abdâl, sing. badal: Spiritually accomplished human beings by means of whom goodness remains in the world. Cf. documentation under h.adîth #8 of our Forty H.adîths on the Excellence of Syro-Palestine and Its People.

 
adhân: The call to prayer raised by the mu'adhdhin.

 
ah.ad, pl. âhâd: "Solitary" Lone-narrator, non-mutawâtir h.adîth.

 
Ahl al-Bid`a: "People of Innovation" Muslims who follow other than the doctrines and practices of Ahl al-Sunna. A common name synonymous with Ahl al-ahwâ' or the "people of vain lusts."

 
Ahl al-H.aqq: "The People of Truth" The term denotes Ahl al-Sunna wal-Jamâ`a as opposed to the sects and is identical with "The Saved Group" (al-firqa al-nâjiya) mentioned in the h.adîth of the Prophet .

 
Ahl al-Sunna wa al-Jamâ`a: "People of the Way of the Prophet and the Congregation [of the Muslims]" also known as Sunni Muslims.

 
âkhira: The hereafter.

 
`âlim, pl. `ulamâ': Possessor of knowledge in Islam or `ilm.

 
`âmmî, pl. `awâmm: One who lacks Islamic scholarly training and learning: the common people; the general public. One may be an `âlim in one discipline and an `âmmî in others.

 
`an`ana: undecisive h.adîth transmission terminology through the use of the phrase "from X" (`an fulân) instead of the phrase "X narrated to us" (h.addathanâ fulân). `An`ana often denotes tadlîs and irsâl.

 
`arad., pl. a`râd.: "Accident"

 
`ârif: Knower of Allâh. One who possesses ma`rifa.

 
Ash`arîs: Adherents to the doctrinal tenets of Abû al-H.asan al-Ash`arî, mostly from the Shâfi`î and Mâlikî Schools of Law, and forming the massive majority of the Ulema of Ahl al-Sunna wal-Jamâ`a.

 
azal, adj. azalî: Pre-eternity without beginning, applying both to the existent (mawjûd) and the non-existent (ma`dûm). In the latter sense the inexistence of creatures has no beginning and so is pre-eternally inexistent (ma`dûmun azalî) (but it has an end coinciding with the beginning of their existence). Azal is thus distinct from the beginninglessness of qidam, "pre-existence," which applies only to the pre-eternally existent. Qidam, unlike azal, is also necessarily everlasting.

 
`azîz: "Rare." Applied to a h.adîth, it refers to a type of ah.ad narration that has two to four narrators in each link of its chain and is thus between the level of gharîb and that of mashhûr. Note: this is not an index of its authenticity as a `azîz h.adîth may be either s.ah.îh., h.asan, or d.a`îf.

 
bid`a, pl. bida`: "Innovation," classed by al-Shâfi`î as either good (h.asana) or bad (sayyi'a), the latter being in doctrine, practice, or both, and unsupported by the principles of the Law. Examples of good innovations are those begun by the first Four Caliphs of Islam y. Examples of misguided innovations: anthropomorphism of the deity; rejecting agreed-upon h.adîths or h.adîth as a whole; dispensations for ribâ and doffing the h.ijâb; rampant imitation of non-Muslims in dress, speech, keeping dogs as pets, and/or keeping mixed company and encouraging others to do so, etc. An innovator is a bid`î or mubtadi`, pl. Ahl al-Bid`a.

 
"The Companions": Those who saw the Prophet even for a moment, believed in him, and died as Muslims y. Ar. s.ah.âbî, pl. s.ah.âba, as.h.âb; fem. s.ahâbiyya, pl. s.ahâbiyyât.

 
d.a`îf, pl. d.u`afâ', d.i`âf: "Weak" Low grading of a h.adîth or of its chain of transmission - as opposed to s.ah.îh. or h.asan which are high gradings - or of a h.adîth narrator as opposed to s.adûq or thiqa. Ahmad ibn H.anbal and Abû Dâwûd made use of weak h.adîths for lack of strong ones in the inference of legal rulings, preferring them to conjecture. The majority of Scholars infer legal rulings from h.adîths of either sound or fair grade exclusively, and make use of weak ones only in other than legal rulings. Also: low grading of a narrator, one of the lowest gradings in the terminology of narrator-discreditation.

 
dhât: Essence, Entity, Self, Person. Al-Dhât wa al-S.ifât, the (divine) Essence and the Attributes. Al-Dhât al-Qudsiyya, the divine Entity. Bi-dhâtihi, in person.

 
dhikr: Silent remembrance or spoken invocation. Mention, especially of Allâh. The Qur'an is named al-Dhikr. It is also a name for prayer.

 
du`â': Invocation or supplication to Allâh.

 
dunyâ: The world, as opposed to the hereafter or âkhira.

 
faqîh, pl. fuqahâ': Person of superior understanding; Jurisprudent.

 
fard: Categorically obligatory. One of the five legal rulings that apply to all acts in fiqh, the other four being mustah.abb (synonymous with mandûb and also, sometimes, with sunna), mubâh. ("indifferent"), makrûh ("offensive"), h.arâm ("prohibited") - and applying in the usage of Jurists from the second Hijrî century.

 
fatwa, pl. fatâwa: Pronouncement. A qualified legal response to a specific question.

 
fiqh: Superlative understanding; Islamic Jurisprudence and Law; al-fiqh al-akbar = us.ûl.

 
firâsa: keen discernment and intuition, similar to but less compelling than kashf.

 
"The Four Imâms": Abû H.anîfa, Mâlik, al-Shâfi`î, and Ah.mad ibn H.anbal.

 
"The Four Rightly-Guided Caliphs": Abû Bakr al-S.iddîq, `Umar al-Fârûq, `Uthmân ibn `Affân, and `Alî ibn Abî T.âlib.

 
"The Four Schools": The H.anafî School, the Malikî School, the Shâfi`î School, and the H.anbalî School.

