Holy Books: The Qur’an

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).

The sayings of the Prophet Muhammad, as reported by his friends and family. These are a major source of Islamic law.

Some Hadith are referred to as Hadith Qudsi (‘sacred Hadith’) because Muslims believe that the Prophet Muhammad was given them by God.

This usually refers to the headscarf worn by Muslim women, as a symbol of faith, and to cover her hair in the company of all men apart from her husband and close family members.

The word hijab describes the act of covering up everything except face and hands, but is often used to describe the headscarves worn by Muslim women.

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.

A prophet of Allah. There are said to be 25 prophets recognised in the Qur’an. The main ones are Adam, Ibrahim (Abraham), Musa (Moses), Dawud (David) and Isa (Jesus). The final prophet is Muhammad.

After mentioning the name of a nabi, Muslims will often say, ‘peace and blessings of Allah be upon him’ in Arabic. Prophets of Allah who brought a written message from God are known as ‘Rasul’. In Islam, Muhammad is the final Prophet, but some Muslims say there may be further ‘messengers’.

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 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).