity. it's sort of similar to the holy spirit (?) |
| shahadah | the first sentence chanted in the ear of a Muslim infant. It says that there is only one god, Allah, and that Muhammad is the prophet of Allah. it talks about UNITY. |
| shirk | a major sin: associating anything else with divinity except the one Allah. no worshipping idols, or lesser deities, or human rulers. |
| kufr | a major sin: ungratefulness to Allah, unbelief, Atheism. |
| jinn | immaterial beings of fire. there are good and bad jinn. like humans, they are accountable for their deeds on earth. Satan was originally a jinn. |
| ummah | the worldwide Muslim community (today about 1.2 billion). |
| ansar | "the helpers" - Muslims of Medina who welcome and aid the Muslim refugees who fled religious persecution- the welcoming families |
| sharia | "the way" - code of law derived from the koran and from the teachings and example of Muhammad. only applicable to Muslims. it includes no separation btw. church and state. |
| ulama | scholars who interpret the Koran and Sunnah |
| fatwa | the Ulamas interpretation. all Sunnis consider this authoritative/are governed by it. |
| WHAT IS HAJJ? | (blank) |
