Definitions of Frequently Used Terms

Transcription

1 Definitions of Frequently Used Terms 1 Allah - The Name of Majesty, and e Supreme Name. Arabic speakers of all fais use e word 2 "Allah" to mean "God". In e present study, Allah will be used when speaking of god of e Islamic fai, and God will be used when referring to e God whom Jesus Christ claimed to be His Faer. Dome of e Rock - The Dome of e Rock in located on e Temple Mount in Jerusalem. It was built by 3 Caliph Abd al-malik in e Muslim year 72 ( AD). According to archaeologist, Leen Ritmeyer, e huge rock at is wiin e Dome is e foundation stone for e Ark of e Covenant, wiin e Holy of st Holies of e 1 century, Jerusalem Temple. The Mishnah (Yoma 5:2) refers to is bedrock platform as 4 e Foundation Stone. The Dome is constructed so as to enclose e Rock upon which Muhammad is said to have ascended to heaven for his appointment wi Allah. Companions - Muhammad s first council of ten men. They are referred to as e Companions. Their names: Abu Bakr Siddiq, U'mar-e-Farooq, Uman Bin Affaan, Ali Ibn Abi Talib, Abdur-Rahman bin Aaowf, Sad ibn Abi Waqqas, Said ibn Zayd, Abu Ubaydah bin Jirrah, Talhah ibn Ubaydullah, Zubayr bin Al-Awam. 5 Hadi - Literally, speech, report, account. The Hadi are collections of e sayings of e Prophet. 6 7 Hadi are traditions relating to e deeds and utterances of e Prophet as recounted by his Companions. The Hadi (along wi e Sunnah ) are secondary to e Qur an in importance. Each Hadi amounts to 8 a narration from e life of e prophet as related by a Companion, as opposed to what e prophet said. The Hadi has been compiled by four different Islamic scholars over Islam s history. The compilation considered to be e most auentic is at of Sahih Al-Bukhari. 9 Hidden Imam - Muhammad ibn Hasan, born 872AD, was e son of e 11 Shiite Imam, Hasan ibn Ali. When Muhammad ibn Hasan was born, his faer, e 11 Imam, hid his son from public view (to protect 10 him from e Sunnis); only a few Shiites were even aware of his son s existence. At his faer s dea when Muhammad Hasan was only seven, and by Divine Command, he went into permanent hiding, an 11 event Shiites (Twelve-ers) refer to as occultation. Shiites (Twelve-ers) believe at Muhammad ibn Hasan, e Twelf Imam, whose body was never found, never died. He still exists today, still in hiding, after some 1,300 years. He will continue to live in hiding until Allah decides e moment he will reappear. Shiites (Twelve-ers) refer to him as e Hidden Imam. The date of his disappearance is 939AD. Islam - Literally, surrender, or submission. Islam is a monoeistic religion (worship of one God) originating wi e teachings of Muhammad, a 7 century Arab religious and political figure. It is e second-largest religion in e world today, wi an estimated 1.4 billion adherents, spread across e globe, known as Muslims. Linguistically, Islam means submission, referring to e total surrender of one's self to 12 Allah. Muslims believe e religion was revealed to e Prophet Muhammad between e years AD by e Angel Gabriel, and at it is e last of e divine revelations mankind will receive before e end of e world. 13 1

2 Jihad - Holy War. A Divine institution of warfare to extend Islam into e dar al-harb (e non-islamic territories which are described as e abode of struggle, or of disbelief) or to defend Islam from danger. Adult males must participate if e need arises, but not all of em, provided at a sufficient number take 14 it up. The Qur an states: Surah 9:5-6: Surah 4.76: Surah 8:12: Kill ose who join oer gods wi Allah wherever you may find em. Those who believe fight in e cause of Allah. I will instill terror into e hearts of e Infidels, strike off eir heads en, and strike off from em every fingertip. 15 Auor and historian Bat Ye or states, The aim of jihad is to subjugate e peoples of e world to e law of Allah, decreed by his prophet Muhammad.... As e jihad is a permanent war, it excludes e idea of 16 peace but auorizes temporary truces related to e political situation. Bat Ye or quotes is often quoted statement made by e Prophet on his deabed: Two religions should not co-exist wiin e Arabian peninsula. 17 Mahdi - Shiites believe at e 12 Imam went into hiding (occultation) in 939AD. Up until is date, e Hidden Imam made contact wi his followers rough four successive deputies, but only on rare 18 occurrences. Subsequent to 939AD, ere has been no contact by e Hidden Imam wi anyone, deputy 19 or oerwise. When e Hidden Imam returns, he will return not as e Hidden Imam or e Twelf Imam 20 but as al-mahdi, a term equivalent in meaning to Messiah for Christianity. Muhammad, The Prophet - The name of e Prophet of Islam. Muhammad was born in 570AD. His faer was Abd Allah, son of Abd al-muttalib, and grandson of Hisham, e founder of e Hashimite clan of e Quaraysh. Muhammad is a descendant of Ishmael and Abraham, and heir to God s promise to Hagar: 21 Arise lift up e lad, and hold him in ine hand for I will make him a great nation. (Genesis 21:18) Muhammad was an Arab religious, political and military leader who founded Islam and e Muslim community. He united e tribes of e Arabian Peninsula into a federation of allied tribes wi its capital at Medina. According to Islamic traditions, Muhammad began receiving revelations from Allah from e age of 40, delivered rough e angel Gabriel over e last 23 years of his life. Muslims do not regard him as e founder of a new religion but as e restorer of e original monoeistic fai of Adam, Abraham and oer prophets, whose messages, according to some, had become misinterpreted or corrupted over time by e People of e Book. 22 Muslim - Literally, one who has surrendered to Allah. The word Islam (surrender, submission) is e 23 verbal noun corresponding to e adjective Muslim (surrendered, submitted). A Muslim en is one who submits to Allah; a follower of Islam. People of e Book - Christians and Jews are referred to by Muslims as People of e Book, by virtue of Islam s reliance on bo Old and New Testaments for much of e Qur anic material. The difference for Muslims is at ey accuse e Jews and Christians of corrupting e scriptures to eir advantage. The Qur an states, You People of e Book! Why do you cloe tru wi falsehood and conceal e tru, while you 2

