Salafiyyah

A group termed a ‘sect’ by the Madhabs of Orthodox Islam because it is amongst the La-Madhabis.

Sajdah

 Prostration; a reference to bowing with hands, forehead and nose to the ground. 

Sahih

‘sound’, ‘authentic’; a term used to denote the best accepted collections of Ahadith declared today as being 6 (sittah) collections, those of Bukhari, Muslim, al-Nisa’i, Abu Da’ud, at-Tirmidhi and ibn Maja.

Sahaba

The generation which saw Muhammad; declared to be the first of the four righteous generations.

Ruku

The body position in which the follower of Islam is bent forward 90 degrees at the waist and the hands are placed upon the knees.

Riwaya

A different version of an existing reading; a reference to the varying versions of readings which are accepted although they are declared to have been transmitted from one individual.

Rightly guided Caliphs

A reference to the first 4 Caliphs, being Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, ‘Uthman and ‘Ali, who are seen by Orthodox Islam in the light of a Hadith which declares that the first four generations will be trustworthy.

Reading

 The way of vocalising the Arabic text; generally in reference to the ‘7 Readings’, but also to the ‘Ten’, ‘Fourteen’, and even more, none of which always agrees with the graphic form but which require amending of it; some also belong to graphic forms which agree with the records concerning the content of the Companion codices which ‘Uthman burnt. These are admittedly not the same as the ‘7 Ahruf’ in which the Qur’an is believed to have been ‘revealed’.

Rak’ats

Units; a reference to the divisions of the Qur’anic text into sections.

Qiyas

 Analogical deduction; a term referring to legal rulings deduced from an example which seems to run parallel to the situation for which a ruling is sought. 

Qarra

one who carries the correct recitation of the Qur’an; some believe a qarra was sent to each Islamic centre to ensure the ‘true’ recitation of the Qur’an was known when ‘Uthman’s copies were sent out.

Outwitting

‘Outwitting’ - a term used to define a category of activity in which a person ‘outwits’ another by word or deed; generally perceived to be used in battle and so termed ‘battle is an outwitting’ in one Hadith. It can encompass the use of tauriyya, taqayyah or kithman.

Nass

The text of the Qur’an or Hadith.

Mutawatir

 Universally accepted; a term generally referring to the wide circulation of a Hadith.

Mushaf

Manuscript or copy of the Qur’an, as in ‘Mushaf Al-Madinah’.

Matn

The content of the Hadith or piece of information which is thought to be confirmed or denied by checking the reliability of the isnad.

Madhab

A school of fiqh; today accepted by orthodox (Sunni) Islam as being 4 in number, namely Hanbali, Maliki, Hanafi, and Shafi’i; formerly they numbered in the hundreds. The Shi’ah school denoted as coming from Jafar Sadiq is accepted by some within the Sunni ranks as another Madhab.

La-Madhabis

(i.e. ‘no Madhab’) - those who reject adherence to the 4 Orthodox schools of Fiqh (Madhabs).

Kithman

A form of ‘outwitting’ (see ‘outwitting’) attributed to the Shi’ah.

Kasra

 The small mark by which a short ‘i’ is denoted in vocalisation.