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Ruling 1940

Zakat can be distributed in eight ways.

It can be given to a poor person (faqīr). A poor person is defined as someone who does not possess the means to meet his and his family’s expenses for one year. Therefore, someone who has a trade, property, or capital by means of which he can meet these expenses for a year, is not a poor person.
It can be given to a needy person (miskīn). A needy person is defined as someone whose living conditions are worse than those of a poor person.
It can be given to a person who has been appointed by the Imam (ʿA) or his representative (nāʾib) to collect and safeguard zakat, maintain its accounts, and deliver it to the Imam (ʿA), or his representative, or to the poor (fuqarāʾ) and those entitled (mustaḥiqq) to receive it.
It can be given to disbelievers (kuffār) who will be inclined to the religion of Islam if zakat is given to them, or who will assist Muslims in battle or some other matter. Zakat can also be given to Muslims whose faith in some of the Most Noble Messenger’s (Ṣ) teachings is weak but which will be strengthened as a result of giving zakat to them. Furthermore, zakat can be given to a Muslim who does not believe in the vicegerency (wilāyah) of the Commander of the Faithful [Imam ʿAlī] (ʿA) but who will be inclined to believe in it if zakat is given to him.
It can be used to buy and free slaves, the details of which are mentioned in their appropriate place.
It can be given to a person who is in debt but is unable to repay his debt.
It can be given in the way of Allah (fī sabīl allāh), i.e. acts that benefit the general Muslim public, such as building mosques and religious schools, keeping the town clean, tarmacking and expanding roads, and suchlike.
It can be given to a stranded traveller (ibn al‑sabīl).

These are the ways in which zakat can be spent. However, in the third and fourth cases, the receiver of the zakat cannot spend zakat without the permission of the Imam (ʿA) or his representative. And based on obligatory precaution, in the seventh case, the receiver of the zakat must obtain permission from a fully qualified jurist. The laws (aḥkām) concerning these ways will be explained in the following rulings (masāʾil).

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A
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A

adāʾ – accomplishment of a religious duty within its prescribed time, as opposed to qaḍā

adhān – call to prayer

ʿādil – a dutiful person, i.e., someone who does the things that are obligatory on him and refrains from doing the things that are unlawful for him; just; possessing moral probity

ʿahd – covenant

aḥkām – (pl. of ḥukm) laws; rules

ahl al-khibrah – expert(s)

ahl al-kitāb – People of the Book, i.e. Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians

al-aḥwaṭ al-awlā – more precautious and more preferred (for practical purposes, a ‘more precautious and more preferred’ juristic opinion is equivalent to recommended precaution)

al‐ḥujjah al‐ijmāliyyah – non-specific authority

aʿlam – the most learned mujtahid, i.e. the mujtahid who is most capable of understanding the law of Allah from among all the mujtahids of his time

ʿalaqah – clot of blood

ajīr – a person who is hired to do something

aʿmāl – rituals; acts of worship

aʿmāl Umm Dāwūd – a recommended set of ritual acts of worship that are usually performed in the middle of the month of Rajab

amānah – trust

ʿamdan – intentionally

ʿāmil – worker

amīn – (1) a trustworthy person (2) non-liable

al-amr bil-maʿrūf – enjoining good

anfāl – property belonging to the Imam (ʿA)

al-ʿaqd al-dāʾim – permanent marriage contract

al-ʿaqd al-lāzim – irrevocable contract

ʿaqd al-muʿāwaḍah – contract of exchange; a contract in which something is given in exchange for something else

al-ʿaqd al-munqaṭiʿ – temporary marriage contract

ʿāqil – sane

aqwā – stronger opinion (for practical purposes, where an opinion is stated to be ‘stronger’, a fatwa is being given)

ʿāriyah – gratuitous loan; commodate

arkān – (pl. of rukn) elemental components of an act of worship

ʿaṣr – afternoon

awliyāʾ – Friends (of Allah)

awwal al-waqt – start of the prescribed time for prayers

al-ʿayn al-mawqūfah – charitable endowed property

ʿayn al-najāsah – intrinsic impurity; actual source of impurity

aẓhar – more apparent ruling (for practical purposes in jurisprudential rulings, an opinion that is termed ‘more apparent’ equates to a fatwa)

