GLOSSARY OF COMMON ARABIC TERMS

1.ALLAH : Literally, 'The Divinity', gender-neutral, this is Arabic for 'God'. Muslims prefer the word Allah because it is the word used in the Quran.

2.AZAN: The call to prayers. Traditionally done from the masjid to announce to people that they should come to the Masjid for prayers, these days the tradition persists al beit sometimes using modern technologies. You may hear a recording in some Muslim homes annoucing the prayer time. A human makes a similar call to prayer from the sanctum of the Masjid.

3.IBADAH: Worship. Worship may take the form of ritual prayers, fasting, giving alms or performing the hajj. But in an expansive sense, any act done with the intent of pleasing Allah is ibadah.

4.IQAMA: The actual time a prayer is planned to be prayed at a particular masjid. This is distinct from the time after which a prayer becomes mandatory. For instance, the morning prayer is obligatory at dawn and should be prayed before sun rise. A masjid may decide to have its iqama 30 min. before sunrise.

5.ISLAM: The religion practiced by Muslims.

6. MASJID: The Muslim place of worship. Most Muslims prefer not to use the word ‘mosque’ which was historically a pejorative term.

7.MUSLIM: The people who profess and practice Islam.

8.SALAH or SALAT: The ritual prayers. Muslims are obliged to pray 5 times daily.

9.SAWM: The act of fasting. For Muslims, a fast constitutes avoidance of the satisfaction of all appetite (food, drink of any kind, sexual gratification) during the hours of the fast, i.e., dawn to sunset. Muslims are obliged to fast the entire month of Ramadan, i.e., during this month, Muslims may only eat before dawn and after sunset. Fasting at other times is non-obligatory.

10.TAHARAH: Ritual cleanliness. We may only perform our ritual acts of worship in a state of purity. Once some basic conditions are met, Muslims will perform 'ablution' which consists of washing the face, the arms up to the elbows and the feet. Some situations require a bath to attain an acceptable taharh for worship.

11. ZAKAT: Literally, this means to cleanse one’s wealth. This is an obligation on part of every Muslim who has accumulated any wealth. A percentage of the accumulated wealth must be paid to the pure.

12. ZIKR: ‘Mention’ or ‘utter’ refers specifically to remembering God by speaking his attributes.