amīr al-mu’minīn: Commander of the Faithful, title usually held by caliphs
ansār: literally ‘helpers’: the inhabitants of Medina who supported Muhammad
bay‘a: oath of allegiance to caliph or other ruler
dā‘ī: missionary, usually of clandestine religio-political movements
da‘wa: missionary movement (cf. dā‘ī)
dawla: dynasty or state, e.g. the Abbasid dawla or the Fatimid dawla
dīnār: standard gold coin
dirham: standard silver coin
dīwān: originally list of those entitled to state salaries. Also office or department of government.
emir: army commander, provincial governor or ruler of small independent state
fitna: civil war or dispute within the Muslim community
ghāzī: Muslim volunteer who fights in the jihād
hadīth: Tradition recording the words of Muhammad
hajj: annual pilgrimage to Mecca
hijra: the emigration of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina in 622, which marks the beginning of the Muslim era
imam: spiritual leader of the Muslim community, often synonymous with caliph
Jāhiliyya: period of ignorance or savagery in Arabia before the coming of Islam
jāriya: female slave. Often singer or poet
jihād: holy war
jizya: poll tax levied on non-Muslims
jund: army; one of the administrative districts of Syria Palestine
kāfir, pl. kuffār: unbeliever, non-Muslim
kharāj: land tax
khutba: address in mosque at Friday prayer which included mention of the ruler’s name, a sign of sovereignty
kufr: unbelief
mamlūk: slave soldier. This term, occasionally used in early Islamic history, came to replace the term ghulām from the fifth/eleventh century onwards.
mawlā, pl. mawālī: originally ‘client’, often non-Arab client of an Arab tribe, hence the use of mawālī to describe non-Arab Muslims in the first century of Islam. Later more commonly ‘freedmen’ in the Abbasid period, the term passes out of general use in the fourth/tenth century.
minbar: pulpit in a mosque
muhājir, pl. muhājirūn: one who participated in the Hijra, that is a Meccan who accompanied Muhammad to settle in Medina
murtadd: apostate: used of those who rejected the authority of the Muslims after the death of Muhammad
nass: designation of ruler by his predecessor
qādī: Muslim judge
qalansuwa: tall, conical headgear worn as part of Abbasid court dress
ridda: apostasy from Islam; hence the wars in Arabia which followed Muhammad’s death are known as the ridda wars
sābiqa: precedence, especially precedence in conversion to Islam, i.e. the earlier a person was converted, the greater his sābiqa
sahāba: Companions of the Prophet
sadaqa: the payment of alms enjoined by Muslim law
sharī‘a: Muslim religious law
sharīf, pl. ashrāf: in Umayyad times, tribal leader, chief. By the fourth/tenth century the title is usually confined to descendants of Alī.
shawkat: political and military power
shirk: polytheism
shūra: council formed to choose a caliph
sikka: the right to mint coins, usually the prerogative of the ruler
sunna: the sayings and actions of Muhammad used as legal precedents
sūq: market
ulama: learned men, especially experts in the Traditions of the Prophet and Islamic law
umma: the Muslim community