caliph
successor"; a religious and political leader
dhikr
A devotional remembrance of Allah through the recitation of his ninety-nine names and other devotional practices
fana
Extinction"; the sense of loss of self in mystical experience
hadith
Recollection"; a remembrance of an act or saying of Muhammad. (The plural is spelled hadiths or ahadith)
Hajj
Pilgrimage to Mecca
Hijra
Flight"; Muhammad's escape from Mecca to Yathrib (Medrina)
Id al-Adha
The Day of Sacrifice during the month of the Hajj when an animal is sacrificed to recall the submission of Abraham
Id al-Fitr
The festival at the end of the month of Ramadan during which people feast and visit friends and often graves of ancestors
imam
A religious leader; specifically, one of the hereditary successors of Muhammad, venerated in Shiite Islam
Islam
Submission"; the Muslim religion and the community of believers who have submitted themselves to Allah
jihad
Struggle"; the ideals of (1) spreading Islamic belief and (2) heroic self-sacrifice
Kabah
Cube"; the square shrine at the center of the Grand Mosque of Mecca
Khadijah
First wife of Muhammad
mihrab
The decorated niche inside a mosque that indicates the direction of Mecca
minaret
A tower used by a chanter to call people to prayer
mosque
a Muslim place of worship
muezzin
A chanter who calls people to prayer
Muslim
A person who submits to Allah
qiblah
The direction toward Mecca; the direction toward which Muslims pray
Qur'an
Recitation"; God's words as revealed to and recited by Muhammad; an authorized edition of the written words that appeared after Muhammad's death
Ramadan
The month of fasting; the ninth month of the Muslim calendar
Sharia
Path"; the whole body of Islamic laws that guide a Muslim's life (Also spelled Shariah)
Shiite
A minority branch of Islam, which holds that Muhammad's genuine successors descended from his son-in-law Ali
Sufism
A group of devotional movements in Islam
Sunni
The majority branch of Islam, which holds the genuine succession from Muhammad did not depend on hereditary descent from his son-in-law Ali
sura
A chapter of the Qur'an