 
"The Four Sunan": al-Tirmidhî's Sunan, al-Nasâ'î's Sunan, Abû Dâwûd's Sunan, and Ibn Mâjah's Sunan.

 
gharîb: Singular, obscure; applied to a h.adîth chain (e.g. by al-Tirmidhî in his Sunan), it refers to a type of ah.ad narration and means "with a single-narrator chain" i.e. with only one narrator among the Companions and the subsequent links. Applied to the h.adîth content, it refers to something not narrated anywhere else. This is not an index of its authenticity, as a gharîb h.adîth may be either s.ah.îh., h.asan, or d.a`îf.[1] A famous authentic gharîb h.adîth is, "Actions are only according to intentions."[2] Applied to lexical terms, gharîb denotes cruxes or difficulties. There are manuals devoted to the gharîb of Qur'an and h.adîth.

 
Ghulât: "Extremists," especially among the Shî`î offshoots such as the "gnostic" (Bât.inî) sects including the permissive and/or incarnationist Ismâ`îlîs and pseudo-S.ûfîs such as the Bakhtâshîs and Qalandarîs; and any of the modern Khawârij that indulge in the takfîr of Sunni Muslims in addition to holding heretical views in doctrine and Law.

 
h.adath: The quality of things originated and created. Anything other than Allâh (SWT) and His Attributes. In Law, whatever state or act that causes need for the ablution or greater ablution.

 
hâdith, pl. ah.dâth: Originated; brought into being; contingent; created. Possessing the quality of h.udûth and h.adath as opposed to what is without beginning or pre-existent (qadîm).

 
h.adîth, pl. ah.âdîth: Saying. Narration of the Prophet's speech, deed, or approval or disapproval - whether spoken or tacit - about something. Most Scholars extend this nomenclature to the sayings of the Companions, and some to those of the Successors, although many reserve the term for Prophetic narrations and call everything else athar, pl. âthâr, or khabar, pl. akhbâr.

 
h.âl, pl. ah.wâl: State. In tas.awwuf, an overwhelming spiritual state. Often used in contradistinction with "station" or maqâm, pl. maqâmât.

 
h.aqîqa: Truth, reality. Lexically, the real sense as opposed to the figurative.

 
h.aqîqî: Real. Distinguished from z.âhir, "literal," and majâzî, "figurative"

 
h.arâm: Strictly prohibited and the commission of which constitutes a sin. One of the five legal rulings that apply to all acts in fiqh, the other four being fard. ("categorically obligatory"), mustah.abb (synonymous with mandûb and also, sometimes, with sunna), makrûh ("offensive"), and mubâh. ("indifferent") in the usage of Jurists from the second Hijrî century.

 
h.asan: Fair, authentic. The next to highest grading of a h.adîth or of its chain of transmission. The chain alone can be fair but not necessarily the h.adîth itself, or vice-versa: a fair h.adîth can be found narrated through a defective chain.

 
H.ashwiyya: Gross anthropomorphists. Literally, "Visceralists," Those who interpret corporeal attributions literally in the verses and narrations of the Divine Attributes.

 
h.udûth: Contingency. Originated or created nature of all other than Allâh.

 
h.ujja: "Proof," See thiqa.

 
h.ulûl: The heresy holding indwelling or incarnation of the Divine into a created being or place.

 
ih.sân: Excellence; perfection; to worship Allâh as if one saw Him.

 
ijmâ`: Scholarly consensus in (Sunni) Islam.

 
ijtihâd: Striving; scholarly endeavor; competence to infer expert legal rulings from foundational proofs within or without a particular School. The attribute of the mujtahid.

 
ikhtilâf: Divergence, difference in the positions of the scholars also named khilâf.

 
`illa, pl. ilal: Defect or defects hidden within the chain or text of an ostensively sound h.adîth. Knowledge of the `ilal is an integral part of h.adîth expertise. Among those who authored works focussing on the `ilal are Imâm Ah.mad, Abû H.âtim al-Râzî, al-Tirmidhî, al-Dâraqut.nî, al-H.âkim, Ibn al-Jawzî, and Ibn H.azm. One of its greatest experts was Imâm al-Bukhârî.

 
`ilm: Knowledge in the Religion; pl. `ulûm: the Islamic sciences. The attribute of the `âlim.

 
`ilm al-tawh.îd: Science of the affirmation of Oneness. See us.ûl.

 
imâm: "Leader," This applies to the overall leader of the Muslims or Caliph, or the political leader in a more local sense, or the leader of group prayer, or a major authority in the Religion such as al-Nawawî.

 
îmân: Belief, faith in Allâh, His angels, His Books, His Apostles, the Last Day, the Foreordained Decree - both the good and the bad as ordained by Allâh - and Resurrection after death. The attribute of the mu'min. In the above sense îmân is different from islâm, otherwise they are synonyms.

 
innovators: Also known as Ahl al-Bid`a, Muslims who follow other than the doctrines and beliefs of Ahl al-Sunna.

 
irsâl: See mursal.

 
islâm: "Submission," "surrender"; to declare "There is no God but Allâh, and Muh.ammad is the Messenger of Allâh," perform salât, pay zakât, fast the month of Ramad.ân, and perform the H.ajj if one is able. The attribute of the Muslim.

 
is.t.ilâh. = mus.t.alah

 
jabal: "Mountain," See thiqa.

 
Jabriyya: Those who held that a human being's acts are all predetermined and that human beings are legally helpless and unaccountable.

 
jahl: Ignorance, either "basic" (basît.), such as in the commonality of people, or "compound" (murakkab), such as in the people of innovation.

 
Jahmiyya: Followers of Jahm ibn S.afwân (d. 128) who believed that Allâh was "the wind and everything else," considered the Qur'ân created and upheld the finiteness in time of heaven and hell. The Mu`tazila and Shî`îs adopted his denial or over-interpretation of the Divine Attributes and his view that the Qur'ân is created while Ibn Taymiyya adopted his view that Hell would come to an end.

