206. Glossary of Arabic Termsearly days the qiblah was Jerusalem; later Muhammad changed it to
Mecca.
Rashidun: the four "rightly guided" caliphs, who were the companions
and the immediate successors of the Prophet Muhammad: Abu
Bakr, Umar ibn al-Khattab, Uthman ibn Affan and Ali ibn Abi Talib.
Salat: the ritual prayers which Muslims make five times daily.
Shahadah: the Muslim declaration of faith, "I proclaim that there is no
god but Allah, and that Muhammad is his Prophet."
Shariah: "the Path to the Watering Hole." The body of Islamic sacred
laws derived from the Quran, the sunnah(q.v.) and the ahadith(q.v.).
Shii Muslims: they belong to the Shiah i-Ali, the Partisans of Ali; they
believe that Ali ibn Abi Talib, the Prophet's closest male relative,
should have ruled in place of the rashidun (q.v.), and revere a num-
ber of imams (q.v.) who are the direct male descendants of Ali and
his wife Fatimah, the Prophet's daughter. Their difference from the
Sunni majority is purely political.
Sufi; Sufism: the mystical tradition of Sunni Islam (q.v.).
Sunnah: custom. The habits and religious practice of the Prophet
Muhammad, which were recorded for posterity by his companions
and family and are regarded as the ideal Islamic norm. They have
thus been enshrined in Islamic law, so that Muslims can approximate
closely to the archetypal figure of the Prophet, in his perfect surren-
der {islam) to God.
Sunni Islam: the term used to describe the Muslim majority, who revere
the four rashidun (q.v.) and validate the existing political Islamic
order.
Tariqah: one of the brotherhoods or orders who follow the Sufi (q.v.)
"way" and have their own special dhikr (q.v.) and revered leaders.
Tawhid: making one. The divine unity, which Muslims seek to imitate
in their personal and social lives by integrating their institutions and
priorities, and by recognizing the overall sovereignty of God.
Ulama (singular, alim): learned men, the guardians of the legal and re-
ligious traditions of Islam.
Ummah: the Muslim community.
Umrah: the ritual circumambulators around the Kabah (q-v.).
Zakat: purity. The term used for a tax of fixed proportion of income
and capital (usually 2.5 percent), which must be paid by all Muslims
each year to assist the poor.