abaya: women’s traditional head-to-toe dress

abu: father

ahl al-kitab: People of the Book (Christians and Jews)

al-Aqsa: Mosque in Jerusalem, third holiest shrine in Islam

Alhamdu lillah: thanks be to Allah

al-hijrah: the migration (of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina)

Allahu Akbar!: Allah is greatest!

al-Quds: Jerusalem (literally: the holy place)

al-taqwa: awareness or fear of Allah

ansar: the followers or brothers

Assalamu alaikum: may the peace (of Allah) be upon you

Astaghfir Allah: may Allah forgive me

ayah: verse

badr: place where prophet Muhammad’s army defeated much larger force in opening campaign of jihad

bayat: oath of loyalty

bin: son

Bismillah: in the name of Allah

dar: house

dawah: the call to all Muslims to spread the faith and convert more believers to Islam

deen: religion

dhimmi: non-Muslim minorities

eiman: faith

emir: leader

fard: compulsory, as in religious obligation

fatwah: religious decree

fiqh: law

hadeeth: reports about Muhammad (his sayings and deeds) by his companions which are contained in the sunnah

halal: permitted

Harakat al-Muqawamah al-Islamiyya (HAMAS): the Islamic Resistance Movement

haram: forbidden

harb: war

hawala: Arab system of money transfer (literally: conversion of something from one form into another)

hijab: head scarf

houri: virgin

iftaar: breaking of the fast during Islamic holy month of Ramadan

Ikhwan: Brotherhood

insha’Allah: Allah willing

jalabia: men’s traditional dress

jenna: paradise

jihad: struggle; battle, including warfare

jizyah: a poll tax on non-Muslims

juma: obligatory Muslim group prayer held midday on Fridays

kaffir: unbeliever, infidel

Khilafah: caliphate, or one world nation under Islam

khutbah: sermon

kufi: white skull cap worn by Muslim men

majilis: council

Masha Allah: Allah has willed it

masjid: mosque

mujahideen: freedom fighter

Muslimah: female Muslim

PBUH: Stands for “Peace Be Upon Him,” the mantra Muslims automatically recite after mentioning prophet Muhammad by name. The abbreviation usually follows Muhammad’s name in parentheses, eg. “... Muhammad (PBUH) ... .”

rabita: guild

Salaam: Peace

Salafis: predecessors; also, non-Saudi adherents of Wahhabism

salah: prayer

shaheed: holy martyr

shahada: declaration of faith (“There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger”)

sharia: Islamic law (literally, the path of Allah)

shirk: polytheism

shura: consultation

subha: prayer beads; or worry beads

Subhan Allah: glory be to Allah

Suffism: mystical form of Sunni Islam

suhl: truce

sunnah: religious practice according to what Muhammad said, did, approved of; the second source in Islam after the Quran

surah: chapter

Takbeer!: Hallelujah!

taliban: students of madrassas

taqiya: expedient duplicity

taqwa: awareness or fear of Allah

tawheed: oneness of Allah, monotheism

ulama: religious scholars

ummah: worldwide Muslim community or brotherhood

umrah: a phase of the Hajj pilgrimage

usra: family

wajh: one’s face, honor

waqf: common Islamic property

wudu: ablution or washing

Yahoudi: Jew