 
Jamâ`a: Congregation.

 
jarh: Narrator-discreditation, by which a narrator is declared untrustworthy.

 
jârih.a, pl. jawârih.: "Limbs," That which is precluded from the Deity whenever the Attributes that connote corporeality are mentioned, such as the face (wajh), hand (yad), eye (`ayn), foot (qadam), and so forth. Abû Bakr al-Ismâ`îlî said in I`tiqâd A'immat al-H.adîth: "One must not attribute organs (a`d.â') nor limbs (jawârih.) to Allâh (SWT) nor length nor breadth nor density nor thinness (walâ al-t.ûl wal-`ard. wal-ghilz.a wal-diqqa) nor any such characteristic the like of which applies to created beings."[3]

 
jawâz: Possibility.

 
jawhar: "Substance," That which is precluded from the Deity. "Allâh is neither a body (jism), nor an accident (`arad.)" [in the sense of an attribute characterizing, like "substance," created things] nor an indivisible substance (jawhar)" (Ibn Khafîf).[4]

 
jihâd: Struggle; fighting for the sake of Allâh against the enemies of the Religion. "The most obligatory of all jihads (afrad al-jihâd) are the jihâd against the ego, the jihâd against lusts, the jihâd against the devil, and the jihâd against the lower world." (Ibn al-Qayyim).[5]

 
jism: See Mujassima.

 
kalâm: Lit. "Discourse," "discussion," "speech"; dialectic, speculative, or systematic theology; theological discourse and the science of tawhîd in general, also called us.ûl al-dîn and al-fiqh al-akbar. In the terminology of the Four Imams it refers to the doctrines and methods of the Mu`tazila and their Qadarî and Jahmî sub-sects. Later, "a science consisting in the proofs of the credal doctrines through rational evidence and the rebuttal of the heretics who strayed from the way of the Salaf and Ahl al-Sunna" (Ibn Khaldûn, Muqaddima). Al-Kalâm also refers to the Qur'an.

 
karâma, pl. karâmât: Miraculous gift such as are granted to a walî.

 
Karrâmiyya: Followers of Muh.ammad ibn Karrâm (d. 255). They said: "Allâh is a body unlike bodies."

 
kashf: Disclosure, unveiling. Insight into the unseen through karâma.

 
Khalaf: "Those that followed," A name used for Muslims that came after the Salaf.

 
Khawârij,sing. Khârijî: "Separatists," Those of Ahl al-Bid`a who, in any day and age, fight against the caliph and/or against the mainstream Ulema of the Muslims and their commonality by force of arms and/or recourse to anathema which includes falsely declaring others "disbelievers" (takfîr), "pagans" (tashrîk), "misguided" (tad.lîl), "innovators" (tabdî`), "pantheists" (ittih.âdî, h.ulûlî), "grave-worshippers" (qubûrî), "cultists" (t.uruqî), and so forth. Modern Khawârij include the Wahhâbiyya (as stated by Ibn `âbidîn, al-S.âwî, Abû Zahra, etc.) and their myriad modernist offshoots and hybrid grouplets and parties East and West - many purportedly Sunni - including certain professed S.ûfis, as well as the Râfid.a. Modern Khawârij, unlike the early ones, all permit lying, forgery, and book-tampering in the furtherance of their causes.

 
kufr: Disbelief, apostasy, blasphemy. May refer to a statement that amounts to kufr without causing kufr in its speaker, such as saying: "This medicine saved my life" or "Country X. is a superpower," unless meant literally.

 
lâ ilâha illallâh: "There is no God except Allâh." With the affirmation that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allâh, this phrase enters one into Islam. "The people of lâ ilâha illallâh" are the Muslims.

 
madhhab: "Path" A School of Law (madhhab fiqhî) in Islâm, varying in number from a single Mujtahid over a single position - such as the Madhhab of Abû Hurayra in considering the wearing of gold prohibited even for women - to an Imâm of fiqh and his entire School down to our time, such as the four Madhâhib of Abû H.anîfa, Mâlik, al-Shâfi`î, and Ah.mad whose Jurisprudence encompass all aspects of public and private life.

Al-Nawawî in his time spoke of "the five Madhâhib," including that of Sufyân al-Thawrî. Other defunct Schools include those of al-Awzâ`î, al-T.abarî, Abû Thawr, Dâwûd ibn `Alî, and al-Layth. Among the multifarious non-Sunnî Schools some survive to our time, such as the Ja`farî ("Twelver" or "Duodeciman") Shî`îs - nowadays mostly Râfid.a; the moderate Zaydîs in Yemen; the moderate Khârijî Ibâd.îs in Oman and North Africa; and others.

 
majhûl: "Unidentifiable" Said of a narrator whose reliability is unknown and from whom only one person narrates. Of slightly stronger status is the majhûl al-h.âl or "unknown in status," also called mastûr or "out of view," a narrator concerning whom neither commendation nor discreditation is available. The status of unknown is lifted if two or more trustworthy sources narrate from them, or even a single Imâm known to narrate only from those who are trustworthy.

 
makrûh: Offensive, abominable, disliked. One the five legal rulings that apply to all acts in fiqh, the other four being mustah.abb ("desirable," synonymous with mandûb and also, sometimes, with sunna), mubâh. "indifferent"), fard. ("categorically obligatory"), h.arâm ("prohibited"), in the usage of Jurists from the second Hijrî century.

 
mansûkh: Abrogated text in the Qur'an or h.adîth, as opposed to nâsikh. The verse [whether you make known what is in your minds or hide it, Allâh will bring you to account for it] (2:284) is abrogated by the verse [Allâh tasks not a soul beyond its scope. For it (is only) that which it has earned, and against it (only) that which it has deserved] (2:286).

 
maqâm, pl. maqâmât , see h.âl.

 
maqt.û`: "Severed" Said of a h.adîth that is linked only up to a Successor.

 
marfû`: "Raised" A h.adîth linked back to the Prophet .

 
ma`rifa: Knowledge of Allâh. The attribute of the `ârif.

 
mashhûr: "Famous" Applied to a h.adîth, it refers to a type of ah.ad narration that has five to nine narrators at each link of its chain and is therefore nearly mass-narrated. Note that this is not an index of its authenticity as a mashhûr h.adîth may be either s.ah.îh., h.asan, or d.a`îf. The label of mashhûr is sometimes given to merely famous narrations which are not nearly-mass-narrated.

 
mastûr: See majhûl al-h.âl.

