The Vangaurd of the Islamic Revolution "gloss"

Glossary

adab: Manners, proper social behavior, and etiquette, an important aspect of the Muslim culture of South Asia.
ahl-i bid‘at: Innovators; the term has negative connotations, implying breaking with orthodoxy.
ahl-i sunnat: Those who follow tradition; the term stands for “orthodoxy.”
‘ālim: Singular of ‘ulamā’; see below.
amīr: Military commander or leader; in the context of this study it means director or president.
‘aṣabīyyah: Kinship and tribal ties.
ashram: Hindu place of worship.
‘awām-parastī: Bending to popular will.
bai‘ah: Oath of allegiance traditionally given to caliphs, and in Sufism to Sufi masters.
birādrī: Lineage or extended family; in South Asia the term refers to tribal ties.
burqa‘: Face cover for women.
dars-i nizāmī: A syllabus of religious education which was popular in South Asia in the eighteenth century and which continues to be taught to this day.
dār’u‘ulūm: A place of advanced religious learning; seminary.
da‘wāh: To call to Islam; religious missionary activity.
dhimmī: Non-Muslims whose religion is tolerated by Islam; they are protected under Muslim law and must submit a poll tax to Muslims.
dīn: Literally, religion; used by Mawdudi to mean true faith, unwavering adherence to religious law.
fājir: Sinful, dishonest.
fāsiq: Corrupt.
fatwā: A religious decree issued by an ‘alim.
hadīth: The sayings of Prophet Muhammad.
haqq-parastī: Defending the truth.
hudūd: Punishments; plural of hadd, literally, limit. These are punishments for crimes clearly defined in the Qur’an and the sunnah.
hukūmat-i ilāhiyyah: Divine government.
i‘anat: Donation, contribution.
‘ibādah: Worship; performance of religious rituals and duties.
‘īdu’l-aẓhā: Commemoration of Abraham’s sacrifice of his son, Ishmael.
ijmā’: Consensus; a source of Islamic law.
ijtihād: Individual inquiry conducted by an ‘alim to determine the ruling of Islamic law.
ijtimā‘-i ‘ām: Public meeting; open meeting.
imārat: The office of the amir; see above.
iqāmat-i dīn: Establishing the rule of Islamic law.
iṭā‘at-i naẓm: Obedience to authority.
jāgīrdārī: Hereditary right to the revenue of a piece of land given by the government in return for services; hereditary patronage system centered in control of rural land.
jā’izah: Review.
jamā‘at: Party, organization.
jihād: Holy war; to strive in the path of God.
Karbala: The battle during which the grandson of Prophet Muhammad, Husain ibn ‘Ali, was martyred on the plains of Karbala (in what is now Iraq) in a.d. 682. Husain, along with 72 men, rose in rebellion against the formidable army of the corrupt Umayyad Caliph Yazid. In Sunni Islam Husain’s cavalier actions are seen as a manifestation of the battle of good against evil—the struggle for justice and righteousness. In Shi‘i Islam, where the tale of Karbala has fueled religious passions for centuries, Karbala occurred as Husain asserted his rightful claim to the caliphate.
khānaqāh: The place where Sufis congregate and engage in meditation.
Khatm-i Nubuwwat: Finality of Prophethood, the campaign to declare Ahmadis a non-Muslim minority in Pakistan in 1974.
khilāfat-i rabbānī: Divine caliphate.
kiswah: The cloth which covers the Ka‘bah in Mecca.
kufr: Blasphemy; disbelief; un-Islam.
madrasah: A school which trains ‘ulama.
majlis-i ‘amal: Council of action.
majlis-i‘āmilah: Executive council or assembly.
majlis-i shūrā’: Consultative assembly.
markazī majlis-i shūrā’: Central consultative assembly.
mashāyakh: Plural of shaikh; see below.
maṣlahat-parastī: Opportunism.
mīlādu’l-nabī: Commemoration of the birthday of Prophet Muhammad.
muhājirūn: Migrants; those who migrated with Prophet Muhammad from Mecca to Medina in a.d. 622.
muhāsibah: Calculation; taking stock of accounts.
munāfiq: One who sows discord among Muslims and brings disunity to the Muslim community.
murīd: Devotee; followers of a Sufi master.
murshid: Sufi master.
mu‘tamid-i a‘lā’: Supreme secretary (title of the secretary-general of IJT).
nā’ib amīr: Deputy amīr; see above.
nāmanzūr: Non-recognition.
nash’at-i naw: Renaissance; new beginning.
nāẓim-i ‘alā’: Supreme head or organizer (title of the overseer of the IJT).
panchāyat: Rural councils, usually consisting of five elders; voter councils.
pīr: Sufi master.
purdah: Literally, curtain; the system through which men and women are segregated.
qa’id-i a‘zam: Supreme leader (Jinnah’s title).
qā’im maqām-i amīr: Vice-amīr; see above.
qayyim: Overseer (title of the secretary-general of the Jama‘at).
ribā’: Usury, which is banned by Islam.
rīyāsat dar rīyāsat: State within a state.
ṣalāt: Muslim ritual prayer, performed five times a day.
ṣālih: Virtuous.
ṣālih qīyādat: Virtuous leadership; the Jama‘at’s term for the kind of leadership it hopes to bring to power.
sarmāyadārī: Capitalism.
sarsipurdagī: Literally, to submit one’s head; in Sufi terminology it means to commit oneself to the Sufi master.
shahādah: Muslim testimony of faith—“there is no god but God.”
shaikh: Sufi master.
sharī‘ah: The body of laws which govern Muslim personal and social life.
shirwānī: Long overcoat traditionally worn by Muslim Indian men.
sīratu’l-nabī: Literally, path of Prophet Muhammad; refers to following the example of Prophet Muhammad in conducting one’s life.
sunnah: Tradition; proper practice of Islam, following the example of the Prophet Muhammad.
swārāj: Home rule; policy introduced by the Congress party in its struggle for independence.
tablīgh: Missionary activity; propagation of Islamic teachings.
tajdīd: Literally, renewal; refers to Muslim millenarian yearnings.
ṭarīqah: Literally, the path; refers to the path of Sufism.
tawāzun: Balance.
‘ulamā’: Those educated in Islamic law and capable of issuing opinions on religious matters.
ummah: Community of Muslims.
zakāt: A canonical tax, the payment of which is incumbent on all Muslims.
zimmi: See dhimmī above.