Islamic Ethics and Moral Philosophy
Voiced Dictionary
of Key Terms and Concepts
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‘Adl 
:
Justice.
‘Adl (al-) :
the Just. It is one of the 99th attributes of God.
Can also mean a person of probity.
Aḥkām
al-khamsah- (al) :
the five judgments or normative categories. The way in which Islamic law and ethics have
traditionally divided human behavior. The five categories classifies behavior
as obligatory (wājib, farḍ),
recommended (mandūb, mustaḥabb),
indifferent, morally neutral or permissible (mubāḥ),
reprehensible (makrūh) and
forbidden (ḥarām).
Aḥkām al-sulṭaniyyah (al-) :
Political Ordinances. It is the title of a book written by al-Māwardī
in which the author lists seven conditions or prerequisites the caliph should
meet to qualify for the caliphal office. The prerequisites are: justice,
knowledge, soundness of the organs of sense, soundness of body, soundness of
judgment, courage and finally the Quraysh pedigree.
Ahl al-ḥaqq :
the adherents of the truth (literally: ‘the people of the truth’. It could
also mean ‘the people of the true one’ i.e. ‘the people of God’).
Ahl al-kalām (also mutakallimūn)
:
Muslim theologians (see kalām). According
to al-Fārābī, the
methods used by theologians essentially recourse to persuasive (iqnā‘ī) or dialectical (jadalī) arguments, in which imaginative
representations tend to replace demonstrative proofs. Al-Fārābī
believed that these arguments are inferior to dialectical ones.
Ajsām
al-basīṭah (al-) :
simple bodies, primary elements. According to Ibn Rushd
they are four:
1) al- nār :
the fire
2) al-hawā’ :
the air
3) al-mā’ :
the water
4) al-arḍ :
the soil.
Akhlāq (sing. khuluq) :
character, manners; relating to individual mannerism, nature, see [Q68:V4].
According to Ikhwān
al-Ṣafā, it is a natural disposition that prepares each and
every member part of the body to enable the soul to act.
Akhlāṭ (sing. khalīṭ) :
mixtures.
Alfāẓ (sing. lafẓ) :
(pronounced) terms.
‘Ālim (al-) :
the One who knows. It is one of the 99th attributes of God. Also, one
of the attributes of the First, according to al-Fārābī.
(see al-awwal)
Allāh :
the God.
‘Amal :
action, practice, behavior.
‘Aqīdah :
articles of faith.
1. Belief in God (Allāh).
2. Belief that Muḥammad is the Messenger
of God.
3. Belief in the Books (Torah, Zabūr (Psalms), Injīl (Gospels),
Qur’ān).
4. Belief in the existence of angels and jinn.
5. Belief in the Last Day,
6. Belief in divine qaḍā' and qadar.
‘Aql :
reason, mind, intellect (see al-Fārābī).
In his treatise On the Meanings of the Intellect (fī ma‘āni
al-‘aql), al-Fārābī
gives a list of the meanings of the intellect or reason as used by the general
public, the mutakallimūn, and
Aristotle.
1) prudence or sound judgment in determining what is right and what is wrong.
2) the mutakallimūn use it when
referring to certain actions enjoined or repudiated by reason (generally
received by the public as a whole or for the most part).
3) for Aristotle, it is a “faculty of the soul whereby man is able to attain
certainty by recourse to universal, true and necessary premises, known neither
by deduction nor reflection, but rather naturally and instinctively”.
4) a part of the soul which is able to gain, through habituation and prolonged
experience, a certain apprehension of premises pertaining to volitional
matters, which are susceptible of being sought or shunned. This reason grows
with age.
5) potential, actual, acquired and active reason.
‘aql,‘āqil wa ma‘qūl :
Plato believed that it is the Active Intellect or the unmoved Mover. Clearly
distinguishable from the First Principle (al-awwal)
upon Whom it depends, it is the ultimate principle of motion, in substance and
actuality.
Arkān :
pillars. They are the ritual practices (‘ibādāt).
1. Declaration of faith. (see Shahādah).
2. Performance of obligatory prayers (see Ṣalāh).
3. Mandatory alms tax (see Zakāh).
4. Fasting all days of Ramaḍān
(see Ṣawm).
