رضی اللہ عنہ: radiyallāhu ‘anhu — Allāh be pleased with him: used after the name of Companion of the Prophet (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم).

رضي الله عنها: radiyallāhu ‘anhā — Allāh be pleased with her: used after the name of a female Companion of the Prophet (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم).

رضي الله عنهم: radiyallāhu ‘anhum — Allāh be pleased with all of them: used after the names of more than two male Companions of the Prophet (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم).

رضي الله عنهما: radiyallāhu ‘anhumā — Allāh is pleased with both of them; used after the names of two Companions of the Prophet (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم), irrespective of their gender.

علیہ السلام: ‘alayh-is-salām — (May Allāh shower His) peace on him: used after the name of Allāh’s messenger, prophet and angel.

عليهما السلام: ‘alayhim-as-salām — (May Allāh shower His) peace on both of them: used after the names of two messengers, prophets and angels.

صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم: sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa ālihī wa sallam — Allāh bless and send peace on him and his children: used after the name of the Last Messenger of Allāh (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم).

abdāl: pl. of badal. lit. Substitutes. A person by whom Allāh continues the world in existence as mentioned in the traditions. Their number is seventy, of whom forty live in Syria and thirty elsewhere. When one dies another takes his place, being appointed by Allāh.

athar: pl. āthār. lit. relating. Generally used for a narration related from one of the Companions, rather than from the Prophet (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم), which is known as hadīth.

caliphate: khilāfah. This is the political system of Islam, its head the caliph/khalīfah is the successor of the Prophet (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم) in this regard.

dīn: it is an Arabic word used for Islam. It is more specificially used for the religion and revealed books of the prophets and the messengers. It is a comprehensive term covering not only religious practices and rituals but also applies to all aspects of life and provides guidance for it. While madhab (religion) is restricted to man’s spiritual life and deals with its relationship with God alone.

dinar: an ancient gold coin.

fajr: dawn or early morning before sunrise; morning prayer.

ghawth: lit. one to whom we can cry for help. A mediator; a title given to a saint of the highest order.

hadīth: pl. ahādīth. lit. tradition. The sayings, practice and approved traditions of the Prophet Muhammad (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم).

hāfiz: lit. a guardian or protector. (1) one of the names of God, al-Hāfiz. (2) a governor, guardian of the Makkan temple. (3) one who has memorized the whole of the Qur’ān. (4) one who has memorized one hundred thousand traditions.

hasan: a hadīth, narrated by a reliable chain of narrators though not reaching the grade of sahīh (sound) hadīth, but records a complete chain of narrators up to the Prophet (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم).

Imām: (1) one who leads people in prayers; (2) an eminent Islamic scholar; (3) spiritual leader of the Muslims. There will be total of twelve such Imāms, the first being Imām ‘Alī (علیہ السلام) and the last Imām Mahdī (علیہ السلام).

iqāmah: a call similar to the adhān (the call to prayer), said immediately before a congregational prayer.

‘Īsā (علیہ السلام): name of Allah’s penultimate messenger, Jesus. He will come down from the heavens during the time of Imām Mahdī (علیہ السلام).

ka‘bah: a cube-shaped building at the centre of al-Masjid-ul-Harām (the great mosque at Makkah) towards which all Muslims face in prayer. It is also known as the House of Allah.

maqām Ibrāhīm: the stone at Makkah within the boundary of al-Masjid-ul-Harām, which has the impression of the footprints of the Prophet Ibrāhīm (علیہ السلام). This is the stone on which Ibrāhīm (علیہ السلام) stood while he and his son, the Prophet Ismā‘īl (علیہ السلام), were building the ka‘bah.

Maryam: the mother of prophet ‘Īsā; Mary.

sahīh: sound. A hadīth with an unbroken chain of narrators ranging from the Prophet Muhammad (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم) and approaching an era through reliable narrators without being shādh (odd) or mu‘allal (faulty) in between the two cross relaters.

sharī‘ah: lit. road. It is a legal system of a nation based on the revelation of their prophet/messenger. The last sharī‘ah is that of Islam that replaces all previous sharī‘ahs.

spiritual leadership: imāmah. This status will be held by twelve Imāms, the first of which was ‘Alī al-Murtadā (علیہ السلام), and the last Imām Mahdī (علیہ السلام).

spiritual sovereignty: wilāyah; sainthood. A special spiritual status which raises the person above that of normal people. There are various levels and grades of wilāyah such as ghawth, qutb, etc.

sunnah: pl. sunan. lit. the path, way or a form, the customary practice of a person or a group of people. It has come to refer almost exclusively to the legal way or ways, orders, statements and acts of worship, etc., of the Prophet Muhammad (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم) which have become the models to be followed by Muslims.

tābi‘ī: someone who has met a Companion of the Holy Prophet (صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم) in the state of īmān (faith) and died as a believer.