 
Mâturîdîs: Adherents of the doctrinal school of Abû Mans.ûr al-Mâturîdî, mostly from the H.anafî School of Law. They differ with Ash`arîs on a small number of issues.

 
mawd.û`: Forged. Knowledge of forged narrations is an integral part of the h.adîth sciences. The most famous index of forgeries is Ibn al-Jawzî's Mawd.û`ât. Among the most reliable such compilations are al-Suyût.î's al-La'âli' al-Mas.nû`a, al-Qârî's al-Asrâr al-Marfû`a, and al-Shawkânî's al-Fawâ'id al-Mawd.û`a.

 
mawqûf: "Halted" A h.adîth linked only up to a Companion.

 
mu'adhdhin: one who calls out the adhân or call to prayer.

 
mu`allaq: "Suspended" Said of a report whose chain is suppressed except for its last link or two, as found in the chapter-titles of al-Bukhârî's S.ah.îh..

 
Mu`at.t.ila: Those who nullify meanings. The Mu`at.t.ila of the Divine Attributes divest them of reality or over-interpret them at the opposite extreme of the H.ashwiyya. The Mu`at.t.ila of the Hereafter - such as the Mu`tazila, Shî`a, and those who follow them - deny the reality of the life of the grave, the torture of the Fire, the delights of Paradise, and the beatific vision. The Mu`at.t.ila of the Sharî`a deny its binding character and manipulate it at their convenience and according to their needs. The latter category includes pseudo-S.ûfîs; modernists; extremists; others of the Islamically illiterate mass that deny H.adîth in part or in whole; and all the re-formers and exploiters of Islâm for worldly purposes who claim to speak for it.

 
mubâh.: Indifferent, permissible. One of the five legal rulings that apply to all acts in fiqh, the other four being fard. ("categorically obligatory"), mustah.abb (synonymous with mandûb and also, sometimes, with sunna), makrûh ("offensive"), h.arâm ("prohibited") in the usage of Jurists from the second Hijrî century.

 
mu`d.al: "Problematic" A h.adîth of the Prophet narrated with a chain missing at least two successive links.

 
mudallis: "Concealer" A narrator that omits one or more links in his chain of transmission through use of `an`ana or undecisive transmission terminology or deliberately misnames a link. There are different types of tadlîs.

 
mud.t.arib: "Muddled, confused" Said of a chain of transmission or textual content that present implausible variations, strongly suggesting error on the part of one or more of the narrators.

 
muftî: One who issues legal opinions and responses.

 
muh.addith, pl. muh.addithûn: Scholars of h.adîth.

 
muh.dath: "Contingent, originated" Said of all created things, which are mumkin al-wujûd, "of non-necessary existence" as opposed to Allâh Most High, the One and only Incontingent Who is wâjib al-wujûd, "of necessary existence."

 
Mujassima: Those who attribute a body (jism) to Allâh.

 
mu`jiza, pl. mu`jizât: "Staggering" miracle performed by a Prophet .

 
mujtahid: Qualified to exercise ijtihâd. A mujtahid mut.laq or "absolute mujtahid" is one that attained the rank of the Four Imams in knowledge of Arabic, qualification to apply legal reasoning, draw analogies, and infer rulings from the evidence independently of the methodology and findings of the Sunni Schools, through his own linguistic and juridical perspicuity and extensive knowledge of the texts, both the primary and those dealing with Jurisprudential khilâf from the S.ah.âba to his time.

 
mu'min, pl. mu'minûn: Believer. One who possesses îmân. A Muslim generally speaking. "The mu'min is he who watches his Lord, takes account from himself, and prepares for his return" (al-Tustarî).

 
munkar: Condemned, detested, rejected. Any act (pl. munkarât) the Law prohibits or abhors. Applied to a h.adîth (pl. manâkîr), a very weak chain or h.adîth contradicted by established narrations. Applied to a narrator by association: "Anyone about whom I say: munkar al-h.adîth, it is not permissible to narrate from him" (al-Bukhârî).

 
munqat.i`: "Cut up" The chain of a Prophetic h.adîth that is missing one or more links anywhere in the chain as per the majority of the Masters, while Ibn Hajar and others specified that they be at or "lower" i.e. more recent than the Successor-link and non-successive.

 
Murji'a: Those who dissociate acts from the sphere of basic belief, as does the entire Mâturîdî School.

 
mursal: "Dispatched" A h.adîth of the Prophet narrated with a chain missing the Companion-link or, sometimes, a lower link through irsâl.

 
Mushabbiha: Those who liken Allâh (SWT) to creation and to created beings.

 
mushrik, pl. mushrikûn: Idolater. One who practices shirk.

 
musnad: "Founded" A narration or compilation of narrations that are supported by a narrative chain going back to the Prophet .

 
mustah.abb: "Desirable" Synonymous with mandûb and also, sometimes, with sunna among the five legal rulings that apply to all acts in fiqh, the other four being fard. ("categorically obligatory"), mubâh. ("indifferent"), makrûh ("offensive"), and h.arâm ("prohibited") in the usage of Jurists from the second Hijrî century.

 
mus.t.alah.: Nomenclature, convention, usage, terminology.

 
mutakallim, pl. mutakallimûn: Expert in kalâm.

 
Mu`tazila: "Isolationists" A sect who made reason the ultimate criterion of truth, forged a political alliance with the Shî`a and, like them, held the Qur'an to be created and the Attributes to be null in themselves and to mean none other than the Essence. They also deny intercession (shafâ`a) and the karâmât of the Awliyâ'.

 
mutawâtir: Mass-narrated. Applies to a narration that has, at each link of its transmission chain, a number of narrators such as precludes collusion and collective fabrication on their part, forming tawâtur. The determination of that number varies among the scholars of h.adîth. Al-Suyût.î considers they must be at least ten at each link of the chain. Examples of mutawâtir narrations are the seven canonical readings of the Qur'ân and a small number of h.adîths, denying or disbelieving any of which constitutes kufr.

 
muttaqî: See taqwâ.

 
nah.w: Arabic grammar and related disciplines.

 
nâsikh: Abrogating text, as opposed to mansûkh.