5. Undertaking the journey of pilgrimage (see Ḥajj).
Ash‘arī (al-), Abū
al-Ḥassan ‘Alī Ibn Isma‘īl (873-4/ 260H -935-6/ 324H) :
A famous medieval Muslim theologian. He was born in
Awwal (al-) :
the First. Following the example of Proclus of Athens, al-Fārābī calls God
al-awwal or the first being from whom all other beings emanate. Al-Fārābī believed
that, the successive orders of intellect (‘aql),
soul (nafs) and prime matter (hayūlah)
arised from the First Being through a process of progressive overflowing (see al-Fārābī).
Azraqiyyah (azraqites) :
a kharajite group that believes īmān wa ‘amal (faith and
action) are not dividable. One cannot pretend to have the faith unless
one acts according to this faith.
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:
the Creator.
Baṣrī
(al-), Ḥasan, (born in 642, in Madīnah,
died in 728, :
an important religious figure in Islam, founder of the school of rationalism.
He argued that a Muslim who commits a kabīrah
is a munāfiq
(a liar, a hypocrite); hence, he is punished by hell.
Bay‘ah :
It is an oath of allegiance to the caliph, once he has been established as
such. Traditionally this endorsement of the caliph had to be open/public. A
later development of the bay‘ah distinguished between the bay‘ah
khāṣah (done only by Muslims) and the bay‘ah ‘āmmah (secondary
to bay‘ah khāṣah, and done by Non-Muslims too).
Burhāniyyah :
(from the Arabic noun Burhān = proof) demonstrative philosophy.
Consequentialism: a modern Western moral theory that holds that known consequences dictate moral values. In short, an act is morally right if and only if that act maximizes the good.
Dalīl (pl. dalā’il or adillah)
:
proof.
Deontologism: a modern Western moral theory that holds that actions conform to certain laws, prohibitions, and commandments. Hence, moral acts are acts that conform to the values expressed in the laws, prohibitions and positive commandments (system of obligations).
Dhāt :
self.
Ethics: a. in Greek ‘Ethike/ Ethicos’, relating to
good and bad.
b. The
corpus of rules and the system of principles governing the practice in respect
to a single class of human actions.
Eudemonia (from Greek): a state of being Happy. Not an instance of feeling Happy. Most influential Ancient Greek thinkers thought that the Happy person is the virtuous one. The virtuous person is He who has a settled disposition to reliably do virtuous things. Human virtue (or excellence) consists of courage, moderation, justice and wisdom… in short, in Greek ethical theories, virtuous agents are happy.
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Faḍīlah
–(pl. fadā‘il) :
excellence, merit, virtue.
Faḥṣ :
inquiry, examination.
Falsafah :
philosophy. The word derives from the Greek philosophia.
Faqīh – (pl. fuqahā’) :
jurist, jurisprudence, one who practices fiqh
jurisprudence.
Faqr :
poverty. It is a principal virtue (a
first-order virtue), in Sufi teaching.
Fārābī
(al-), Abū Naṣr Muḥammad al-Fārābī (870-950)
:
one of the renowned Islamic philosophers. He
occupies a unique position in the history of philosophy, as the link between
Greek philosophy and Islamic thought. He is also a leading advocate of the
Islamic Neoplatonism school of reasoning. He became known as the Second Teacher (al-mu‘allim
al-thānī) after Aristotle himself. His major contribution to Islamic metaphysics was
his development of the doctrine of essence and existence. Following the example of Greek philosophers,
al-Fārābī believed in the concept of emanation according
to which the successive orders of intellect (‘aql),
soul (nafs) and prime matter (hayūlah)
arised from the First Being through a process of progressive overflowing.
This issue became one of the most heated controversies between the Islamic
philosophers and the theologians (mutakallimūn). He is the author of the
Farḍ :
see wājib.
Fayḍ :
“emanation” from a purely technical philosophical point of view. The contrast
posed was between a world created ex nihilo at a moment in time by God,
and a world which emanated eternally from God. The later was frequently opposed
by ahl al-kalām and seen as
heretical (see al-Fārābī).
Fiqh :
Islamic law. Originally the word meant 'understanding' or 'knowledge'.
Fitnah :
social upheaval, civil war. Fitnah is often used to refer to the civil
war between ‘Alī Ibn Abī Ṭālib and
Mu‘āwiyah Ibn Abī Ṣufyān.
Ghaffār (al-) :
the Forgiver. It is one of the 99th attributes of God.
