Z - Islamic Glossary

Za'ir ()
Visitor, someone visiting the tomb of the prophet.(Source:Taha Publication)

Zabaniya ()
"Violent thrusters", the angels who thrust people into hellfire, who are nineteen in number.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Zabaniya ()
"The violent thrusters", the angels who thrust people into hellfire, who are nineteen in number.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Zabur (za-boor)
Arabic name for the holy scripture revealed to Prophet David thousands of years ago. For Muslims, the Zabur, analogous to the Christian Psalms, was a scriptural precursor to the Qur'an, just as David was a predecessor of Muhammad in the history of divinely revealed monotheism. (Source:CIE)  

Zabur ()
The psalms of da'ud.(Source:Taha Publication)     

Zahid ()
Someone whose heart has no inclination or attachment for this world.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Zahir ()
Apparent, probablistic; a zahir text can mean one of two or more things.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Zahiriya ()
A school of fiqh which derived its judgements from the literal (zahir) text of the qur'an and the sunna and rejected ray, qiyas, istihsan, taqlid, and other legal principles. it was called the da'udi school after its founder, da'ud ibn khalaf. the only time it was connected to political power was under the muwahhid ruler, ya`qub al-mansur (580/1184 - 591/1195). the famous sufi, muhyi'd-din ibn 'arabi was a zahiri in fiqh.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Zakah (za-kaah)
Zakah literally means "purification," and refers to an almsgiving tax, roughly 2.5% of one's accumulated wealth, that eligible Muslims pay annually. Zakah is one of the "five pillars" of Islam, and is usually collected by local masjids or charitable organizations. The funds are distributed to poor and needy persons in the Muslim community. Paying the zakah reminds Muslims of the duty to help those less fortunate, and that wealth is a trust from God rather than something to be taken for granted.(Source:CIE)  

Zakah (ZAKAAT)
One of the five pillars of Islam is Zakah, which means purification and increment of one's wealth.

A Muslim who has money beyond a certain quantity is to pay the Zakah. It is also called the alms due or poor due. It is to be used in eight categories for welfare of the society that are mentioned in the Qur'an, namely: the poor, the needy, the sympathizers, the captives, the deptors, the cause of Allah, the wayfarers, and for those who are to collect it.

The amount to be collected is 2.5%, 5%, or 10%, depending on the assets and the method used to produce it. For example, it is 2.5% of the assets that have been owned over a year, 5% of the wheat when irrigated by the farmer, and 10% of the wheat that is irrigated by the rain.
(Source:MSA-USC)  

Zakah al-Fitr ()
A small obligatory head-tax imposed on every Muslim who has the means for himself and his dependants. It is paid once yearly at the end of Ramadan before Eid al-Fitr.(Source:IslamIQ)  

Zakah Al-Mal ()
The Muslims' wealth tax: One must pay 2.5% of one's yearly savings above a certain amount to the poor and needy Muslims. The Zakah is compulsory on all Muslims who have saved (at least) the equivalent of 85g of 24 carat gold at the time when the annual Zakah payment is due.(Source:IslamIQ)  

Zakaria (Zacharia Zakarya Zacharya)
Prophet of God and father of John the Baptist(Source:IslamiCity)  

Zakariyya ()
The prophet zacharia, the father of yahya, john the baptist, and guardian of maryam.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Zakat ()
One of the five pillars of islam. it is a wealth tax paid on certain forms of wealth: gold and silver, staple crops, livestock, and trading goods. as regards its distribution, see qur'an 9:60.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Zakat al-fitr ()
A small obligatory head-tax imposed on every muslim who has the means for himself and his dependants. it is paid once yearly at the end of ramadan.(Source:Taha Publication)
 
Zakatu-rid Tijaarah ()
Zakah of profits of merchandise.(Source:IslamIQ)  

Zakatul Huboob ()
Zakah of grain/corn.(Source:IslamIQ)  

Zakatul Ma'dan ()
Zakah of minerals.(Source:IslamIQ)  

Zakatur Rikaaz ()
Zakah of treasure/precious stones.(Source:IslamIQ)  

