Islam - Religion 120

Ka'bah

"Cube"; the square shrine at the center of the great mosque of Mecca

Mosque/Masjid

A Muslim place of worship; contains no icons, statues, symbols, pews, chairs, or musical instruments.

Sunni

A branch of Islam whose members acknowledge the first four caliphs as the rightful successors of Muhammad

Battle of Tours

(732 CE) European victory over Muslims. It halted Muslim movement into Western Europe.

Basic Beliefs of Islam

1. Belief in Allah as the one and only God 2. Belief in angels 3. Belief in the holy books 4. Belief in the Prophets...e.g. Adam, Ibrahim (Abraham), Musa (Moses), Dawud (David), Isa (Jesus).Muhammad (peace be upon him) is the final prophet. 5. Belief in the Day of Judgement...The day when the life of every human being will be assessed to decide whether they go to heaven or hell. 6. Belief in Predestination...That Allah has the knowlege of all that will happen.Muslims believe that this doesn't stop human beings making free choices

minaret

A distinctive feature of mosque architecture, a tower from which the faithful are called to worship.

Theocracy

A government controlled by religious leaders

hijab

A head covering worn in public by some Muslim women.

Sufi

A member of the more mystical third sect of Islam famous for their dance and their poetry; branch of Islam that believes in a more mystical connection with Allah.

Hajj

A pilgrimage to Mecca, performed as a duty by Muslims

Islam

A religion based on the teachings of the prophet Mohammed which stresses belief in one god (Allah), Paradise and Hell, and a body of law written in the Quran. Followers are called Muslims.

Nation of Islam

A religious group, popularly known as the Black Muslims, founded by Elijah Muhammad to promote black separatism and the Islamic religion; group of militant Black Americans who profess Islamic religious beliefs and advocate independence for Black Americans

Crusades

A series of holy wars from 1096-1270 AD undertaken by European Christians to free the Holy Land from Muslim rule.

Hadith

A tradition relating the words or deeds of the Prophet Muhammad; next to the Quran, the most important basis for Islamic law.

Hagar

Abraham's concubine who conceives and bears Ishmael

Gabriel

According to Muslims, was an angel who told Muhammed he was a messenger of Allah.

Allah

Arabic word for God

Shari'a

Body of Islamic law that includes interpretation of the Quran and applies Islamic principles to everyday life

Mecca

City in western Arabia; birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad, and ritual center of the Islamic religion.

Khadijah

First wife of the prophet Muhammad, who had worked for her as a trader.

Jihad

Holy war; A holy struggle or striving by a Muslim for a moral or spiritual or political goal

ISIS

Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and is an extremist militant group that rules by Wahhabi/Salafi law

Madrasas

Islamic institutions of higher education that originated in the tenth century.

Hijrah

Muhammad's migration from Mecca to Medina

Dome of the Rock

Muslim shrine containing the rock from which Mohammad is believed to have risen to heaven; Jews believe Abraham prepared to sacrifice his son Isaac on the rock

99 names of God

Muslims have 99 ways of saying God, such as: The Powerful The Loving The Forgiver The Creator The Guide

Jesus in Islam

Muslims revere him as another prophet, but think he was a man; not worshipped in Islam

Five Pillars of Islam

Profession of Faith (shahada) Prayer (salat) Alms (zakat) Fasting (sawm) Pilgrimage (hajj)

Shahada

The confession of faith, the first of the Five Pillars and central creedal statement of Islam: "There is no god except God. Muhammad is the messenger of God."

Surah

The name for a chapter of the Qur'an

Tawhid

The oneness and unity of God

Shi'a

The second largest sect within Islam. It originated in the early centuries of Islam perhaps over a political dispute over who would be the next Caliph. This group believed that Muhammad's son-in-law and cousin Ali should be the Caliph. Over time this faction's religious interpretations and practices have also come to differ slightly from most Muslims.

Shirk

The sin of idolatry, of worshiping anything other than God, the one unforgivable sin in Islam.

Yatrib/Medina

Yatrib is the city that became Medina, or "city of the Prophet," where Muhammad fled in 622

Muslim

a follower of the religion of Islam

Jinn

an intelligent spirit of lower rank than the angels, able to appear in human and animal forms and to possess humans

Battle of Badr

first major battle between Meccans and Medinans seen as a miraculous victory by the Muslim forces

Burkah

garment that covers the entire body and face

Arabic

language of Islam

Muhammad

the Arab prophet who founded Islam (570-632)

Muezzin

the Muslim official of a mosque who summons the faithful to prayer from a minaret five times a day

Ramadan

the ninth month of the Muslim year, during which strict fasting is observed from sunrise to sunset.

Imam

the person who leads prayers in a mosque.

Qur'an

the sacred writings of Islam revealed by God to the prophet Muhammad during his life at Mecca and Medina; name means "recitation" in Arabic

People of the Book

what Muslims called Christians and Jews which means that they too only believe in one god