Ghalabah :
literally, it means “victory, overcoming something”. Ghalabah is a
gender, ethnic, tribal and linguistic based dominance that forces a choice.
Ghāyah :
purpose.
Ghazālī (al-),
Abū Ḥāmid Muḥammad (1058-1111) :
Muslim theologian. He was also a scholar of Islamic philosophy and a Sufi. He is the author of Revival of the
Religious Sciences (iḥyā' ‘ulūm al-dīn).
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Ḥadd :
definition.
Ḥadīth
–(pl. al-aḥādīth) :
the Arabic word has many meanings: ‘sayings’, ‘uttering’ ‘conversation’,
‘speech’, ‘report’. In Islam it means ‘tradition’. It is a record of the
sayings or doings of the Prophet and his Companions. The Ḥadīth
is considered as a source of Islamic law, dogma and ritual second only to the Qur’ān.
Ḥajj :
pilgrimage to
Ḥākim (al-) :
the Sage, the Wise. Ḥakīm related to the word ḥikmah (wisdom).
1) Al-Fārābī refers
to Plato as al-ḥakīm. Al-ḥakīmān (the two
Sages) are Plato and Aristotle.
2) al-ḥakīm is also one of the attributes of the First,
according to al-Fārābī
(see al-awwal).
Ḥaqq (al-) :
the Truth. One of the 99th attributes of God. Also, one of the
attributes of the First, according to al-Fārābī.
(see al-awwal).
Ḥarām :
forbidden. One of the five categories in which Islamic law and ethics have
traditionally divided human behavior.
Hawā’:
air. Ikhwān
al-Ṣafā use hawā’ as “climate”.
Ḥayā’ :
bashfulness, shyness.
Hayūlā
:
substance, matter, indivisible matter, primordial matter (see al-Fārābī Ibn Rushd).
Ḥayy (al-) :
the Living. One of the 99th attributes of God. Also, one of the
attributes of the First, according to al-Fārābī
(see al-awwal).
Hedonism: a moral theory that argues that: a) morals
are of consequence only if they motivate the agent to act,
b) The agent will act only to receive pleasure and avoid pain.
Hidāyat Allāh :
divine guidance, God’s guidance.
Ḥikmah :
wisdom.
Ḥilm :
forebearance, indulgence, gentleness.
Ḥusn al-dhātī (al) : inherent
goodness. A mu‘tazilah doctrine.
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Iblīs :
satan.
Ibn ‘Atā’ al Ghazāl, Wāṣil, also
called Abū Ḥudhayfah (700– 748, :
After he left al-Baṣrī
's study circle, he founded the Mu‘tazilite
school of thought.
Ibn Rushd, Abū
el-Walīd Muḥammad Ibn Aḥmad (1126- 1198) :
he is known in the West as Averroes, a Hispano-Arab philosopher,
commentator on Aristotle, who also was a qadi and a doctor. His books
were ordered to be burned and very little has remained of his writings. Ibn
Rushd argued that all “imperfect” existing bodies consist of hayūlā (substance) and ṣūrah (form). He considers that any
jism (body) has to be a combination of these two components in order to
be able to exist (see al-ajsām
al-basīṭah, hayūlā, ṣūrah).
‘Iffah :
temperance, purity, abstinence.
Ijmā‘ :
in jurisprudence this term can be translated as 'consensus'. Along with the Qur’ān, the Sunnah.
It is one of the main sources of law and ethics in Islam.
Ijtihād :
informed independent reasoning.
Ijtimā‘ 
:
derives from the same root as ijmā‘ but it does not have the same
legalistic force. Ijtimā‘ can mean consensus or converging on one
idea or conclusion.
Ikhlāṣ :
sincerity, faithfulness, fidelity. A supporting mystical virtue or a
second-order virtue in Sufi teaching.
Ikhtilāṭ :
admixture, combination.
Ikhtiyār (al-) :
Men’s free will to choose.
Ikhwān al-Ṣafā
:
a secret group of Muslim philosophers, theologians and intellectuals who
flourished most probably in Basra in the 4th/10th or 5th/11th centuries. They
were believed to be isma‘īlī. They are the authors of
fifty-two epistles (Rasā'il) which were encyclopedic in range,
covering subjects as diverse as music, astronomy, embryology, and philosophy.