Zalim (Thalim)
The wrong-doer, he who exceeds the limits of right, the unjust.(Source:Prof. Ishaq Zahid)  

Zalim ()
A person who is unjust and oppressive, a tyrant. zuhr: the midday prayer.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Zaman ()
Linear time.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Zamzam ()
The sacred well inside Al-Haram ash-Shareef in Makkah. (Source:Prof. Ishaq Zahid)  

Zamzam ()
The well in the haram of makka.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Zandaqa ()
Heresy. this is an arabicised persian word. the term had been used for heterodox groups, especially manichaeans, in pre-islamic persia, and hence it was originally applied to magians.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Zann ()
Opinion, supposition, conjecture, speculation.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Zarruq, ahmad ()
Ahmad ibn ahmad, abu'l-`abbas zarruq al-burnusi, born in fez in 846/1442. a sufi, maliki scholar and muhaddith who studied fiqh in fez, cairo and madina and then became a sufi and withdrew from worldly things and took to wandering. he was a renowned shaykh of the shadhiliya tariqa. he was considered the al-ghazali of his time. he wrote about thirty commentaries on the hikam of ibn `ata'llah. he died in takrin, libya in 899/1493.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Zawa'id ()
Abundance of lights of spiritual illumination in the heart.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Zawahir ()
Plural of zahir.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Zawiya ()
A "corner", small mosque, or religious retreat, often where the shaykh teaches.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Zayd ibn thabit ()
Abu kharija, born in madina eleven years before the hijra and raised in makka, he was one of the scribes who recorded the qur' an. his father was killed when he was six and he emigrated at the age of eleven to madina. when 'umar travelled from madina, he left zayd in his place until he returned. ibn `abbas used to visit him to learn from him. he wrote out the qur'an in the time of abu bakr and copied out the copies of the qur'an for `uthman. when he died in 45/665, abu hurayra said, "the scholar of this nation has died today."(Source:Taha Publication)  

Zaydites ()
The "fiver" shi'a. they followed zayd ibn `ali, the grandson of al-husayn. they say that any of the ahl al-bayt can be the imam. they are mu'tazilite in doctrine and rather puritanical. sufism is forbidden by them.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Zendiq ()
One who goes so far into innovated and deviant beliefs and philosophizing, etc. without sticking to the truth found in the Qur'an and the Sunnah to such an extreme extent that they actually leave Islam altogether.
(Source:MSA-USC)

Zihar ()
An oath by the husband that his wife is like his mother's back, meaning she is unlawful for him. it was a form of divorce in the jahiliyya, not permitted in islam.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Zina (Zena)
Illegal sexual intercourse and embraces both fornication and adultery. (Source:Prof. Ishaq Zahid)  

Zina ()
Unlawful sex, adultery, fornication.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Zindiq ()
A term used to describe a heretic whose teaching is a danger to the community or state. originally under the sasanids it was a free thinker, atheist or dualist. it was particularly applied to those influenced by the doctrines of manichaeanism, a dualistic syncretism of pagan, gnostic, magian, judaeo-christian and indian traditions which experienced a revival in iraq near the end of the umayyad period.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Ziyada ()
Pleonastic embellishment, the addition of a superfluous word or preposition which has no effect on the actual meaning.(Source:Taha Publication)

Ziyadatu thiqa ()
An addition by someone who is trustworthy.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Ziyara ()
Visit to tomb or holy places.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Zufar ibn al-hudhayl ()
One of the more prominent pupils of abu hanifa. he was considered to be the most perceptive in the correct use of analogy in legal reasoning. no books are transmitted from him. he was qadi in basra where he died in 158/775 at the age of 84.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Zuhd ()
Making do with little of this of world and leaving what you do not need.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Zuhhad ()
Plural of zahid.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Zuhr ()
the obligatory salaah, prayer, that is performed in the afternoon right after the sun moves away from it's zenith.
(Source:MSA-USC)     

Zulaykha ()
The name given for the wife of the 'aziz in the story of the prophet yusuf.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Zulm ()
Injustice, iniquity, tyranny.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Zuyaf ()
Debased coins(Source:Taha Publication)                                       

