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GLOSSARY |
|
(a.s.) |
Alaihi Salaam, said for an Imam,
(Peace be with him) |
|
(r) |
Radhiya Allaahu Unhu, (Allah be
pleased with him) |
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A'isha |
The wife of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) |
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Aali Muhammad |
Ahlul Bayt |
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Abu Dhar |
Highly respected Companion of the
Prophet (pbuh) |
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Abu Rafi |
Servant of the Prophet (pbuh),
highly respected Companion |
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Abu Sufyan |
Arch enemy of Islam and leader of
disbelievers against Muhammad (pbuh), became Muslim only when Mecca was conquered by the Muslims |
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Abu Talib |
The father of Ali, uncle of the
Prophet (pbuh) and his guardian until he died after the siege of Benu Hashim |
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Al‑Abbas |
Brother of Imam Husain killed in
Karbala |
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Al‑Ash'ath |
General in Ali's camp at Siffin, but
secret agent for Mu'awiya. Chief underminer of Ali's camp |
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Al‑Baaqir |
Son of Zainul Abideen, was in
Karbala at age 3 years |
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Al-Hamza |
Uncle of the Prophet (pbuh) and
ardent supporter, killed by a javelin in Ohod by someone hired for the task by the wife of Abu Sufyan |
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Al-Hur |
The leader of the 1,000 cavalry who
intercepted Imam Husain, then defected to Husain's camp and was martyred in Karbala. |
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Al‑Husain |
The Supreme Leader of the Martyrs,
the Hero of Karbala, the one who saved Islam with his own life and those with him |
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Al-Masjid Al-Nabawi |
Masjid of the Prophet (pbuh)and the
seat of government. |
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Al-Nass |
The designation, means that Prophet
Muhammad (pbuh) had designated Ali to be the Imam of the Ummah and he was to follow the Prophet (pbuh) after his death. Al-Nass also means that each Imam Designates the one to
follow him until the twelfth Imam, Al-Mahdi (a.s.). |
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Al‑Qayin |
One of the martyrs in Karbala |
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Al-Tulaqaa |
A belittling term Muhammad (pbuh)
used for those who accepted Islam in Mecca when Mecca was conquered; examples are Abu Sufyan, Mu'awiya and others. Mu'awiya used to often remind himself of this term |
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Al‑Zahraa |
An endearing name for Fatima (a.s.) |
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Ali |
The second man after the Prophet,
the first Ma'soom Imam |
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Allah |
The creator, the Lord of creation
(swt) |
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Ammar |
Highly respected Companion, lost his
life in Siffin as predicted by the Prophet (pbuh) |
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Amr ibn Abd Wid |
The Hero of the disbelievers who
crossed the Ditch, was slain by Imam Ali |
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Asdi |
One of the Martyrs in Karbala |
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Ayah |
Verse of the Holy Quran |
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Ayah of Tat'heer |
Ayah on behalf of Ahlul Bayt (Ali,
Fatima, Al-Hasan, and Al-Husain). It specified their Ismah |
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Badr |
The first defensive battle by the
Muslims against the disbelievers |
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Benu Abbas |
Dynasty that took power from Benu
Umayya in the name of revenging for Ahlul Bayt |
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Benu Umayya |
Dynasty that got hold of the power
early in Islam and caused a great damage to the Islamic Ummah. They lasted for 90 years |
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Basrah |
The town near which the Jamal
Confrontation took place |
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Bilal |
The close Companion who used to call
the Athan |
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Cave of Hiraa |
A small clean cave near the top of
Mountain of Noor in which Prophet (pbuh) used to go for contemplation |
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Companions |
The contemporaries of the Prophet
(pbuh) |
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Dammatul Jandal |
The location of the arbitration that
was imposed on Imam Ali, to be done versus Mu'awiya |
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Deviators |
The group used to be in Ali's camp,
decided to stop the fight in Siffin, then blamed Ali for it, and rose against Ali |
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Dhul Hijjah |
Month of Haj |
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Effecting brotherhood |
Process of making one Medanese take
one from Mecca as his brother, to support, befriend, and exchange experience |
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Encounter of the Ditch |
The third major attempt of the disbelievers to destroy