3 have knowledge?... There is among em a section who distort e Book wi eir tongues; you would ink it is part of e Book but it is not a part of e Book. Surah 3:71, 78. Qur an - Literally, e reading or e recitation. The holy book of Islam. The Qur an was revealed to e Prophet Muhammad (who could not read or write at e time) beginning in e year 610AD, while in 24 meditation in a cave of Hira (in e modern day Hejaz region of Saudi Arabia ) during e mon of 25 Ramadan. Seveners - Wiin Shiite Islam ere are two primary sects Seveners (comprising 10% of Shiite Islam) and Twelveers (comprising 90% of Shiite Islam). Seveners trace eir rightfully guided Imams rough Ismail s son, Muhammad bin Ismail, whom ey believe should be e rightful seven Imam. Hence eir 26 name, Seveners (or Ismailis ). Shari a - Literally, e way to e watering hole. The organization and structure of eocratic law for 27 Muslims. The canonical law of Islam as put for in e Qur an and e Sunnah and elaborated on by e four orodox schools of Sunni Islam. Shi a (or Shiite) - The second of two predominant sects of Islam, e oer being Sunni, comprising 10-15% of Islam. Shi`a are followers of Ali, e cousin and son-in-law of Ali, e husband of Fatima, e daughter and only child of Muhammad who survived to adulood to bear children. 28 Sunnah - The spoken and acted example of e Prophet. The Sunnah includes what e Prophet approved, allowed, or condoned. The Sunnah is e basis of e legal code of Islamic law (Shari a), and is auoritative in rulings among Islamic states. It depicts e life of Muhammad and offers examples for 29 eics and living. The Sunnah is followed by Sunni. Sunni - The largest of two predominant sects of Islam, e oer being Shiite, comprising approximately 30 80%-85% of Islam. Sunni are e followers of Sunnah or customs. Twelver - Wiin Shiite Islam ere are two primary sects Seveners (comprising 10% of Shiite Islam) and Twelvers (comprising 90% of Shiite Islam). Bo of ese sects distinguish emselves from e oer by e particular Imam each considers to be e rightful successor to e Prophet. The Seveners consider Ismail, e elder son of Ja far, to be e rightful successor as six Imam. However, Ismail died before his faer s dea, and Seveners believe at Ismail s son, Muhammad bin Ismail, should be e rightful 31 seven Imam. Hence eir name, Seveners (or Ismailis ). Seveners terminate e line of Imams wi 32 Ismail, e seven Imam. The Twelvers believe at Jafar designated his younger son, Musa, as e seven Imam and at e true line is rough Musa not Ismail, believing at Ismail died before he was designated by his faer. The Twelvers are by far e largest group of Shiite Muslims. Twelvers constitute ninety percent of e modern population of Iran and fifty-five to sixty percent of e population of Iraq. Twelver Shiites are e majority in Iran, Iraq, Azerbaijan and also have substantial populations in Turkey, Pakistan, Lebanon, Syria, India, 33 Afghanistan and Bahrain. The Twelvers continue Musa s line rough e Twelf Imam, Muhammad ibn Hasan, born 872AD, e son of e 11 Imam. The line of imams for Twelvers ends wi is Imam, who is e twelf Imam for Twelve-ers, who went into hiding wiout a living descendant. For Twelvers, ere is 3

4 not a 13 Imam. The Twelf Imam is considered e Hidden Imam who lives in perpetuity, in hiding, until Allah calls him to reappear in e Last Days as al-mahdi. 34 4

5 Endnotes - Frequently Used Islamic Terms. 1.Cyril Glasse, The Concise Encyclopedia of Islam, p Available at at Grabar, p Randall Price, p Available at at October 2, Ergun Mehmet Caner and Emir Fei Caner, Unveiling Islam, p Cyril Glasse, p Ergun Mehmet Caner and Emir Fei Caner, Unveiling Islam, p Ibid., p Ibid. 11.Ibid. 12.Available at at Cyril Glasse, The Concise Encyclopedia of Islam, p Cyril Glasse, The Concise Encyclopedia of Islam, p Robert Spencer, editor. The My of Islamic Tolerance, How Islamic Law Treats Non-Muslims, p Bat Ye or, p Bat Ye or, p Twelvers refer to is period of limited contact between e Hidden Imam and his deputies as e minor or lesser occultation. See 19.Twelvers refer to e period of no contact wi e Hidden Imam (at began in 939AD) as e major occultation. See This period continues until e present day. 20.Said Amir Arjomand, The Shadow of God and e Hidden Imam, p Cyril Glasse, The Concise Encyclopedia of Islam, p Available at at Ibid. 24.Available at at Cyril Glasse, p

6 Endnotes - Frequently Used Islamic Terms. 26.Available at 27.Ibid., Ergun Mehmet Caner and Emir Fei Caner, Unveiling Islam, p Ergun Mehmet Caner and Emir Fei Caner, Unveiling Islam, p Ergun Mehmet Caner and Emir Fei Caner, Unveiling Islam, p Available at 32.Timoy R. Furnish, Holiest Wars, Islamic Mahdis, Their Jihads, and Osama bin Laden, p Available at 34.Need footnote. 6