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Y - Islamic Glossary

Ya sin ()
Sura 36, the heart of the qur' an.(Source:Taha Publication)

Ya`qub ()
The prophet jacob, also called isra'il.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Yafith ()
Japheth.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Yahndi ()
A jew.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Yahya ()
The prophet john the baptist, the son of zakariyya.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Yajuj wa majuj ()
(Or ya'juj wa ma'juj) the people of gog and magog who are to burst forth near the end of time to wreak destruction.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Yalamlama ()
The miqat of the people of yemen.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Yamin ()
(Plural ayman) oath. oaths form a complementary role to evidence in islamic law. if a person is accused of an offence without the evidence of sufficient witnesses of good standing, he or she may swear an oath as to his or her innocence to avert punishment.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Yaqin ()
Absolute unshakeable certainty and certitude; `ilm al-yaqin (knowledge of certainty) is given by proof or evidence; 'ayn alyaqin (source or eye of certainty) is given by witnessing and unveiling; and haqq al-yaqin (the truth of yaqin) is knowledge obtained according to what the witnessed so wills.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Yasir ()
Slight, insignificant, immaterial.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Yathrib ()
the area where the city of Madinah is situated.
(Source:MSA-USC)         

Yathrib (yuth-rib)
The former name of Madinah, the city in northern Arabia to which Prophet Muhammad migrated from Makkah in 622 CE. (Source:CIE)  

Yatim ()
Orphan.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Yawm ad-Deen ()
Literally "Day of Faith," one of several Arabic terms for Judgement Day. See Day of Judgement. (Source:CIE)  

Yawm ad-din ()
The day of judgement.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Yawm al-bath ()
The day of rising, another name for the day of judgement.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Yawm al-fasl ()
"The day of dividing", another name for the day of judgement.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Yawm al-hisab ()
"The day of reckoning".(Source:Taha Publication)  

Yawm al-qiyama ()
"The day of rising", the day of standing.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Yemeni corner ()
The corner of the ka'ba facing south towards the yemen.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Yunus ()
The prophet jonah.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Yusha` ()
Joshua.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Yusuf ()
The prophet joseph.(Source:Taha Publication)  

               

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X - Islamic Glossary

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W - Islamic Glossary

Wa 'alaikumus salam (WALAY KUMUS SALAM)
This is an expression that a Muslim is to say as an answer for the greeting. When a person greets another with a salutation of peace, the answer for the greeting is an answer of peace. The meaning of this statement is:And upon you is the peace.The other expressions are:Wa Alaikums Salam Wa Rahmatullah.andWa 'Alaikums Salam Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh.
(Source:MSA-USC)

Wa'd ()
Promise, particularly the promise of the garden.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Wa'id ()
Threat, particularly the threat of the fire.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Wadi-ah ()
Deposit.(Source:IslamIQ)
 
Wadia ()
A deposit, something deposited for safekeeping.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Wafa' ()
Faithfulness, fidelity, discharging obligations and living up to promises.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Wafa' bi'l-`uhud ()
Fulfilling contracts or undertakings as in "honour my contract and i will honour your contract. " (qur' an 2:40).(Source:Taha Publication)  

Wahabi / Salafi (wahaby salafy wahabee salafee)
Wahabi/Salafi is an interchangeable term used to describe a certain practice of Islam. The term Wahabi is used to describe an approach to Islam that takes its name from Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, an eighteen-century religious leader who started a movement for the reform of Muslim society. Abd al-Wahhab formed an alliance with a tribal chief Muhammad ibn Saud that led to the formation of Saudi Arabia. The Wahabi religious outlook is an exclusive, strict, puritanical and literal interpretation of the Quran. Salafi Islam has become a popular term for this type of Islamic interpretation. Salafi claim to return to pristine Islam as practiced by the early Muslims (salaf, or pious ancestors.)(Source:IslamiCity)  

