Part 11

Dhikr: remembrance, recollection, technically referring the remembrance of Allah.

Du'é: supplication, invocation, it is an action of worship that may only be directed to Allah. It is of two types, supplication through worship (d#‘4 Sbddah) and supplication of request (dua mas alah). The first type of d‘¢ can be understood when one understands that every act of worship is done with the unstated plea that Allah accept that action of worship and the desire to draw closer to him; and hence attain His pleas-

Index of Arabic Words

ure. Hence every action of worship is a type of request to Allah. The second type of d‘4 is whereby one explicitly asks his Lord of something such as ‘O Allah! Grant me good in this world and the Hereafter.’ The second type includes the first type and the first type necessitates the second type.

Hadith: A text attributed to the Prophet (g) describing his actions, words, descriptions and tacit approvals. It consists of two portions, the body of the text (man) and the isnad. Rarely the term is also used to refer to a text attributed to a Companion or a Tabi’.

Hafiz pl. buffaz. Hadith Master, commonly referred to one who has memorised at least 100,000 hadiths.

Hasan: good, fair. A hadith whose isndd is continuously linked of just, morally upright narrators but whose precision (dab) falls short of the requirements of the sahih hadith; containing no irregularity (shadh) and no hidden defect (‘“Hah). A hadith can be hasan in and of itself, or contain a defect but still be ruled to be so due to supporting evidences.

Haya’: modesty, derived from the word hayat, or life because it is through modesty that the heart is granted life and it is through the absence of modesty that it dies. It is a state that arises through the servant being aware that Allah is watching him, having love, fear and awe of Him and thinking little of himself, Al-Junayd said, ‘a/Haya’ is to recognise the bounties of Allah and then to recognise ones own shortcomings. Through this a state is engendered which is termed a/-Haya’, the reality of which is that it is a mannerism that prevents one from committing vile actions and from being lax in fulfilling the

THE EXCELLENCE OF KNOWLEDGE

Hudid: limits, boundaries. The limits ordained by Allah, prescribed punishments.

Hulal wa-l-Ittihad: incarnation and unification, the settling of a superior faculty upon a support.

Ihsan: beneficence, excellence. To worship Allah as if one is seeing Him, and knowing that even though one sees Him not, He sees the servant.

Ikhlas: sincerity, to strip oneself of worshiping any besides Allah such that everything one does is performed only to draw closer to Him and for His pleasure. It is to purify ones actions from any but the Creator having a share in them, from any defect or self-desire. The one who has true ikh/as (mukblis) will be free of riya’.

Iman: The firm belief, complete acknowledgement and acceptance of all that Allah and His Messenger have commanded to have faith in, submitting to it both inwardly and outwardly. It is the acceptance and belief of the heart that includes the actions of the heart and body, therefore it encompasses the establishment of the whole religion. This is why the Imams and Salaf used to say, ‘Faith is the statement of the heart and tongue, action of the heart, tongue and limbs.’ Hence it comprises statement, action and belief, it increases through obedience and decreases through disobedience. It includes the beliefs of faith, its morals and manners and the actions demanded by it.

Index of Arabic Words

Islam: sabmission, submitting to the will of Allah through following His law as revealed upon the tongue of the Messen-

Isnad: support. The chain of authorities on which a narration is based, linking the end narrator of a narration to the one it is attributed to, be it the Prophet (4) or anyone else, narrator by narrator.

Istidraj: gradually leading to a desired conclusion. Technically refers to Allah gradually leading one who displays ingratitude to His favours to his destruction as a befitting recompense. Some of the Salaf would say, ‘When you see Allah bestowing His blessings upon you, one after the other, and you are steadfast in disobeying Him, then beware for this is istidraj by which He gradually leads you to destruction.’

Iiba’: following, technically referring to following the Sunnah of the Prophet (4g).

‘hafah: the practice of divination through frightening birds, the sounds they make and the directions in which they fly.

Jabiliyyah: Pre-Islamic Ignorance. Technically this refers to the condition of a people before the guidance of Allah reaches them, or the state of a people that prevents them from accepting the guidance of Allah.

Kalam: speech, discourse. Technically used to refer to dialectics and scholastic theology.

THE EXCELLENCE OF KNOWLEDGE

Kafr: denial, rejection, hiding, technically referring to disbelief. It can be major (removing a person from the fold of Islam) or minor (not removing a person from the fold of Islam).

Majhal: unknown. A reference to a natrator from whom only one narrator narrates (majhil al-‘ain) or whose state of precision (dab?) is unknown (majbal al-bal, such a narrator makes the isnéd da.

