A Day in the Life of a Muslim Imam

The name for God in the Arabic language and used in preference to the word God because this Arabic term is singular, has no plural, and is not associated with masculine or feminine characteristics. Muslims believe that Allah is the only God and is Creator of all.

According to Islamic tradition there are 99 ‘beautiful names’ of Allah, such as ‘the All Merciful’ (ar-Rahman) and ‘the Creator’ (al-Khaliq).

Any action or thing which is allowed or lawful. That which is unlawful or not allowed is called ‘Haram’.

Many supermarkets now stock halal food, that is food, especially meat, that is allowed for Muslims because it conforms to the animal slaughter requirements of the Qur’an and the Muslim legal code.

A person who leads the prayer in the Sunni Muslim community. In Shi’a Islam, ‘Imam’ is also the title of Muhammad’s successors, the first being his cousin Ali.

The title ‘imam’ is used differently in Sunni and Shi’a communities; for Sunni Muslims it is generally the imam who leads the community, especially in prayer and worship, but for Shi’a Muslims, the Imams are those individuals who were chosen by God to be perfect examples of how to live a perfect Muslim life.

Islam means ‘peace attained through willing obedience to Allah’s divine guidance’. A Muslim is someone who has accepted Islam by professing the Shahadah. A faithful believer is known as a Mu’min.

In the religion of Islam, a Muslim should worship only one God. Knowledge of God comes through his messengers, also known as prophets, and the holy books, especially the Qur’an.

This is the name of any place regarded as being fit for Muslims to pray and worship. Congregational prayers are usually led by an imam.

As well as being a house of prayer, the masjid serves as a centre for information, learning, welfare and for the settling of disputes.

This literally means ‘that which is read or recited’ and refers to the holy Book believed to have been revealed to the Prophet Muhammad.

For Muslims, the Qur’an is Allah’s final revelation to humankind. It consists of 114 Surah (divisions or ‘chapters’).

The weekly communal salah is known as Jumu’ah and is performed just after midday on Fridays in the Masjid (mosque – place of prostration).

This literally means ‘community’ in Arabic and can refer to any nation with a common history. Specifically, Muslims use the word to refer to the world-wide community of Muslims.

For Muslims, the ummah refers to those who share in God’s plan for human beings. The Qur’an makes it clear that this includes the Jewish, Christian and pagan citizens of the community in which the first Muslims lived.

This is the act of washing before salah (prayer).

Before Muslims pray they are instructed to prepare themselves properly and part of this preparation is to make the hands, mouth, nostrils, arms, head and feet clean (wudu).