Glossay of Arabic Terms. 205Ilm: a knowledge of what is right and how Muslims should behave.
Imam: the leader of the Muslim community; Shii Muslims (q.v.) use
the term to denote the descendants of the Prophet, through his
daughter Fatimah and her husband, Ali ibn Abi Talib, whom Shiis
consider to be the true rulers of the Muslim community.
Irfan: the Muslim mystical tradition.
Islam: "surrender" to the will of God.
Jayiliyyah (adjective, jahili): the Age of Ignorance. Originally the term
was used to describe the pre-Islamic period in Arabia. Today Mus-
lim fundamentalists often apply it to any society, even a nominally
Muslim society, which has, in their view, turned its back upon God
and refused to submit to God's sovereignty.
Jihad: struggle, effort. This is the primary meaning of the term as used
in the Quran, which refers to an internal effort to reform bad habits
in the Islamic community or within the individual Muslim. The
term is also used more specifically to denote a war waged in the ser-
vice of religion.
Jizyah: the poll tax, which the dhimmis (q.v.) were required to pay in
return for military protection.
Kabah: the cube-shaped shrine in the holy city of Mecca, which
Muhammad dedicated to God and made the most sacred place in
the Islamic world.
Kalam: a discussion, based on Islamic assumptions, of theological ques-
tions. The term is often used to describe the tradition of Muslim
scholastic theology.
Khanqah: a building where such Sufi (q.v.) activities as dhikr (q.v.) take
place; where Sufi masters live and instruct their disciples.
Madhhab ("chosen way"): one of the four legitimate schools of Islamic
jurisprudence.
Madrasah: a college of Muslim higher education, where ulama (q.v.)
study such disciplines as fiqh (q.v.) or kalam (q.v.).
Mawali (clients): the name given to the early non-Arab converts to
Islam, who had to become nominal clients of one of the tribes when
they became Muslims.
Mujtahid: a jurist who has earned the right to exercise ijtihad{(q.v), usu-
ally in the Shii world.
Pir: a Sufi (q.v.) master, who can guide disciples along the mystical path.
Qadi: a judge who administers the Shariah (q.v.).
Qiblah: the "direction" which Muslims face during prayer. In the very