According to Ikhwān al-Ṣafā, all souls (living beings)
are moved by the desire to live (shahwat at-baqā’)
and contempt of death (karāhiyyat al-fanā’).
Ikhwān al-Ṣafā also believe that humans act only
when faced with:
a) positive and negative commands: amr wa nahy
b) promise of positive reward and promise of painful reward: wa‘d wa
wa‘īd
c) praise and bashing: madḥ wa dhamm
d) enticement and threat: targhīb wa tarhīb
‘Ilm :
science. Genuine knowledge.
Imām :
a) leader of the prayers.
b) for Shī‘ah, he is the successor of the
Prophet and is believed to be infallible.
Īmān :
faith, belief.
Īmān wa ‘amal
:
faith and action.
Ins :
mankind. Ins has the same root as insān (a human being).
‘Iqāb :
punishment.
Iqnā‘ (adj.
iqnā‘ī/ iqnā‘ yyah) :
persuasion. According to al-Fārābī,
persuasion is a form of conjecture (ẓann),
in which one believes a thing to be such and such, although it is possible for
it to be otherwise. (see ra’y)
Irādah :
volition, want, will.
‘Ishq :
erotic passion. According to al-Fārābī,
it is a disposition of the human soul to seek the satisfaction of ‘beastly’
passion and renounce divine things.
Islām :
literally, it means ‘submission’. Islām is one of the three
monotheistic religions. It was founded by Muḥammad
in the 7th century, after God reveald the Qur’ān
to him through the archangel Jibrīl.
Isti‘dād :
preparedness.
I‘tidāl :
moderation.
Ittiṣāl
:
conjunction. According to al-Farābī,
when humans attain the highest stage of theoretical knowledge, they attain
the stage of union with the Active Intellect. Al-Farābī
sometimes calls this stage conjunction, sometimes proximity, of
which humans’ ultimate happiness consists.
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Jabbār (al-) :
the Restorer. It is one of the 99th attributes of God.
Jabr (al-) :
Opposite of ikhtiyār.
Jabriyyah :
early Muslims who believed in predetermination.
Jadal (adj. Jadalī/
jadaliyyah) :
dialectic. Al-Fārābī
believed that one cannot acquire genuine knowledge without prior training
in dialectic.
Jāhiliyyah :
derives from the Arabic noun jahl (state of ignorance). It is used to
refer to the pre-Islamic period.
Jannah (al-) :
literally: ‘the garden’. In the Qur’ān
it is often used to refer to ‘paradise’. Paradise is also referred to with
the words ‘Adan (
Jawhar :
substance.
Jazā’ :
reward (positive reward).
Jiblah (pl. jibillah) :
natural disposition, nature.
Jihād :
comes from the Arabic verb jahada: to strive for a better way of life. Jihād means endeavor, strain,
exertion, effort, diligence, fighting to defend one's life, land, and religion.
Jinn :
in the Qur’ān, jinn are beings made from
fire (or flame) who can take different forms. There are good jinn and
bad ones.
Jubā‘ī (al-), Abū ‘Alī Muḥammad
Ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab (?-303/915-6) :
one of the celebrated thinkers of mu‘tazilah.
He was born at Jubba in Khuzistan, and he attended the school at Baṣrā
of Abū Ya‘qūb Yūsuf al-Shahhām. Abū
al-Ḥassan al-Ash‘arī was one of his pupils, but in 912-913
he broke away and founded the Ash‘arite school
of thought.
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Kabīrah :
grave moral or religious wrong.
Kalām :
literally it means ‘speech’. In Islam however, ‘ilm al- kalām is the
science of theology. Therefore, kalām includes the theological
debates that took place in Islam and that dealt with the theological subjects
on which some scholars disagreed.
Karam :
generosity, nobility.
Karīm (al-) :
the Generous. It is one of the 99th attributes of God.
Khalīfah (pl. khulafā’) :
caliph. Originally the word meant “successor” (i.e. of the Prophet). In
Islam, the caliph is the head of the community of believers. His functions are
secular as well as religious. The first four caliphs are called “al-khulafā’
al-rāshidūn (the wise caliphs). In the Qur’ān,
the title of khalīfah is given to both Ādam and
Dāwūd (David).
Khalq :
creation. According to al-Māturīdī,
God created everything including acts.
