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Glossary of Islamic Terms

Alim (pl. ulemah): an Islamic religious scholar. Calip (Arabic:Khalifa): the head of an Islamic state. The word Khalifah refers to the successor or representative of the Prophet or to one of his successors. This person acts as the head of state for the Muslim Ummah. Another title for the Caliph is Amir Al-Mumineen:the leaders of the believers. Diyat (blood money): is the amount paid by the accused to the relatives of the victim in the case of murder. Daman: The compensation determined by the court for causing hurt. : means understanding, comprehension, knowledge, and jurisprudence in . Fiqh is the product of human understanding that has sought to interpret and apply the Divine Law in space and time. Faqih is a person who is an expert in matters of Islamic legal matters. Huq:truth,right Huquq Allah: the rights of Allah. Huquq-al-Abad: rights of man. Hudud: the limits ordained by Allah. In criminal law, it refers to those cases wherein the court does not have discretion because of the limits set by God. In the legal system of Pakistan, it is spelled as hudood. : any person who leads a congregational prayer is called an Imam.A religious leader who also leads his community in the political affairs may be called an Imam,anAmir,oraCaliph. Islam: Islam is an Arabic word the root of which is Silm and Salam.Itmeans peace, greeting, salutation, obedience, loyalty, allegiance, and submission to the will of Allah. Iddah: denotes the waiting period that a woman is required to observe as a consequence of the nullification of her marriage with her husband or because of the husband's death. 238 Women, the Koran and International Human Rights Law

Ijma: is the consensus of eminent scholars of Islam on an issue in a given age. Ila: denotes a husband's vow to abstain from sexual relations with his wife. It was considered a form of divorce in Arab society before Islam. Khul: dissolution of marriage at the request of wife. In Pakistan, a woman resorts to the judiciary to get her marriage dissolved which is why it is known as ‘judicial divorce’. Madhab: a school of Islamic jurisprudence founded on the opinion of a faqih.Therearefourmadhabs in Sunnite doctrine: , Malaki, Shafi, and Hambali. Maslahah: public interest. Medina: the first city-state that came under the banner of Islam when the Prophet migrated from Mecca, his birthplace. Mubarah: dissolution of marriage by way of mutual agreement between a husband and a wife. Muta: a temporary marriage. Nass: literally means something clear. In Islamic law, it means clear injunctions of the Koran and the . (Arabic, qazi): judge. Qazf: false accusation of adultery, fornication etc. Qisas:retaliationinkind,aneyeforeye. : is a method for reaching a legal decision on the basis of evidence in which a common reason, or an effective cause, is applicable. Quraish: the Arab tribe to which the Prophet Muhammad belonged. : literally means right path or watering place. Sharia law is the sum total of laws derived from the Koran and the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad through human endeavour. Sharia, in general terms, deals with every aspect of life: spiritual, man’s relation to God and man, ethics, economics, politics, etc. The Sunnah:thewordSunnah means habit, practice, customary procedure, or action, norm and usage sanctioned by tradition. Specifically, it refers to what the Prophet Muhammad said, did, or approved tacitly. The recorded saying/s of the Prophet are known as /s (traditions). The word hadith literally means communication or narration. Talaq: man’s unilateral power to divorce. Talaq-e-tafwid: delegated right of power to a wife to repudiate marriage. :tofollowaparticularmadhab, i.e. Hanafi or Malaki School