 
"The Nine Books": Al-Bukhârî's S.ah.îh., Muslim's S.ah.îh., Mâlik's Muwat.t.a', Abû Dâwûd's Sunan, al-Tirmidhî's Sunan, al-Nasâ'i's Sunan, Ibn Mâjah's Sunan, al-Dârimî's Sunan, and Ahmad's Musnad.

 
qad.â': Divine foreordainment. "When qad.â' comes to pass, it is called qadar." (Al-But.î)

 
qadar: Divinely-foreordained destiny, in the sense of each and every event that takes place in the world. Ahl al-Sunna hold that Allâh (SWT) creates qadar while human beings bear responsibility and earn credit for their acts.

 
Qadariyya: A sect that held - like Christians - that a human being creates his own destiny and that Allâh (SWT) finds out man's acts after enactment. Like the Mu`tazila and Christians, they also believe that Allâh only creates good, while evil has other creators.

 
qidam, adj. qadîm: Pre-existence without beginning in addition to everlastingness. "The Pre-Existent without end" (al-Qadîm) is one of the exclusive Attributes of Allâh Most High, applicable also to His Attributes including his Attribute of Speech, hence to the Glorious Qur'ân and the other revealed Books.

 
Qarâmit.a: pl. of Qarmat.î, a heretical "gnostic" (bât.inî) sect also known as Isma`îlîs (al-Shahrastânî).

 
qibla: The direction of prayer, i.e. the Ka`ba in Mecca the Magnificent.

 
qut.b: "Pole" One or more human beings who occupy a pivotal spiritual position in the world. Synonymous with ghawth according to al-Shafi`i.[6]

 
rak`a: Cycle of prayer.

 
Rawâfid. or Râfid.a, sing. Râfid.î: "Rejecters." The Shî`a who disrespect Abû Bakr and `Umar (ra) and deny the validity of their imamate as well as `Uthmân's (ra), declaring as apostates the majority of the Companions and of the Umma to our time including the Mothers of the Believers (ra).

 
s.ah.âbî, pl. s.ah.âba , see Companions (ra).

 
s.adûq: "Truthful" One of the ranks of narrator-commendation, applied to a narrator whose rank falls short of "trustworthy" (thiqa). A s.adûq's narrations reach the rank of "fair" (h.asan).

 
s.ah.îh.: Sound, rigorously authentic. The highest grading of a h.adîth or of its chain of transmission. Note: the chain alone can be sound but not the h.adîth itself, or vice-versa, as a sound h.adîth can also be narrated through a defective chain.

 
Salaf: "The Predecessors"; a name applied to the righteous Muslims of the first three centuries of Islam.

 
"Salafî": Properly, a strict imitator of the Salaf such as the adherents of the Four Sunnî Schools but the Salafiyya today is a misnomer referring to an anti-traditional free-thinking current spawned by the Wahhâbiyya, both patching up views from modernism, the Mu`tazila, the Z.âhiriyya, and the Karrâmiyya, and both claiming to represent Ahl al-Sunna in vociferous opposition to Ash`arîs and Mâturîdîs. The "Salafîs" give themselves the names of Ahl al-H.adîth (in India and Pakistan) and Atharî (in the Gulf) while their opponents name them H.ashwiyya, Mujassima, and Khawârij.

 
shâdhdh: "Wayward," anomalous. Said of an ostensibly authentic h.adîth or chain by which a trustworthy narrator singled himself out in contradiction to firmly established narrations. Also applied to fatwas and/or beliefs.

 
Shî`a: "Faction" Originally, those who sided with `Alî against his foes. After `Alî's time: Those who hold `Alî to be better than Abû Bakr and `Umar, rejecting the Prophetic narrations in praise of the latter two. The Shî`a are the first sect in Islâm and have split into multifarious groups, the most important of which are the Zaydîs and the Ja`farîs. They share many doctrinal creeds with the Mu`tazila such as denial of the vision of Allâh (SWT) in the hereafter and the belief that the Qur'ân is created.

 
shirk: Idolatry; polytheism; belief in more than one God, such as paganism and animism; or in incarnation of the Divine, as in the Greek, Roman, Christian, and Hindu creeds; or in a many-personed single Divine Substance, such as Trinitarianism and Vedantism.

 
s.iddîq: Most truthful and trustful. The title of Abû Bakr. The highest level of sainthood after Prophethood.

 
"The Six Books": Al-Bukhârî's S.ah.îh., Muslim's S.ah.îh., and the Sunan of al-Tirmidhî, al-Nasâ'î, Abû Dâwûd, and Ibn Mâjah.

 
"The Successors": Those that narrated from at least one Companion, even for a moment, and died as Muslims. Ar. Tâbi`î, pl. Tâbi`în.

 
S.ûfî, pl. S.ûfiyya: One who follows a path of tas.awwuf, "He who gazes at the Real in proportion to the state in which He maintains him" (Bundar). They wore wool (s.ûf): "I found the redress of my heart between Makka and Madîna with a group of strangers - people of wool and cloaks" (as.h.âb s.ûf wa `abâ').[7]

 
Sunna, pl. sunan: "Road" or "practice(s)." Standard practice, primarily of the Prophet , including his sayings, deeds, tacit approvals or disapprovals. H.adîth Scholars add his personal traits - including physical features - to this definition.