Kharajites (in Arabic khawārij)
:
derives from the Arabic root ‘kharajah’ (means ‘to go out’, ‘to
secede’). A revolutionary, and egalitarian group that revolted against
the Caliph ‘Uthmān Ibn ‘Affān and later against ‘Alī
Ibn Alī Ṭālib. In the battle of Siffīn, opposing
‘Alī Ibn Alī Ṭālib and Mu‘āwiyah Ibn
Abī Ṣufyā they refused any form of arbitration saying that
the judgment should be left only to God.
Khāṣṣah :
the elite. For al-Fārābī,
the philosopher should be regarded as a member of the elite in an absolute
sense.
Khawf :
fear. It is a principal virtue (a first-order virtue)
in Sufi teaching.
Khayr :
as adjective, means ‘charitable’, ‘good’. As nouns, means ‘goodness’,
‘welfare’.
Khilāfah :
caliphate. (see khalīfah).
Khuluq ḥasan :
a good character, virtuous manner.
Kitāb :
book.
Ladhdhah (pl. ladhdhāt) :
pleasure, bliss, enjoyment. According to al-Ghazālī,
the ultimate pleasure (a‘ẓam ladhdhah) is knowing God.
Luṭf :
Divine grace. It is a Shī‘ite doctrine
arguing that there should be always an infallible imām
that exists.
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Madhhab al- ladhdhāt :
hedonism.
Maḥabbah :
platonic love. It is a principal virtue (a
first-order virtue) in Sufi teaching.
Maḥrūrī al-ṭibā‘:
hot tempered persons.
Makrūh :
reprehensible, discouraged. One of the five normative categories (see al-aḥkām al-khamsah).
Mālik: Abū ‘Abd Allāh Mālik Ibn Anas (716-
795) :
One of the most important jurists of Medieval Islam. He lived and spent most of
his life in Madinah where he also died. He is the founder of the Māliki
school that considers the ‘practice’ (‘amal) of
Madinah as the ideal and example to follow. Mālik is the
author of what is considered as the first major Ḥadīth
in Islam: The
Smoothed Path (al-muwaṭṭa’). Nowadays, followers of the Mālikī
school of law are located mainly in
Mālik (al-) :
the Ruler or the Owner. One of the 99th attributes of God.
Mālik al-Mulk :
the Owner or the Ruler of the universe. One of the 99th attributes of
God.
Mandūb :
recommended (also mustaḥabb). One of the five normative
categories (see al-aḥkām
al-khamsah).
Manṭiq :
logic. According to al-Fārābī,
logic is a tool which, when used properly, will yield to certainty (yaqīn) in all theoretical and practical
sciences and is absolutely indispensable for attaining that goal. Manṭiq
derives from nuṭq.
Ma‘qūl :
intelligible. Al-Fārābī
believed the First to be an intelligible in act, since matter is what
impedes an entity from being an intelligible in act. (see al-Fārābī)
Māturīdī:
Muḥammad Ibn Muḥammad Ibn Maḥmūd Abū
Manṣūr al-Samarqandī al-Māturīdī
al-Ḥanafī (died in 944 in Māturīd in Samarqand) :
he was one of the most important imām of
the mutakallimūn of ahl al-sunnah
and the founder of the Māturīdī school of theology.
Mizāj :
mixture. Also, temperament, mood, humor, state of mind, physical constitution.
Morality: a. in Latin ‘moralis’, meaning custom;
relating to right and wrong in terms of behavior.
b. Descriptively: a code of conduct put forward by some group, an individual,
or society.
c. Normatively: a code of conduct that, given specified conditions, would be
put forward by all rational persons.
Mubāḥ :
permissible, morally neutral. One of the five normative categories (see al-aḥkām al-khamsah).
Mughālaṭah :
sophistry.
Muḥammad Ibn
‘Abd Allāh (570-632) :
prophet of Islam. He is reported to have received the first revelation of the Qur’ān in
Muḥāsabah :
self-examination or accounting for one's own actions. A supporting mystical
virtue or a second-order virtue in Sufi
teaching.
Muḥdath :
created in time. Plato believed that the world is created in time, while
Aristotle is alleged to hold that it is eternal.
Mukhāṭabah :
modes of address.
Munāfiq :
Hypocrite, liar.
Muqārabah :
see qurb.
Murāqabah :
vigilance. A supporting mystical virtue or a second-order virtue in Sufi teaching.
