Library: Islam by Credo Reference: General Information

Sacred Literature & Laws

Fiqh
From Palgrave Macmillan Dictionary of Political Thought
Arabic, comprehension, from faqiha, to understand: the name used for the general science of jurisprudence relating to Islamic law.
Hadith
From The Columbia Encyclopedia
A tradition or the collection of the traditions of Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam, including his sayings and deeds, and his tacit approval of what was said or done in his presence.
Qur'an: Topic Page
The book composed of sacred writings accepted by Muslims as revelations made to Muhammad by Allah.
Sharia: Topic Page
The religious law of Islam. As Islam makes no distinction between religion and life, Islamic law covers not only ritual but many aspects of life.
Sunnah
From Chambers 21st Century Dictionary
A compilation of the sayings and deeds of Muhammad, which is a supplement to the Koran for the more orthodox Muslim.

Observances & Holidays

Ashura
From Holidays, Festivals, and Celebrations of the World Dictionary
On the 10th of Muharram in the year 680, Muhammad’s grandson Hussein was killed in a skirmish between Sunnis and the small group of Shi’ite supporters with whom he was travelling to Iraq.
Bismillah
From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia
Muslim ceremony to mark the beginning of a child's learning about Islam. It takes place at the age of four to five, the same age at which the angel Jibra'il (Gabriel) visited Muhammad.
Eid-ul-Adha
From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia
Muslim festival that takes place during the hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca, and commemorates the willingness of Ibrahim (Abraham) to sacrifice his son Ishmael at the command of Allah.
Islamic New Year
From Holidays, Festivals, and Celebrations of the World Dictionary
The Islamic New Year occurs on the first day of Muharram, the first month in the Islamic calendar. Muharram is one of four especially holy months for Muslims, along with Dhu al-Qadah, Dhu al-Hijjah (when the Pilgrimage to Mecca takes place), and Rajab (when Laylat al-Miraj is celebrated). The name of the month means “sacred.”
Mawlid an-Nabi
From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia
In Islam, the commemoration of the birth of the prophet Muhammad, who was born on 12 Rabiulawal. The annual event takes place on the 12th day of the third month in the Muslim calendar.
Ramadan: Topic Page
Ramadan, a significant period of fasting, reflection, and prayer for all Muslims, is a holiday in the religious tradition of Islam, one of the world's largest religions.

Sects & Divisions

Babism: Topic Page
System of doctrines proclaimed in Persia in 1844 by Ali Muhammad of Shiraz. Influenced by the Shaykhi Shiite theology that viewed the Twelve Imams as incarnations of the Divine, Ali Muhammad proclaimed himself the Bab, the living door to the twelth Imam and the knowledge of God.
Baha'i Faith: Topic Page
Religion founded in the 19th century from a Muslim splinter group, Babism, by the Persian Baha'u'llah. His message in essence was that all great religious leaders are manifestations of the unknowable God and all scriptures are sacred.
Black Muslims
From The Columbia Encyclopedia
African-American religious movement in the United States, split since 1976 into the American Muslim Mission and the Nation of Islam.
Islam: Topic Page
Islam, one of the world’s great monotheistic religions, was founded (or restored) by the Prophet Muhammad (570-632 CE), who lived in Mecca and Medina on the Arabian Peninsula.
Ismailis: Topic Page
Muslim Shiite sect that holds Ismail, the son of Jafar as-Sadiq, as its imam.
Kalam
From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia
Islamic scholastic theology. Kalam was founded by al-Ashari (873-935), whose Ashariyya School was the dominant school of scholastic theology.
Mutazilite
From Collins English Dictionary
a member of an 8th-century liberal Muslim sect, later merged into the Shiahs.
The Nation of Islam: Topic Page
The Nation of Islam (NOI) is an Islamic movement founded in 1930s America by Wallace Fard, a white man. The original name of the movement is the Lost Found Nation of Islam in the Wilderness.
Shi'ite: Topic Page
Member of a sect of Islam that believes that Ali, a cousin of the prophet Muhammad, was his first true successor.
Sufism: Topic Page
An umbrella term for the ascetic and mystical movements within Islam. While Sufism is said to have incorporated elements of Christian monasticism, gnosticism, and Indian mysticism, its origins are traced to forms of devotion and groups of penitents (zuhhad) in the formative period of Islam.
Sunni: Topic Page
The largest division of Islam. Sunni Islam is the heir to the early central Islamic state, in its acknowledgement of the legitimacy of the order of succession of the first four caliphs.
Wahhabism
From Palgrave Macmillan Dictionary of Political Thought
A form of radical Islamism known after its founder, Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab (1703–1792), from the Najd area of Arabia, ruled by local sheikhs of the house of Saud.