Wahdaniya ()
Divine oneness.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Wahdanlya ()
Oneness, the unity of the divine names.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Wahdat ash-shuhud ()
Unity of consciousness, unity of direct witnessing. wahdat al-wujnd: unity of being. there is only one self which is manifested in multiplicity. Allah is one in his dhat, his sifat and his afal. there is only one entity in existence and multiplicity appears through relations between non-essential entities.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Wahidiya ()
The unity of multiplicity.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Wahm ()
Opinion, conjecture, illusion, fantasies arising in the mind which are substituted for reality.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Wahsha ()
Loneliness, estrangement from created things.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Wahy ()
Revelation.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Wajd ()
Rapture, trance, the first degree of ecstasy.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Wajh ()
(Plural wujuh) aspect.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Wajhu'llah ()
"The face of Allah", meaning for the sake of Allah, irrespective of any reward in this life, purely for Allah.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Wajib ()
Compulsory.(Source:IslamIQ)  

Wajib ()
A necessary part of the shari `a but not obligatory, although it is sometimes used as a synonym for fard.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Wakala ()
Agency; power of attorney.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Wakil (WAKEEL)
a person who is an authorized repesentative or proxy. Also can mean lawyer in Urdu.
(Source:MSA-USC)     

Wakil ()
Person who is an authorized representative, agent or proxy.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Wakil ()
Agent.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Wala' ()
The tie of clientage established between a freed slave and the person who frees him, whereby the freed slave becomes integrated into the family of that person.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Wala' ()
The tie of clientage established between a freed slave and the person who frees him, whereby the freed slave becomes integrated into the family of that person. (see mawla.)(Source:Taha Publication)  

Walad ()
Lit. "child", a beginner on the path.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Walah ()
Unbounded ecstasy, utter distraction.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Wali (WALEE)
legal guardian. A friend or protector. Someone who is supposed to look out for your interest.
(Source:MSA-USC)      

Walima ()
A feast accompanying a wedding.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Walimah ()
a feast after the wedding. The reception.
(Source:MSA-USC)  

Walimah (wa-lee-mah)
A traditional dinner feast provided to wedding guests by the groom's family after a marriage ceremony. Providing a walimah was highly recommended by the Prophet, whether it be a grand or humble affair. (Source:CIE)  

Wall ()
A guardian who is responsible for another person.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Wall ()
(Plural awliya') someone who is "friend" of Allah, thus possessing the quality of wilaya.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Waqf (wuk-uf)
Term designating the giving of material property by will or by gift for pious works or for the public good. Properties with waqf status, such as schools or hospitals, remain so perpetually, providing endless benefit to the community and endless Heavenly blessings to the donor. (Source:CIE)  

Waqf ()
Endowment. A charitable trust in the name of Allah, usually in perpetuity, and usually for the purposes of establishing the Deen of Islam, teaching useful knowledge, feeding the poor or treating the sick.(Source:IslamIQ)  

Waqf ()
Also habous, an unalienable endowment for a charitable purpose which cannot be given away or sold to anyone.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Waqf ()
A stop in recitation. there are various signs which indicate different weights of stopping when reciting the qur'an. a necessary stop is indicated in hafs by a mim, and by a sad in warsh.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Waqfa ()
Being held between two stations.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Waqi'a ()
Visionary experience, a thought which comes and settles and cannot be repelled.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Waqifiya ()
Rafidites who maintained that musa al-kazim, a son of ja'far as-sadiq, the sixth shi'ite imam, would return and put everything to rights, since they believed that the seventh imam would complete one cycle and begin a new one; also a sect of kharijites who suspended judgement. (cf. murji'ites).(Source:Taha Publication)  

Waqt ()
Lit. time, meaning being in the moment and independent of looking to the past or the future. sometimes the sufi is described as "ibn al-waqt" (the child of the moment) because of this.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Wara' ()
Scrupulousness, it extends from avoidance of the unlawful and doubtful to avoiding anything that will cast a shadow on the heart. the faqir must also be scrupulous to avoid basking in his scrupulousness.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Wara' ()
Scrupulousness, being cautious about one's actions.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Warehouses for merchants ()
See caravanserai for public ones. private ones are khan in the east, funduq (from gr. pandokeion - guest house) in the west. also wakala.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Warid ()
"Arriving thing"; an overflowing experience which overcomes a person's heart. it is the first oncoming of gatheredness (jam').(Source:Taha Publication)  