Murji’ah :
a sect of Islam. Murji’ah believe that ‘sinful’ actions do not adversely
affect faith the same way that acts of obedience are of no benefit if they are
accompanied by disbelief. Murji’ah withheld judgment regarding those who
start / participate in fitnah.
Mustaḥabb:
recommended (see mandūb). One of the
five normative categories (see al-aḥkām
al-khamsah).
Mu‘tazilites (or mu‘tazilah)
:
the word derives from the Arabic verb i‘tazala: to seclude oneself. In
effect, the term refers to some scholars who disagreed with theologians on a
number of points among which the doctrine of a created Qur’ān,
and man’s free will.
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Nafs (pl. nufūs,
anfus) :
soul (see al-Fārābī).
Nāmūs :
law, natural law, moral law, possibly religious law. Ikhwān al-Ṣafā,
organize all living beings in categories. According to them, plants rank under
animals, animals rank under humans, humans rank under wise people, wise people
rank under the people of law (nāmūs), who in turn, rank under
angels.
Nār :
literally: the fire. It is the most common name by which ‘hell’ is referred to
in the Qur’ān.
Naẓar :
literally: sight, discernment. Deliberation.
Niyyah :
Intention. A supporting mystical virtue or a second-order virtue in Sufi teaching.
Nubuwwah :
prophetic office.
Nūr :
light. Angels are believed to be created from nūr, as opposed to
humans (ins) from clay, and jinn
from fire.
Nūr (al-) :
The Light. It is one of the 99th attributes of God.
Nuṭq :
speech. Philosophers divided nuṭq in two parts:
1) the power to conceive of intelligible in the practical and theoretical
fields.
2) the power of expression in spoken language.
Philosophers : timeline of
medieval philosophers, mystics and thinkers.
Al-Kindī: (805-873 CE)
Abū al-Ḥassan ‘Alī Ibn Isma‘īl al-Ash'arī:
(873-936 CE)
Abū Naṣr Muḥammad al-Fārābī
(870-950 CE)
Ibn Sīnā (Avicenna) (980-1130 CE)
Abū Ḥāmid Muḥammad al-Ghaẓālī
(1058-1111)
Ibn Tufayl (110-1185 CE)
Abū al-Walīd Muḥammad Ibn Aḥmad Ibn
Rushd (1126- 1198)
Ramba'm Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon (Maimonides) (1135-1204 CE)
Ibn al-'Arābī (1165-1240)
Rabbi Abraham bin Ha-Ramba'm Abraham (son of Maimonides) (1186-1237 CE)
Thomas Aquinas (1224-1274)
Ibn Khaldūn (1332-1395 CE)
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Qadariyyah :
early Muslims who believed in free-will.
Qaḍī : judge.
Qalb :
heart. According to al-Ghazālī, it
is the same as al-rūḥ (the
soul, the spirit). The virtues of the heart are:
a) virtues of devils: akhlāq al-shayāṭīn
b) virtues of domestic animals: akhlāq al-bahā’im
c) virtues of predatory animals: akhlāq al-sibā‘
d) virtues of angels: akhlāq al-malā’ikah
Qiyās : 'analogy' or 'analogical reasoning'. A
method of extracting (deriving) legal rulings when none exists in the Qur’ān, Sunnah, and ijmā‘ . In his writings, al-Fārābī is critical
of this method of analogy on the ground that it is reductible to similarity (shabah),
rather than deduction in the strict sense. According to him there are
five types of qiyās: the demonstrative, the dialectical, the
sophistical, the rhetorical and the poetical.
Qubḥ al-dhātī (al) :
inherent badness. A mu‘tazilah doctrine.
Qudrah :
power to perform an act.
Qur’ān : Also
spelled in English as Koran. Literally this word means 'Recitation'. The Qur'an
is Islam's holiest book.
Qurb (also muqārabah)
:
proximity. According to al-Farābī,
when humans attain the highest stage of theoretical knowledge, they attain
the stage of union with the Active Intellect. Al-Farābī
sometimes calls this stage conjunction (ittiṣāl).
Quwwah :
power.
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Raḥīm (al-) :
the Compassionate. It is one of the 99th attributes of God.
Raḥmān (al-) :
the Merciful. It is one of the 99th attributes of God.
Ra’īs :
the Master Ruler.