The "sciences of the Sunna" (`ulûm al-Sunna) refer to the biography of the Prophet (sîra), the chronicle of his battles (maghâzî), his everyday sayings and acts or "ways" (sunan) including his personal and moral qualities (shamâ'il), and the host of the ancillary h.adîth sciences such as the circumstances of occurrence (asbâb al-wurûd), knowledge of the abrogating and abrogated h.adîth, difficult words (gharîb al-h.adîth), narrator criticism (al-jarh. wal-ta`dîl), narrator-biographies (al-rijâl), etc. This meaning is used in contradistinction to the Qur'ân in expressions such as "Qur'ân and Sunna" and applies in the usage of h.adîth Scholars. "The Sunna in our definition consists in the reports transmitted from the Messenger of Allâh e, and the Sunna is the commentary (tafsîr) of the Qur'ân and contains its directives (dalâ'il)" (Ah.mad).

The early Sunnî h.adîth Masters such as Abû Dâwûd and Abû Nas.r al-Marwazî also used the term "the Sunna" in the narrow sense to refer to Sunnî Doctrine as opposed to the creeds of non-Sunnî sects. In the terminology of us.ûl al-fiqh or principles of jurisprudence, sunna denotes a saying (qawl), action (fî`l) or approval (taqrîr) related from (nuqila `an) the Prophet or issuing (s.adara) from him other than the Qur'ân. In the terminology of fiqh or jurisprudence, sunna denotes whatever is firmly established (thabata) as called for (mat.lûb) in the Religion on the basis of a legal proof (dalîl shar`î) but without being obligatory, the continued abandonment of which constitutes disregard (istikhfâf) of the Religion and sin, and incurs blame (lawm, `itâb, tad.lîl) - also punishment (`uqûba) according to some jurists.

Some made a distinction between what they called "Emphasized Sunna" (sunna mu'akkada) or "Sunna of Guidance" (sunnat al-hudâ), such as what the Prophet ordered or emphasized in word or in deed, and other types of Sunna considered less binding in their legal status, such as what they called "Non-Emphasized Sunna" (sunna ghayr mu'akkada) or "Sunna of Habit" (sunnat al-`âda). The above jurisprudential meanings of Sunna are used in contradistinction to the other four of the five legal categories for human actions - fard. ("obligatory"), mubâh. ("indifferent"), makrûh ("offensive"), h.arâm ("prohibited") - and apply in the usage of jurists from the second Hijrî century.

 
tâbi`î, pl. tâbi`ûn, tâbi`în , see Successors.

 
ta`dîl: Narrator-commendation whereby a narrator is declared trustworthy.

 
tadlîs: Concealment of one's source by a mudallis narrator of h.adîth, often accompanied by `an`ana or undecisive transmission terminology. There are three types of tadlîs: tadlîs al-shuyûkh, tadlîs al-taswiya, and tadlîs al-isnâd. In the first case all link(s) are present and none is omitted, except that the mudallis deliberately names his link as other than the commonly-known name due to one reason or another such as
(a) wanting to give the impression that the link is someone else or that one narrates from more people than what is actually the case;
(b) wanting one's source not to be recognized easily;
(c) disliking to acknowledge one's source due to some personal enmity, as happened between al-Bukharî and al-Dhuhlî. The second type of tadlîs is the worst type, as there is actually one or more omitted links and the mudallis is often trying to hide the weakness in his chain by only citing the strong links.
The third type of tadlîs, called tadlîs al-isnâd, is the most difficult to detect: A not only omits mentioning B, but is on top of it contemporary with C. So the concealment here is harder to detect because it is quite possible that A actually heard C when in fact he did not.

 
tafwîd.: Committal. The resignation of knowledge to Allâh (SWT) examplified in al-Shafi`i's saying: "We believe in what came from Allâh in the meaning meant by Allâh and we believe in what came from the Messenger of Allâh in the meaning meant by the Messenger of Allâh " (al-Shâfi`î).[8]

 
tanzîh: Divine transcendence beyond the attributes of things created - such as lying or betaking a mate and son. The affirmation of transcendence is required of every true monotheist (Muwah.h.id) and is expressed in tasbîh., tah.mîd, takbîr, and tahlîl: respectively saying that Allâh is beyond all imperfections ("subh.ân Allâh"), praising and glorifying Him ("al-h.amdu lillâh"), magnifying Him above all things ("Allâhu akbar"), and declaring his absolute oneness ("lâ ilâha illâ Allâh"). Synonymous with taqdîs.

 
taqdîs: The affirmation of Divine transcendence beyond any defect or other attributes of things created such as corporeality as in Fakhr al-Dîn al-Râzî's Asâs al-Taqdîs ("Foundation of Transcendence"). Synonymous with tanzîh.

 
taqwâ: Godwariness. The attribute of the muttaqî (pl. muttaqûn), "To keep clear of what Allâh has forbidden" (Abû `Uthmân al-Maghribî).

 
t.arîqa: Path, specifically S.ûfî path.

 
tas.awwuf: Purification of the self from all other than the remembrance and obedience of Allâh; the realization of ih.sân; zuhd combined with ma`rifa; the attribute of the S.ûfî. "Ceasing objection" (S.u`lûkî); "Abandoning the world and its people" (Ibn Sam`ûn). "Knowing the excuses of God's servants" (Risâla Qushayriyya). "Tas.awwuf is neither knowledge nor deeds but an attribute with which the essence of the S.ûfî adorns itself, possessing knowledge and deeds, and consisting in the balance in which these two are weighed" (Ibn Khafîf).

 
tawâtur: Mass transmission. See mutawâtir.

 
tawassul: Seeking means (al-tawassul) to Allah through his Prophet or the Prophets or the Righteous (al-salihin) or with the deeds (a`mal) that are done purely for His glorious countenance: There is no legal prohibition against it, rather it is legally commendable (mustahsanu shar`an), and it is not permitted (la yajuz) to cast the label of shirk on the believer. okn [../o/ftaw_e.html]

 
tawh.îd: The affirmation of Oneness. Islamic belief and doctrine. Another name for Sûrat al-Ikhlâs. (#112).

 
ta'wîl: Explanation, particularly of the Qur'ân, as in the s.ah.îh. invocation of the Prophet for Ibn `Abbâs (ra)# in the Musnad and others: "O Allâh! Grant him fiqh in the Religion and teach him ta'wîl." Later, it tends to refer specifically to figurative interpretation and metaphorical reading. In the latter senses ta'wîl is defined as "the diversion of meaning away from the patent sense of the word."