Islam in which they were prevented by the digging of a ditch. |
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Fadak |
A large piece of property given to
Fatima by Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), was a means of her livelihood, and denied to her by Abu Bakr |
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Farazdaq |
A highly respected poet who told Al-Husain
not to proceed to Kufa |
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Fatima |
Daughter of the Prophet (pbuh) and
the Supreme Leader of women of the world |
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Fiqh |
Interpretation of Shari'ah (Islamic
Law) |
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Gabriel |
Jubra'eel, the Arch angel who
reveals Messages to the Prophets |
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Hadith |
Sayings and recommendations of the
Prophet (pbuh) |
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Hudaibiya |
The great treaty between Muhammad
(pbuh) and the disbelievers which greatly benefited Islam |
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Ibn Aas |
Ibn Aas, a General in Mu'awiya's
camp, deceptive person |
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Ibn Abbas |
Ibn Abbas, Highly scholarly person,
tutored by Ali (a.s.) |
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Ibn Aqaba |
Family member of Uthman appointed as
governor of Iraq by Khalifa Uthman |
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Ibn Mas’ud |
A highly respected Companion of the
Prophet (pbuh) |
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Ibn Muljim |
The person (Khariji) who killed Imam
Ali with a poisoned sword |
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Ibn Sar'h |
Governor in Egypt during Uthman's
times (his relative) who led the campaign against the Romans in Tunisia |
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Ibn Ziyad |
The governor of Kufa appointed by
Yazid to suppress the people and force them to fight Imam Husain |
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Idols |
Material products, usually made of
stones, which people worshipped to be a means to Allah |
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Ij'tihaad |
Process by which Islamic Shari'ah is
interpreted by high religious scholars to solve present day problems |
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Imamah |
The personage designated by the
Almighty to lead the Ummah after the Prophet (pbuh). |
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Ismah |
Means that Allah has safeguarded all
the Prophets and the Specified Imams after Prophet Muhammad from, a) religious error, b) sin, and c) forgetfulness |
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Ja'far |
Brother of Ali who led the group of
Muslims to Abyssinia |
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Jamal battle |
Major battle against Ali the Khalifa
by insurgents led by A'isha, Talha, and Zubair |
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Jubra'eel |
Angel Gabriel |
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Juh'fa |
Mid-way point between Mecca and
Medina, 3 miles north of which Ghadeer Khum took place |
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Karbala |
The fateful tragic confrontation
between Jahiliya and Islam in which Islam triumphed but at the expense of the life of Imam Husain and his camp |
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Khariji |
The group that was in Ali's camp,
decided to stop the fight in Siffin, then defected and blamed Ali for Siffin consequences. They rose against Ali and caused a great deal of turmoil |
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Khaybar |
The fortified headquarters of the
Jewish tribes in Arabia which was conquered under the leadership of Imam Ali |
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Khilaafah Rashida |
Khilaafah of the first four Khalifas
that followed the Prophet (pbuh) |
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Kufa |
New capital of the Islamic Ummah
during the times of Ali |
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Marhab |
The hero and Jewish leader that Imam
Ali killed at Khaybar |
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Marji' |
Religious reference of the highest
caliber |
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Marwan |
The person who undermined the
Islamic Ummah during the Khilaafah of Uthman, killer of Talha in Jamal Confrontation |
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Ma'soom |
See Ismah, a person whom Allah
safeguards from religious error, sin, and forgetfulness, (Prophets and the 12 Imams) |
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Medina |
The major town in which Islam grew
and from which it spread under the leadership of the Prophet (pbuh) |
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Minbar |
Pulpit |
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Mountain of Noor |
Mountain near Mecca which the
Prophet (pbuh) used to go for contemplation |
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Mu'awiya |
The man from the Umayya clan who
produced many unwholesome changes to Islam, such as Caesar-like inheritance of Khilaafah |
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Mu'mins |
Faithful |
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Mubaahala |
The Quranic challenge to the
Christians who came from Najran to question the Prophet (pbuh) |