Rajā’ :
hope. It is a principal virtue (a first-order
virtue) in Sufi teaching.
Ramaḍān
:
it is the 9th month of the Muslim lunar calendar: it is believed
that the Qur’ān was descended that
month. It is also the month of fasting. During the fast the believer must
abstain from food, drink and sexual intercourse during daylight hours.
Ra’y :
opinion. According to al-Fārābī,
both conjecture and certainty are species of opinion (ra’y) which is
liable to truth or falsity.
Riḍah :
satisfaction. It is a virtue produced by love, by pleasant acts, feelings…
Rushd :
morality, guidance, conscious awareness.
Ru’yah :
vision.
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Sa‘ādah :
happiness. According to al-Ghazālī, happiness is achieved through:
a) the power of anger: quwwat
al-ghaḍab
b) the power of lust: quwwat al-shahwah
c) the power of knowledge: quwwat al-‘ilm
Ṣabr :
patience. It is a principal virtue (a
first-order virtue) in Sufi teaching.
Ṣafḥ :
forgiveness.
Ṣalāh :
ritual prayer. A muslim does his/her prayer five times a day. Ṣalāh
is the second of the five Arkān (pillars)
of Islām.
Ṣāni‘ (al-) :
the Demiurgus. Plato believed that a Creator whom he called the Demiurgus created
the world out of a formless matter.
Ṣawm :
Fasting during Ramaḍān. It
is the third of the five pillars (Arkān)
of Islām.
Shabībah :
group among the kharajites who argued that
even a woman who is faithful and practicing can be a khalīfah.
Shāfi‘ī (al-), Muḥammad Ibn Idrīs
(767-820) :
Muslim jurist, founder of one of the four major schools of Islamic
jurisprudence. He provided a formal structure of Islam’s obligation materials
in law and morality. His name was given to the Shafi‘ī school of
jurisprudence founded by his disciples: the Shāfi‘īs.
Shahādah :
profession of faith that a person must recite in order to become a
Muslim. It is the first of the five pillars (Arkān)
of Islām, and is declared once a
lifetime.
Shahwah (pl. shahawāt) :
craving, desire, passion, lust, appetite (see Ikhwān
al-Ṣafā, and al-Ghazālī).
Shajā‘ah :
courage.
Shakk :
doubt. According to al-Fārābī,
shakk is the suspension of judgment with respect to two opinions equally
credible.
Shar‘:
“the road leading to water” (or to the source of life). It is also coined to
refer to law.
Sharī‘ah :
Commonly referred to as “Islamic law” it is a code of behavior, a composite
science of law and morality that is at the same time more and less than a simple
legal system in the Western sense of the term. More, because it regulates
private acts such as ritual practices of the faith or social behavior. Less,
because it ignores entire parts of human activity that would be taken into
consideration in other juridical codes. Thus,
Sharr :
what is bad, evil.
Shāṭibī (al-), Abū Isḥāq
Ibn Mūsā al-Shāṭibī al-Mālikī (?-1388) :
One of the founding scholars of uṣūl
al-fiqh, he laid great emphasis on the requirement of complete
knowledge and erudition in the Arabic language, not merely correct
understanding, for those who practice ijtihād.
He is the author of muwafaqāt fī uṣul
al-Sharī‘ah (The Congruences of the Sources of the Divine Law).
Shawq :
yearning. It is a virtue produced by love in Sufi teaching.
Shī‘ah :
originally, means ‘group’, ‘party’, ‘followers of someone’. Shī‘ah
is one of the two major theological and legal school of thought in Islam.
It derives from Shī‘at ‘Alī (followers of ‘Alī Ibn Abī
Ṭālib). The Shi‘ites believe that it is ‘Alī Ibn
Abī Ṭālib (cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet) rather
than Abū Bakr who should have succeeded Muḥammad.
In the civil war (fitnah) between ‘Alī
Ibn Abī Ṭālib and Mu‘āwiyah Ibn Abī
Ṣufyān they supported ‘Alī Ibn Abī Ṭālib.
They also argue for the need for infallible imām
to head the community.
Shi‘ite: anglicized from the Arabic word Shī‘i (a member of the Shī‘ah group).
Shukr :
gratitude, thankfulness. It is a principal virtue (a
first-order virtue) in Sufi teaching.