Ma'‘rifah: gnosis. Knowledge that is acted upon by the one who knows, the Gnostic of Allah is one who has knowledge of Allah, the path that leads to Allah and the pitfalls of that path. He is one who knows Allah, His Names, Attributes and Actions and then displays sidg and ikh/as towards Allah in all things. He works towards removing all despicable morals and mannerisms and has saér in all of this.

Marnik: abandoned. A narrator who is accused of lying, or makes many mistakes, or makes mistakes in ahadith that are agreed upon, or narrates from famous narrators that which those narrators do not know.

Mungati’ that hadith from which the narrator just before the Companion has been omitted from its isnad.

Muraqabab: self-inspection. The servant having the sure knowledge that Allah sees him in all circumstances and knows all that he is doing, as such the he does his utmost not to fall into the prohibited matters and to correct his own failings.

Mursak: disconnected. A hadith whereby a 7abi7 narrates directly from the Prophet (a) without mentioning the Companion.

Index of Arabic Words

In the view of the majority of Scholars it is a sub-category of da‘if.

Mushaf: text of the Quran Qadr: Divine Decree and Destiny.

Quran: The actual Word of Allah revealed to the Prophet () in the Arabic language through the medium of the Angel Gabriel and the greatest miracle bestowed him. It consists of 114 chapters commencing with al-Fatihah and ending with anNas.

Riya’ showing off, ostentation, an example of which lies in person beautifying actions of worship because he knows people are watching.

Rugqya: recitation used to cure an illness or disease. It can only be done in the Arabic tongue, in words whose meaning is understood, using verses of the Qur‘an or supplications of the Prophet combined with the belief that it is only Allah who in reality gives the cure.

Sahih: cortect, authentic. A hadith which has a continuously linked isnad, of just, morally upright and precise narrators; containing no irregularity (shadb) or hidden defect (‘i//ah). Hence five conditions have to be met: the ésndd being continuously linked; the justice (‘ad/) of the narrator; the precision (dab/) of the narrator; its not being shadb; and its not containing an “ab. The hadith can be sahih in and of itself, or it can contain a defect but still be ruled to be sahih due to supporting evidences.

THE EXCELLENCE OF KNOWLEDGE

Salaf: predecessors. Technically used to refer to the best generations of Muslims, the first three generation: the Sahabah, the Tabi'in and the Tab‘ Tabi‘in due to the hadith, “The best of people are my genetation, then the one that follows, then the one that follows.”

Sidg: truthfulness, the conformity of the inner to the outer such that the deeds and statements of the person do not belie his beliefs and vice-versa. Sidg is the foundation of faith and results in peace of mind, lying is the foundation of hypocrisy and results in doubt and suspicion, and this is why the two can never co-exist without being at odds with each other. alJunayd was asked as to whether sidg and ikh/as were the same or different and he replied, ‘They are different, sidg is the root and #kAias is the branch. Sidg is the foundation of everything and ikA/és only comes into play once one commences an action. Actions are only acceptable when they combine both.’ The one who has true sidg will be free of self-conceit.

Shadh; irregular, odd. A hadith nartated by a trustworthy and precise narrator that contradicts the narrative of other narrators or the narration of one more trustworthy and precise than him, provided that a reconciliation is not possible.

Shirk: association, technically referring to directing a right that is due to Allah Alone to another object of creation, either completely or partially. It can be major (removing a person from the fold of Islam) or minor (not removing a person from the fold of Islam).

Sunnah: way, path. The actions, words, descriptions, commands, prohibitions and tacit approvals of the Prophet (3).

Index of Arabic Words

Tabi‘un: The generation following that of the Companions. Tab‘ Tabi‘un: The generation following that of the Tabi‘in.

Tadlis: deceit. An action of a narrator wheteby he makes out that he heard something from a particular narrator what he did not hear or conceals the identity of the one he is narrating from. In order to do so, he will use terms that ate vague such as ‘such-and-such said’ and ‘on the authority of such-and-such.’ The first type of sadlis is blameworthy and constitutes a defect in the ésnad. The second is dependant upon exactly what was done and the motives of the narrator, it can be blameworthy or not.

Taqwa: the basic meaning of which is setting a barrier between two things. This is why it is said that one é#/ag@ with his shield, i.e. he set it as a barrier between him and the one who wished him evil. Therefore it is as if the one who has taqwa (muttaqi) has used his following the commands of Allah and avoiding His prohibitions as a barrier between himself and the Punishment. Hence he has preserved and fortified himself against the punishment of Allah through his obeying Him.

Tarq: the practice of divination through drawing lines in the earth or equally the practice of throwing gravel onto the ground and divination by the shapes subsequently formed therein.