Tajdid / Renewal and Revival (تَجْدِيد)

**Tajdid** (تَجْدِيد) — "renewal, revival" — refers in Islamic thought to the periodic revitalization of the Muslim community's understanding and practice of their religion, as foretold in the hadi...

Sunnah (سُنَّة)

**Transliteration:** Sunnah

Singing / Ghina' (غِنَاء)

**Arabic:** غِنَاء (*ghinā'*) — vocal singing

Sharia (شَرِيعَة)

**Arabic:** شَرِيعَة (*al-Sharī`a*) — literally: "the path to a watering hole" or "the clear way"

Sabr / Patience and Perseverance (صَبْر)

**Sabr** (صَبْر) — "patience, steadfastness, endurance" — is one of the most frequently commanded virtues in the Qur'an, appearing over ninety times in various forms. It encompasses three dimension...

Riya / Showing Off and Ostentation (رِيَاء)

**Riya** (رِيَاء) — "showing off, ostentation, performing acts of worship for social recognition rather than for Allah" — is the antithesis of *ikhlas* (sincerity) and one of the most strongly cond...

Responsibility / Mas'uliyyah (مَسْؤُولِيَّة)

**Mas'uliyyah** (مَسْؤُولِيَّة) — "responsibility, accountability" — refers to the Islamic principle that every individual bears moral and legal accountability before Allah for their actions, belie...

Quran / The Qur'an (قُرْآن)

**The Qur'an** (قُرْآن) — "the recitation" — is the supreme source of Islamic law, theology, and guidance: the preserved, uncreated word of Allah revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) through the...

Qiyas / Analogical Reasoning (قِيَاس)

**Qiyas** (قِيَاس) — "measurement, analogy" — is the fourth source of Islamic law after the Qur'an, Sunnah, and consensus (*ijma'*). It is the process of deriving a legal ruling for a new case (*fa...

Purity (طَهَارَة)

**Ṭahārah** (طَهَارَة) — literally "purity, cleanliness, purification" — is the condition of ritual and spiritual cleanliness required for the validity of acts of worship in Islam. It encompasses b...

Punishment / Uqubah (عُقُوبَة)

**Transliteration:** ʿUqūbah

Prayer (صَلَاة)

**Arabic:** صَلَاة (ṣalāh)

Obligation / Wajib and Fard (وُجُوب / فَرْض)

**Wajib** (وَاجِب) and **Fard** (فَرْض) denote that which is obligatory in Islamic law. The two terms converge in meaning — "that which is required by the Lawgiver" — though the Hanafis distinguish...

Nisab / Zakat Minimum Threshold (نِصَاب)

**Nisab** (نِصَاب) — literally "origin, basis, minimum amount" — is the minimum quantity of wealth below which zakat is not obligatory. Each category of zakatable asset has its own nisab, determine...

Music / Musiqa (مُوسِيقَى)

**Arabic:** مُوسِيقَى (*mūsīqā*) — instrumental music; also: *al-ma'āzif* (المَعَازِف) — musical instruments

Marriage (نِكَاح)

**Marriage** (*nikah*, نِكَاح) in Islam is the solemn contract (*'aqd*) between a man and a woman that establishes a lawful family unit. It is not merely a civil arrangement but a covenant blessed ...

Mal / Wealth and Property (مَال)

**Mal** (مَال) — "wealth, property, asset, possession" — is the central juridical concept determining what is subject to zakat and other financial obligations in Islamic law. The Qur'an uses the pl...

Mal / Wealth and Property (مَال)

**Mal** (مَال) — "wealth, property, asset, possession" — is the central juridical concept determining what is subject to zakat and other financial obligations in Islamic law. The Qur'an uses the pl...

Justice / Adalah (عَدْل)

**Transliteration:** ʿAdalah / ʿAdl

Justice / Adalah (عَدْل)

**Transliteration:** ʿAdalah / ʿAdl

Justice / Adalah (عَدْل)

**Transliteration:** ʿAdalah / ʿAdl

Jihad (جِهَاد)

**Domain:** Fiqh al-Da'wah, Islamic Ethics, Tazkiyah

Isnad / Hadith Chain of Transmission (إِسْنَاد)

**Isnad** (إِسْنَاد) — "support, linking" — is the chain of narrators through which a hadith is traced back to the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). It is the distinctive methodological device of Islamic ha...

Intention (نِيَّة)

**Arabic:** نِيَّة (*niyyah*) — plural: نِيَّات (*niyyāt*)

Ikhlas / Sincerity in Worship (إِخْلَاص)

**Ikhlas** (إِخْلَاص) — "sincerity, purity, exclusiveness" — denotes the purification of one's intention and action from all motives other than seeking Allah's pleasure. It is the inner counterpart...

Ikhlas / Sincerity in Worship (إِخْلَاص)

**Ikhlas** (إِخْلَاص) — "sincerity, purity, exclusiveness" — denotes the purification of one's intention and action from all motives other than seeking Allah's pleasure. It is the inner counterpart...

Ijtihad (اجْتِهَاد)

**Arabic:** اجْتِهَاد

Ijtihad (اجْتِهَاد)

**Arabic:** اجْتِهَاد

Hudud / Fixed Punishments (حُدُود)

**Hudud** (حُدُود) — literally "boundaries, limits" — refers in Islamic jurisprudence to the fixed, divinely prescribed punishments for specific serious crimes: theft (*sariqah*), banditry (*hiraba...

Hawl / Zakat Fiscal Year (حَوْل)

**Hawl** (حَوْل) — "year, circuit, revolution" — denotes the completion of one lunar year of ownership of wealth that has reached the nisab threshold, after which zakat becomes due. It is one of th...