 
thabat: In the Muslim East, a Scholar's collected chains of transmission (e.g. Thabat Ibn `âbidîn), synonymous with fahras in the Maghreb (e.g. Imâm Muh.ammad Ja`far al-Kattânî's Fahras al-Fahâris).

 
thabt: Firmly established as a reliable and trustworthy thiqa narrator.

 
thiqa, pl. thiqât: "Trustworthy," Top ranking in narrator-commendation. A thiqa's narrations reach the rank of "sound" (s.ah.îh.). The thiqa is both morally upright (`adl) and accurate (d.âbit.) by definition. The Muh.addithûn have also used the term jabal ("Mountain") and h.ujja ("Proof in himself"), both beyond thiqa. Also used are the compounds thiqa thiqa, thiqa thabt, thiqa ma'mûn, thiqa imâm. Rarest of superlatives is the title h.âkim ("Wise man").

 
"The Two S.ah.îh.s": Al-Bukhârî's S.ah.îh. and Muslim's S.ah.îh..

 
"The Two Shaykhs": in history, Abû Bakr al-S.iddîq and `Umar al-Farûq; in h.adîth terminology, al-Bukhârî and Muslim; in H.anafî fiqh, Abû H.anîfa and Abû Yûsuf.

 
`ulûw: Elevation, height; applied to Allâh: exalted rank, loftiness. "Allâh has made Himself exalted over the heaven with the `ulûw of sovereignty and authority, not that of movement or displacement." (Al-T.abarî)

 
us.ûl, sing. as.l: Bases; the tenets of Faith and principles of Islamic belief; Islamic doctrine. Also known as us.ûl al-dîn, `ilm al-tawh.îd, and al-fiqh al-akbar. Applied to jurisprudence (us.ûl al-fiqh), the principles and methodology of the Law. The term us.ûl is also used in conjunction with tafsîr and h.adîth to refer to their respective methodologies.

 
Wahhâbiyya: The most important sect in latter-day Islâm. Abû Zahra said in his book on the history of the madhâhib in Islâm: "The Wahhâbîs appeared in the Arabian desert [...] and revived the School of Ibn Taymiyya. The founder of the Wahhâbiyya is Muh.ammad ibn `Abd al-Wahhâb who died in 1786. He had studied the books of Ibn Taymiyya which became inestimable in his sight, deepening his involvement in them until he brought them out from the realm of opinion into the realm of practice....

The Wahhâbîs exaggerated Ibn Taymiyya's positions and instituted practical matters that can be summarized thus:

I. They did not restrain themselves to view worship (`ibâda) in the same way that Islâm had stipulated in the Qur'ân and Sunna and as Ibn Taymiyya had mentioned, but they wished to include customs (`âdât) also into the province of Islâm so that Muslims would be bound by them. Thus they declared cigarette smoking h.arâm and exaggerated this ruling to the point that their general public considered the smoker a mushrik. As a result they resembled the Khawârij who used to declare apostate whoever committed a sin.

II. In the beginning of their matter they would also declare coffee and whatever resembled it as h.arâm to themselves but it seems that they became more lenient on this point as time went by.

III. The Wahhâbis did not restrain themselves to proselytism only, but resorted to warmongering against whoever disagreed with them on the grounds that they were fighting innovations, and innovations are an evil that must be fought, and it is obligatory to command good and forbid evil. [...]
The leader of Wahhâbî thought in the field of war and battle was Muh.ammad ibn Sa`ûd, the ancestor of the ruling Sa`ûdî family in the Arabian lands. He was a brother-in-law to Shaykh Muh.ammad ibn `Abd al-Wahhâb and embraced his madhhab, defending it fervently and calling unto it by force of arms. He announced that he was doing this so as to uphold the Sunna and eradicate bid`a. Perhaps, this religious mission that took a violent turn was carrying with itself a rebellion against Ottoman rule. [...]
Until the governor of Egypt, Muh.ammad `Alî, faced them and pounced on the Wahhâbîs with his strong army, routing them in the course of several battles. At that time their military force was reduced and confined to the Arabian tribes. Ryadh and its vicinity was the center for this permanent da`wa that would turn violent whenver they found the strength and then lie still whenever they found violent opposition.

IV. Whenever they were able to seize a town or city they would come to the tombs and turn them into ruins and destruction [...] and they would destroy whatever mosques were with the tombs also. [...]

V. Their brutality did not stop there but they also came to whatever graves were visible and destroyed them also. And when the ruler of the H.ijâz regions caved in to them they destroyed all the graves of the Companions and razed them to the ground. [...]

VI. They would cling to small matters which they condemned although they had nothing to do with idolatry nor with whatever leads to idolatry, such as photography. We found this in their fatwas and epistles at the hands of their Ulema, although their rulers ignore this saying of theirs completely and cast it by the wayside.

VII. They expanded the meaning of bid`a to strange proportions, to the point that they actually claimed that draping the walls of the noble Rawd.a is an innovated matter. Hence they forbade the renewal of the drapes that were in it, until they fell in tatters and became unsightly, were it not for the light that pours out to all that are in the presence of the Prophet or feels that in this place was the abode of Revelation on the Master of Messengers. In fact, we find among them, on top of this, those who consider that the Muslim's expression "our Master Muh.ammad" (sayyidunâ Muh.ammad) is an impermissible bid`a / and they show true extremism about this and, for the sake of their mission, use foul and furious language until most people actually flee from them as fast as they can.