Ṣidq :
truthfulness. A supporting mystical virtue or a second-order virtue in Sufi teaching.
Ṣinā‘at al- kalām :
art of theology (see kalām).
Sīrah (pl. siyar) :
history of way of life.
Ṣūfi :
an adept of Sufism (ṣūfiyyah
or taṣawwuf).
Ṣūfiyyah
or Taṣawwuf :
Sufism, the mysticism of Islām.
Sunnah :
literally, it can mean ‘trodden path’, ‘way’, ‘rule’, ‘manner of acting’ or
‘mode of life’. Originally it meant 'customary practice', it now indicates
the specific actions or doings of the Prophet Muḥammad
himself verses the specific sayings (Ḥadīth
or reports). Since the life of the Prophet is believed to be
virtuous and exemplary, the acts of Muḥammad
provide the norms and set the model of human life and behavior (Sunnah). These virtuous acts are then converted into
obligations of which total constitutes the Sharī‘ah.
Customarily, Sunnah and Ḥadīth
are used interchangeably nowadays. (see Ḥadīth).
Ṣūrah :
according to Ibn Rushd, the ṣūrah
is the entity that does enjoy neither power (quwwah)
nor preparedness (isti‘dād).
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Ṭā‘ah
: obedience.
Ṭabī‘ah (pl. ṭabā’i‘) : nature.
Tafakkur :
meditation, deliberation, pondering. A supporting mystical virtue, or a
second-order virtue in Sufi teaching.
Ṭalāq :
Divorce. A saying attributed to the Prophet states that among all things
permitted by God, divorce is the most blameworthy. Thus divorce is clearly
permitted in Islam but not encouraged. If the divorce is done by
repudiating a marriage three times then this repudiation cancels any
opportunity for reconciliation. Otherwise, it should be followed by a waiting
period of three menstrual cycles that is supposed to give the spouses a chance
of reconciliation and/or to determine if the wife is pregnant.
Ta‘līm :
instruction, teaching.
Taqṣīr :
poor judgment.
Taqiyyah :
Dissimulation of one's religion, especially in time of persecution or danger.
The practice is permitted by the shī‘ah.
Taṣawwuf :
see ṣūfiyyah.
Taṣawwur :
conception.
Tasdīd :
leading, guiding, directing, conducting.
Taṭahhur :
see Taṭayyub.
Taṭayyub /
Taṭahhur :
personal hygiene, ritual purity.
Tawakkul : trust in God, rely on God. . It is a principal virtue (a first-order virtue) in Sufi teaching.
Tawbah : Repentance, atonement. It is a principal virtue (a
first-order virtue) in Sufi teaching.
Tawḥīd :
declaration of divine unity. It is a principal
virtue (a first-order virtue) in Sufi
teaching.
Ta’wīl :
the interpretation of the words of the Lawgiver or His ordinances.
Ta’yīd :
Support.
Turbah or turāb :
soil. Adam, the first man, is made of turbah or turāb.
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Ummah (pl. umam) :
nation or community. This was a highly emotive word in early Islamic history in
the time of the Prophet, and remains so among the Arabs today.
Uns :
Intimacy. It is a virtue produced by love.
Uṣūl al-fiqh
:
Means ‘the roots’ or ‘sources’ of law: foundation of law. Islamic
jurisprudence.
Utilitarianism: modern moral theorists who adhere to a form of Consequentialism.
Wa‘d :
promise of good reward for the faithful who upholds a virtuous Islamic life.
Wadūd (al-) :
the Loving. It is one of the 99th attributes of God.
Wa‘īd :
threat. "Promise" of painful reward for those who led a non-virtuous
life that contradicted the code of morality established in Qur’ān
and Sunnah.
Wājib, farḍ :
Required, obligatory. One of the five categories in which Islamic law and
ethics have traditionally divided human behavior.
Yaqīn :
certain knowledge, certainty (see manṭiq).
Zakāh :
Alms tax, Almsgiving. It is the fourth of the five pillars (Arkān)
of Islām. Zakāh is obligatory for
Muslims, and is given yearly by those who have to pay it.
Ẓann :
conjecture.
Zindīq (pl. zanādiqah) :
unbeliever, heretic, “free thinker”.
Zuhd :
asceticism, soberness, by the mere necessities (shunning of luxury). It is a principal virtue (a first-order virtue) in Sufi teaching.