Warith ()
(Plural waratha) heir.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Wars ()
A kind of yellow dye and perfume.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Wasa'it ()
Secondary causes to which seekers of Allah attach themselves and thereby gain the object of their desire. wash union.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Wasa'it ()
Secondary causes.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Wasaya ()
Wills or testaments. the plural of wasiya.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Wasi ()
Executor of a will.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Wasil ()
One who keeps good relations with his kith and kin.(Source:Taha Publication)
 
Wasila ()
Something which makes something else take place. the high place with Allah reserved for the prophet on the last day.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Wasiya ()
Will, bequest. it can be made by a muslim to a non-muslim or vice versa, but not to one of the obligatory heirs already entitled to a fixed share.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Wasm ()
A marking or a stamp. in ibn al-`arabi's terminology, a quality which continues from before-time on into after-time.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Wasq ()
(Plural awsaq) a measure of volume equal to sixty sa`s.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Waswas ()
The whispering of shaytan when he tries to make people deviate.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Watad ()
Singular of awtad.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Wazifa ()
Specific set of prayers which are recited.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Wijada ()
Passing on a text without an ijaza.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Wijdan ()
The second degree of ecstasy (after wajd). ibn 'ajiba says that it is when the sweetness of witnessing lasts, usually accompanied by drunkenness and bewilderment.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Wilaya ()
Friendship, in particular with Allah, referring to the wali's station of knowledge of the real by direct seeing.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Wilaya ()
Guardianship of minor children of the deceased.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Wird ()
(Plural awrad) a regular spiritual exercise involving recitation of alitany of dhikr.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Wisal ()
Fasting for more than one day continuously. wudn': ritual washing to be pure for the prayer.(Source:Taha Publication)  
Witr ()
'Odd number'. Witr rakahs are odd number of rakahs such as 1, 3, 5, etc. - usually 1 or 3 - which are said after the last Prayer at night. (Source:Prof. Ishaq Zahid)  

Witr ()
Lit. "odd", a single rak `at prayed immediately after the shaf which makes the number of sunna prayers uneven. the hanafis consider that it consists of the three rak'ats prayed together with a single salam. it is considered wajib.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Wudu (woo-doo)
The act of ritual purification performed with clean water in preparation for the formal worship, salah. Wudu serves as an act of physical cleansing as a well as a precursor to the mental and spiritual cleansing necessary when in the "presence" of God. If clean water is unavailable, a ritual purification known as Tayyamum, which involves symbolically touching clean earth, may be substituted. (Source:CIE)  

Wudu (WUZU)
a purification (abulution) that must be performed before someone does their salaah or reads the Quran.
(Source:MSA-USC)   

Wudu' ()
Ritual washing with water to be pure for the prayer of hands, mouth, nostrils, face, forearms, head, ears and feet.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Wujud ()
"Existence". dhat al-wujud is "existence itself' in its absolute and unqualified purity. in relation to Allah, dhat Allah is the essence of Allah before being described in any manner whatsoever. this is unknowable and unknown (ghayb) and absolutely one. in relation to mystical stations, wujud is the third degree of ecstasy in which awareness dominates the sense of bewilderment and so the one experiencing it seeks to conceal it. ibn al-`arabi said, "wujud (finding) is experiencing the real in wajd (ecstasy)."(Source:Taha Publication)  

Wujud ()
Existence or being. wajib al-wujud, "he whose existence is necessary" applies to Allah, whereas creation is mumkin al-wujud, "that whose existence is possible".(Source:Taha Publication)
 
Wuquf ()
Suspension of judgement.(Source:Taha Publication)  

Wuquf ()
Stopping at 'arafa and muzdalifa. (cf. mawgif).(Source:Taha Publication)  

Wusul ()
Arrival, attainment.(Source:Taha Publication)  
                                            

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