VIII. In truth, the Wahhâbîs have actualized the opinions of Ibn Taymiyya and are extremely zealous followers and supporters of those views. They adopted the positions of Ibn Taymiyya that we explained in our discussion of those who call themselves Salafiyya. However, they expanded the meaning of bid`a and construed as innovations things that have no relation to worship. [...]
In fact, it has been noticed that the Ulema of the Wahhâbîs consider their own opinions correct and not possibly wrong, while they consider the opinions of others wrong and not possibly correct. More than that, they consider what others than themselves do in the way of erecting tombs and circumambulating them, as near to idolatry. In this respect they are near the Khawârij who used to declare those who dissented with them apostate and fight them as we already mentioned. This was a relatively harmless matter in the days when they were cloistered in the desert and not trespassing its boundaries; but when they mixed with others until the H.ijâz country was in the hand of the Sa`ûd family, the matter became of the utmost gravity. This is why the late King `Abd al-`Azîz of the Sa`ûd family opposed them, and treated their opinions as confined to themselves and irrelevant to others." [9]

Among the titles Wahhâbîs gave themselves are the names Muwah.h.idûn, Is.lâh.iyyûn, and Salafiyyûn while their opponents name them H.ashwiyya, Mujassima and Khawârij. They name Muh.ammad ibn `Abd al-Wahhâb Shaykh al-Islâm and name his descendants âl al-Shaykh while his brother Sulaymân declares him a heretic in his
fatwâ printed under the title Fas.l al-Khit.âb min Kitâb Allâh wa-H.adîthi al-Rasûl e wa-Kalâmi Ulî al-Albâb fî Madhhab Ibni `Abd al-Wahhâb ("The Final Word from the Qur'ân, the H.adîth, and the Sayings of the Scholars Concerning the School of Ibn `Abd al-Wahhâb"), also known as al-S.awâ`iq al-Ilâhiyya fî Madhhab al-Wahhâbiyya ("The Divine Thunderbolts Concerning the Wahhâbî School"). This book is the earliest refutation of the Wahhâbî sect in print, consisting in over forty-five concise chapters spanning 120 pages that show beyond doubt the fundamental divergence of the Wahhâbî school, not only from the Consensus and us.ûl of Ahl al-Sunna wal-Jamâ`a and the fiqh of the H.anbalî madhhab, but also from their putative Imâms, Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn al-Qayyim on most or all the issues reviewed.[10]

 
walî, pl. awliyâ': Friend of Allâh; Saint.

 
zâhid, pl. zuhhâd: Ascetic; S.ûfî. See zuhd.

 
z.âhir: Outward, external, plain, literal. Sometimes opposed to and sometimes identical with h.aqîqî, "real," "literal" as opposed to majâzî, "metaphorical," Al-Z.âhir, the All-Victorious; the Manifest.

 
Z.âhiriyya: Name of a defunct Madhhab founded by the former Shâfi`î Dâwûd ibn Khalaf, notorious for taking the outward understanding of the Qur'ân and Sunna to absurd extremes and rejecting the validity of analogy (qiyâs). Its most brilliant adherent was the erudite, acerbic Andalusian Ibn H.azm, formerly a Mâlikî then a Shâfi`î, among whose many contradictions is his rabid anti-Ash`arism although he is an Ash`arî in his interpretation of the Divine Attributes.

 
zindîq: Lit. Mazdean. Free-thinker, atheist, heretic guilty of zandaqa such as most of the Ghulât and the manufactured modern sects of the Qâd.yânîs, Bahais, and others.

 
zuhd: Simple living; detachment from the world; "doing-without"; asceticism. The attribute of the zâhid. "Freedom of the heart from whatever the hand does not possess" (al-Junayd).

And Allâh knows best.

[1]Al-Dhahabî, al-Mûqiz.a (p. 43). For gharîb in al-Tirmidhî's usage see Nûr al-Dîn `Itr's comments in al-Imâm al-Tirmidhî (p. 185-199) and his notes on Ibn al-Salâh.'s Muqaddima (p. 39-40) and Ibn Rajab's Sharh. `Ilal al-Tirmidhî (1:385-393). When al-Tirmidhî says of a h.adîth "gharîb" without any further grading, the h.adîth is weak in his view..

[2]Narrated from `Umar ibn al-Khat.t.âb alone by al-Bukhârî and Muslim..

[3]Al-Ismâ`îlî, I`tiqâd A'immat al-H.adîth (p. 51-52) cf. Ibn H.ajar, Fath. (8:664)..

[4]Cf. also Shâh Wali Allâh al-Dihlawî in al-I`tiqâd al-S.ah.îh., printed with S.iddîq H.asan Khân's commentary on the margins of his friend Nu`mân al-Alûsî's Jalâ' al-`Aynayn: "He is neither an indivisible substance, nor an accident, nor a body, nor is He spatially bounded, nor does He possess direction."

[5]In al-Fawâ'id (p. 50)..

[6]As cited in Ibn `Abidîn, Rasâ'il (2:276). Cf. also al-Haythamî, Fatâwâ H.adîthiyya (p. 322-325)..

[7]Sufyân al-Thawrî as cited from Khalaf ibn Tamîm by al-Dhahabî, Siyar (7:203)..

[8]Cited by Ibn Qudâma in Lam`at al-I`tiqâd (Ryadh ed. p. 10=Damascus ed. p. 9=`Uthaymîn ed. p. 36) and Dhamm al-Ta'wîl (1994 ed. p. 9 = 1981 ed. p. 11 and 1994 ed. p. 42 = 1986 ed. p. 44), al-Mawâhibî in al-`Ayn wal-Athar (Damascus: al-Ma'mûn ed.) p. 62, and Ibn Taymiyya in al-Risâla al-Madaniyya (p. 121), al-`Aqîda al-As.fahâniyya (p. 86), and Majmû` al-Fatâwâ (4:2 and 6:354)..

[9]Abû Zahra, Târîkh al-Madhâhib al-Islamiyya (p. 235-238)..

[10]The Fas.l/S.awâ`iq received the following editions:

1.) Bombay:Mat.ba`a Nukhbat al-Akhbâr, 1306/1889;
2.) Cairo;
3.) Istanbul: Ishik reprints at Wakf Ihlas, 1399/1979;
4.) (Unannotated) Damascus, 1418/1997 (al-S.awâ`iq);
5.) (Annotated) Damascus,1420/1999 (Fas.l).