abaya: a Muslim woman’s overgarment (also known as a hijab), usually black, that covers the whole body except the eyes, feet and hands.
ahl al–dhimma: the condition of a dhimmi (see below).
al–Alam al–Arabi: ‘The Arab World’ (a newspaper).
al Andalus: Andalucia, southern Spain.
al–Aqsa: ‘The Farthest’ (the main mosque in Jerusalem).
al–Ayyam: ‘Days’ (a newspaper).
al–Faruq ‘He who can distinguish truth from falsehood.’
Al–Futuwwa: ‘chivalry’ (youth brigades).
al–Hajar–ul–Aswad: ‘The Black Stone’ (The Ka’bah, Mecca).
al–Haram al–Sharif ‘The Noble Sanctuary’ (The Temple Mount, Jerusalem).
al–Ilah (Allah): God: the Arabic word for God is Ilah. The word Allah is a conjunction of the two words al–and Ilah; The God.
al–Mowahhidun: ‘Unitarians’ (the Almohad ruling dynasty).
al–Sahafi al–Ta’ih: ‘The Wandering Journalist’ (Newspaper).
aman: in Islamic religious law, a safe conduct or pledge of security by which a non–Muslim living in the Domain of War who enters Muslim territory becomes protected, in his life and property, by the sanctions of the law for a limited period.
Ashura: Shiite day of mourning and self–flagellation.
Awfa min al–Samaw’al: ‘More loyal than Samuel’ (high praise).
Bab al–Radhana: the Gate of the Radhanites (in Kairouan, Tunisia).
Daral–Harb: ‘The Domain of War.’
Daral–Islam ‘The Domain of Islam.’
Dar al–Yahud: ‘The abode of the Jews’: the Jewish Quarter; also (in Persia) the Jewish community.
dhimmi a non–Muslim enjoying the protection of Islam and the Koran, while at the same time subject to disadvantages and humiliation as prescribed in the Covenant of Omar (Pact of Omar), which degraded both the individual and the community.
farhud: pogrom, or violent dispossession (refers to the pogrom in Baghdad in 1941).
fatwa: a legal pronouncement issued by a Muslim religious authority.
fellah (fallah): a peasant, farmer or agricultural labourer, from the Arabic word for a ploughman.
Fi ‘l–Jima‘: ‘On Sexual Intercourse’ (a treatise by Maimonides).
fitra: innate human nature, innate disposition; the belief that every child is born a Muslim.
Hadith: narrations originating from the words and deeds of Mohammed. Hadith are regarded by traditional Muslim schools of jurisprudence as important for understanding the Koran, and in matters of jurisprudence. hajj: the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca.
halal: allowed, permitted (usually refers to meat permitted to be eaten).
Harakat al’Muqawama al–Islamiyya: Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).
hareth el–yahood: ‘The Quarter of Dirt’ (a name sometimes given to the Jewish Quarter in Muslim towns).
hijra: Mohammed’s emigration from Mecca to Medina.
ibn: son of.
Idhbah Al Yahud!: ‘Murder the Jews!’
Isra’iliyyat Jewish lore incorporated into Muslim tradition.
izar a veil; a large piece of material with which Muslim women are obliged to cover themselves when leaving their houses.
Jadid al–Islam: New Muslims (converts in Persia who practised their Judaism in secret).
jihad: holy war (al–jihadfi sabil Allah: ‘striving in the way of Allah’).
jizya: poll tax (head tax).
Ka’bah: the ‘Happiest Stone,’ a focal point of the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca.
kafir an unbeliever, someone who does not believe in Allah.
Katayib al–Shabab: ‘The Youth Regiments’ or ‘The Youth Battalions’ (youth group).
Khalifat Allah: Successor of God (the Caliph).
Khalifat Rasul Allah: ‘Successor to the Messenger of God’ (the Caliph).
Kitab al–Aghdhiya: ‘Book of Foods.’
Madinat al–Nabi: ‘The City of the Prophet,’ Medina, previously Yathrib.
Mal el Yahud–Halal!: Sanction to ‘rob the Jews!’
millet (Turkish) from the Arab
millah: a religion–based community (any religion).
mellah: the saline area, i.e salt (the Jewish Quarter in Fez).
muezzin: the caller to prayer.
Muharram: the first month of the Muslim year.
musta’min: a person who has received an aman (protection, safe conduct).
muwashshah: song form, or ode.
najas: ritual uncleanliness under Islamic law.
qasida: epic poem.
qibla: the direction a Muslim prays (towards Mecca).
Qubbat as–Sakhrah: Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem.
Rais al–Yahud: ‘Chief of the Jews,’ the head of the Jewish community in a town.
rashidun: ‘rightly guided’ (the first Caliphs).
Sani al–Dawla: ‘The Noble of the State’ (a title of distinction).
Sayyid: a Muslim dignitary; also, an honorific title given to male descendants of Mohammed through his grandsons, Hasan ibn ‘Ali and Husayn ibn ‘Ali. Sharia: Islamic religious law.
Shia (Shiite): a Muslim sect, followers of ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib.
Sirat Rasul Allah: ‘Life of God’s Messenger’ (by Ibn Ishaq).
Sunni: adherent of the Sunna, the largest denomination of Islam.
sura: a chapter of the Koran.
tabiun ‘Followers’: the generation of Muslims that came after Mohammed’s ‘Companions.’
Tarbush: a tall, brimless, usually red felt cap with a silk tassel, worn either by itself or as the base of a turban.
ulama, also spelled ulema: a community of legal scholars of Islam; those who possess the quality of ilm (learning).
umma: the worldwide community of Muslim believers. Wadi al–Yahud: the Valley of the Jews.
Wakf: a Muslim religious foundation; the granting or dedication of property in trust for a pious purpose, for some object that tends to the good of mankind.
wazir (Arabic); vizier (Persian): the adviser, often the senior Minister, of a Muslim ruler.
Yahud Khaibar the Jews of Khaibar, a name given to a Jewish tribe in Yemen.
yehudi wasikh: filthy Jew.
aliyah: emigration (to Israel).
Aliyah Bet: ‘Immigration B’ (organized illegal immigration of Jewsto British Mandate Palestine, 1936–1948.)
anusim: those converted by force (‘forced ones’).
ben: son of.
galut the Jewish diaspora.
Genizah (from the Hebrew word Ganoz, to put aside): religious and other writings in Hebrew, kept in safe storage when no longer needed, to avoid destroying holy books.
Ha–Dover: ‘The Speaker’–a newspaper.
Kol Yisrael Khaverim: ‘All Israel are Comrades.’
Kosher: food and its preparation as prescribed by Jewish law.
ma’abarah (plural ma’abarot): temporary accommodation for new immigrants.
moshav (plural moshavim): a cooperative agricultural community of individual farmers, in Israel.
Nagid: governor. Nasi: prince.
oleh: a new immigrant (to Israel).
perutah: the coin of the smallest value in Talmudic times; the weight of one half grain of barley in pure silver.
Sefer ha–Kabbalah: ‘Book of Tradition.’
Sepharad: Spain; the Jewish Sephardi tradition.
yad vashem: ‘a place and a name.’
YishuV: the Jewish community in Ottoman and British Mandate Palestine.
yom nes: ‘a day of miracle.’