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Muhammad ibn Al‑Hanafia |
Son of Imam Ali, a highly regarded
person |
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Muharram |
The month in which Karbala
happenings took place |
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Mukhtar |
The person who led an uprising after
Karbala and chased, arrested, and executed every participant in Karbala against Imam Husain |
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Mus'haf of Fatima |
Tafseer of the Holy Quran as written
by Imam Ali |
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Muslim Ibn Aqeel |
Cousin of Al-Husain, sent to Kufa to
evaluate the situation of the people; was arrested and beheaded |
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Nahjul Balaaghah |
Collection of some of the treatise
of sermons, sayings, and some recommendations of Imam Ali |
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Nahrawan |
Battle imposed on Ali by the
Kharijis (the renouncers) |
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Ohod |
The second battle in which the
Muslims had to defend themselves against the disbelievers |
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Omar Ibn Sa'ad |
The leader of the forces in Karbala
that killed Imam Husain and his camp in the worst manner imaginable |
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Quraish |
Renowned family in Mecca, noble,
first opposed Islam then converted to it. Muhammad (pbuh) was of this family |
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Quran |
Book of the Creator, Allah (swt),
permanent, eternal in its guidance |
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Rejecters |
The People who rejected Islam during
Abu Bakr's Khilaafah and precipitated a battle in which about 600 Muslims who knew the Quran by heart were killed |
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Renouncers |
The people who rose against Ali
after they gave him their allegiance; they precipitated the Jamal Confrontation |
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Revealed |
Ayah of the Quran when revealed by
Jubra'eel to Muhammad (pbuh) |
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Shahaada |
Declaration of Islam that Allah is
One and Muhammad (pbuh) is His Messenger |
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Shari'ah |
Islamic Constitution in the
Quran |
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Shimr |
The despicable person who slay Imam
Husain |
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Siffin |
The battle imposed on Imam Ali by
the defiant Mu'awiya |
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Suhoor |
Eating before fasting for the next
day |
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Sumieya |
One of the first martyrs of Islam |
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Sunnah |
Sayings and acts of the Prophet
(pbuh) which Muslims try to follow |
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Surah |
Chapter of the Holy Quran |
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Tabuk |
Location to which Muslims went to
confront the Byzantines but no battles took place |
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Tafseer |
Interpretation of the Holy Quran |
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Talha |
A Companion who was a renouncer
against Imam Ali, was killed by Marwan at the Jamal Confrontation |
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Tayammum |
Preparation for Salat when water is
not available or cannot be used |
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Umayya |
The family that vehemently opposed
Islam, then when they became Muslim, soon grabbed power and did much damage to the Islamic Ummah (see Benu Umayya) |
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Umm al Baneen |
Wife of Imam Ali, mother of Al-Abbas |
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Umm Kulthoom |
Sister of Imam Husain, who focused
the people's minds on Karbala and its importance for Islam. |
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Umm Salama |
A favorite wife of the Prophet
(pbuh) |
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Ummah |
Islamic society |
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Wilaayah |
The undertakings (by the Quran and
the Prophet (pbuh)) leading to naming Ali, then the rest of the Imams as the persons with high authority over us |
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Yathrib |
The name of Medina before the Hijrah |
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Yasir |
The first martyr for Islam, father
of the Companion Ammar |
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Yazid |
The despicable ruler imposed by his
father Mu'awiya on the Islamic Ummah, cause of tremendous suffering |
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Zainab |
The heroine of Karbala, sister of
Imam Husain, who focused the people's minds on Karbala and its importance for Islam. |
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Zainul Abideen |
Son of Imam Husain, and the 4th
Imam. |
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Zakat |
Equivalent to Poor-due |
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Zubair |
A Companion of the Prophet (pbuh)
and a renouncer, leader in Jamal Confrontation against Ali. Declined to fight |
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