9
votes
What does a.s. mean?
"a.s." is short for "'Alayhi al-Salaam" (عليه السلام), which is an Arabic phrase meaning "Peace be upon him". It is often used by Muslims after the names of the prophets as a term of respect.
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9
votes
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Is to say "God" the same as to say "Allah"?
Yes and no.
"Allah" is the Arabic word for God. However, in Arabic there is a distinction between "Allah" (God, i.e. "The" God), and "Ilah" (god, i.e "a" god), a distinction which is easily lost in ...
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6
votes
What does the attribute of Allah "shafiul mudhnibin" mean?
Due to the limitations of transliteration it's hard to tell exactly, but you're presumably asking about the Arabic phrase شفيع المذنبين (Shafi'u-l-Mudhnabin), which literally means the Intercessor of ...
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6
votes
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Does "nikah" mean "sex"?
It could mean either. For an Arabic speaker, there is a subtle distinction in the usage: If the name of a woman or a group is identified, then it is used in connection with lawful marriage. If the ...
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6
votes
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Is there a term to describe narrations from Sahaba?
The terminology used differs by region.
The majority of scholars use the term hadith to describe any such narration that either quotes a speech, describes an action, or documents an approval by ...
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5
votes
What does "obey" mean in "righteous women are devoutly obedient" in Qur'an 4:34?
Any real world examples what it means for a wife to be obedient?
A first insight can come from these two ahadith quoted in tafser al-Qurtoby (a well known Maliki scholar), where our Messenger (Peace ...
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5
votes
What is the literal meaning of the word "Qur'an"?
Beside the well known and among Muslims preferred meanings already explained here "The recitation" or "the continuous recitation" there are others one should know:
Of course if we ...
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5
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What's a "Dweller of hell"?
I believe this refers to intercession (i.e., asking Allah to remove someone from hell); another version of the hadith highlights this:
That the Messenger of Allah said: "There are six things with ...
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5
votes
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Is it appropriate to use the term "Semite" for Muslims?
"Semite" is an ethnic description (originally referring to the peoples that spoke semitic languages), "Muslim" a religious one. The confusion only arises because "Jewish" is both an ethnic and a ...
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5
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Is it improper to describe Friday as "sabbath"?
Friday in Arabic is Jumu'ah. Sabbath is a Jewish holy day of rest from Friday evening to Saturday evening and the Christian holy day of rest is on Sunday. They are both on different days and different ...
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4
votes
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What are the Arsh and Kursi of Allah?
Assalamualaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu, may Allah bless you and your family and have mercy on you and your family in this world and in the Hereafter.
This is quite a long answer as it contains ...
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4
votes
What does "Jazak Allah Khair" mean?
عَنْ أُسَامَةَ بْنِ زَيْدٍ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم "مَنْ صُنِعَ إِلَيْهِ مَعْرُوفٌ فَقَالَ لِفَاعِلِهِ جَزَاكَ اللَّهُ خَيْرًا فَقَدْ أَبْلَغَ فِي الثَّنَاءِ"
Usamah bin ...
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4
votes
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What are the complete writings of Islam? Qur'an, Hadith, Ahadith, Sunnah, Tafsir, etc? How do they relate to each other? Chart? Map?
The Quran:
Is the book or the words of Allah, it is a divine text.
Tafseer:
Refers to any kind of human interpretation of the Quranic text. It might be based on other Quranic verses, Ahadith, ...
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4
votes
What does the attribute of Allah "shafiul mudhnibin" mean?
This is a more correct transliteration of what you mean: Ya Allahu يا الله, Ya Rahmanu يا رَحْمَنُ or يا رَحْمَان, Ya Rahim يا رَحِيمُ, Ya Rahmatan يا رَحْمَةً lil-'Alamin لِلْعَالَمٍينَ, Ya Shafi'...
- 45.2k
4
votes
What's a "Dweller of hell"?
This is the hadith you are referring to:
There is no one whom Allah will admit to Paradise but Allah will marry him to seventy-two wives, two from houris and seventy from his inheritance from the ...
- 14.6k
4
votes
What is the difference between 'Wahi' and 'Ilham'?
Linguistic meaning of wahy
In Arabic language both terms (al-Wahy الوحي and al-Ilhaam الإلهام) have a slight difference and can also be synonyms according the context.
Wahy الوحي: inspiration, ...
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4
votes
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Is there an Islamic synonym for 'parishioner'
A group of people offering prayers together is called a Jamaat or Jammah. Congregational prayer can be observed in any place as required, not necessarily a mosque; and a person joining a congregation ...
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4
votes
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What is "Taqleed"? And who should do complete Talqeed and who is not obliged to do taqleed?
Taqleed means imitation. Most Muslims fall under Taqleed since they "imitate"/follow a specific school of thought. (Maliki, Hanbali, Hanafi, Shafi'i)
The average Muslim can free himself from a ...
- 749
4
votes
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What are the minimum requirements for someone to be a "student of knowledge"?
It is anecdotally mentioned that when one says one is a seeker of knowledge, one is tested by asking them to:
recite a juz' of the Qur'an,
mention the full narration chain of a hadith in Sahih al-...
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4
votes
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Conversion / converted or "Reversion" / "Reverted"?
Of course, this is a question that will draw opinion-based answers and anecdotal evidence, but I have not come across the word "revert" except in the West, too. Islamic literature, ...
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3
votes
What does a.s. mean?
As @goldPseudo correctly mentioned, "a.s." is the short form of "'Alayhi al-Salaam" (عليه السلام), which is an Arabic phrase and it means "Peace be upon him" and actually it is often used by Muslims ...
3
votes
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What is the Khabar? How is it different than Sira, Akbar, Sunnah, & Hadith in general?
I've consulted two fatwas on the difference between hadith الحديث (sunnah السُّنة), athar الأثر and khabar الخبر.
First a translation of the literal meaning of each term:
Al-Hadith is a narration, ...
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3
votes
What is the difference between a Khawariji and a Munafiq?
A quick answer is:
Munafiqالمنافق (plural Munafiqeen المنافقين or Munafiqoon المنافقون) applies for any person who is seemingly a Muslim, but in his heart he isn't, there were some at the time of the ...
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3
votes
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What is the difference between "muhajaba" and "hijabi"?
The Arabic word which seems the common basis for all of these words is hijab (al-hijab الحجاب).
hijabi in first place doesn't sound Arabic unless it is meant as
"my hijab"
حِجَابِي
but in ...
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3
votes
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How did saying Mashallah originate?
Typically, the phrase ma shaa' Allah (Arabic: ما شاء الله) is used when one sees something that one appreciates.
In Al-Kahf chapter in the Qur'an, we come across:
وَلَوْلَا إِذْ دَخَلْتَ جَنَّتَكَ ...
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3
votes
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Is it haram to even mention "pig"?
Muslims are not allowed to eat pig (Qur'an 5:3, 6:145, 16:115), and most scholars consider pig impure (see Islam Q&A). There's some other restrictions, such as not wearing pig leather (Islam Q&...
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3
votes
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Who defined the terms "makki" and "madani"?
First you should know that there are 3 definitions of makki and madani which are used by scholars:
Anything which was revealed in Mekka is makki and anything which was revealed in Medina is madani!
...
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3
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Is there a term to describe narrations from Sahaba?
They are generally called Athar [أثر].
Hadith: this term is used for any report of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) like his saying, action, tacit approval, manners, physical attributes etc....
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3
votes
Who exactly can be called a hafidh?
The term ḥāfidh (Arabic: حافظ) when used in connection with the Qur'an refers to someone who has memorized and recited from memory the entire Qur'an under the supervision of a competent authority ...
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