B

baʿīd – farfetched; unlikely (for practical purposes, a legal opinion that is termed ‘not farfetched’ equates to a fatwa)

bāligh – someone who is of the age of legal responsibility; a major

bāṭil – (1) invalid (2) void

bulūgh – age of legal responsibility

D

dafn – burial

dāʾimah – permanent wife

ḍamān – suretyship

ḍāmin – (1) responsible (2) guarantor; surety

ḍarīḥ – lattice encloser of a tomb

dayn – debt

dhabḥ – slaughtering of an animal according to Islamic law

dhikr – (1) remembering Allah (2) declaring in rukūʿ and sujūd that Allah is free from imperfections

dhimmī – People of the Book (ahl al-kitāb) – i.e. Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians – who have entered into a dhimmah treaty, i.e. an agreement that gives them rights as protected subjects in an Islamic state

diyah – blood money

duʿāʾ – supplication

F

al-fajr al-kādhib – the false dawn, also known as ‘the first dawn’

al-fajr al-ṣādiq – the true dawn, also known as ‘the second dawn’

faqīh – (sing. of fuqahā) jurist

faqīr – (sing. of fuqarā) a poor person, i.e., someone who does not possess the means to meet his and his family’s expenses for one year

faskh – annulment

fatwa – edict issued by a mujtahid

fidyah – compensative payment of one mudd (approximately 750 grams) of staple food to a poor person for a fast of the month of Ramadan that is missed under certain circumstances

fiqh – Islamic jurisprudence

fuqahā – (pl. of faqīh) jurists

fuqarā – (pl. of faqīr) poor people, i.e. those who do not possess the means to meet their and their family’s expenses for one year

fuqqā – beer

furādā – performing an act of worship on one’s own, as opposed to in jamāʿah

G

ghanāʾim – (pl. of ghanīmah) spoils of war

ghanīmah – (sing. of ghanāʾim) spoil of war

ghaṣbī – usurped

ghasl – washing

ghaybah – occultation

ghinā – singing

ghurūb – sunset

ghusālah – waste water, i.e. qalīl water that separates from an impure object when that object is washed or after it has been washed

ghusl – ritual bathing

al-ghusl al-irtimāsī – immersive ritual bathing

al-ghusl al-irtimāsī al-dafʿī – instantaneous immersive ritual bathing

al-ghusl al-irtimāsī al-tadrījī – gradual immersive ritual bathing

ghusl mass al-mayyit – the ghusl for touching a corpse

al-ghusl al-tartībī – sequential ritual bathing

H

ḥadath – occurrence, i.e. something that invalidates wuḍūʾ

al-ḥadath al-akbar – major occurrence, i.e. something that requires one to perform ghusl in order to perform an act of worship that requires wuḍūʾ

al-ḥadath al-aṣghar – minor occurrence, i.e. something that requires one to perform wuḍūʾ in order to perform an act of worship that requires wuḍūʾ

ḥadd al-tarakhkhuṣ – permitted limit

ḥāʾiḍ – a woman in menstruation

ḥāʾir – an area of approximately 11.5 metres around the sacred grave of Imam al-Ḥusayn (ʿA) in Karbala

hajj – visiting the House of Allah i.e. the Kaʿbah in Mecca, and performing the prescribed rituals there

ḥajj al-ifrād – pilgrimage to Mecca performed by Muslims who reside within 88 kilometres of Mecca (see also ḥajj al-qirān)

ḥajjat al-islām – the hajj that is obligatory for a Muslim to perform once in his lifetime, as opposed to a hajj that is obligatory for a Muslim by means of a vow and suchlike

ḥajj al-qirān – pilgrimage to Mecca performed by Muslims who reside within 88 kilometres of Mecca. Unlike ḥajj al‑ifrād, ḥajj al‑qirān requires one to have his sacrificial animal with him when he enters the state of iḥrām.

hajj al-tamattuʿ – pilgrimage to Mecca performed by Muslims who reside further than 88 kilometres from Mecca

al-ḥākim al-jāʾir – unjust ruler

al-ḥākim al-sharʿī – fully qualified jurist

ḥalāl – lawful

ḥalq – shaving of the head performed by men as part of the hajj rituals

ḥaraj – hardship

ḥaram – (1) shrine (2) sacred precinct

ḥarām – unlawful; prohibited

ḥawālah – transfer of debt

ḥawzah – Islamic seminary

ḥayḍ – menstruation; period

hibah – gift

ḥubs – bequest

al‑ḥujjah al‑ijmāliyyah – non-specific authority

al-ḥujjah al-sharʿiyyah – legally authoritative; legal proof

ḥukm – (sing. of aḥkām) law; rule

al-ḥukm al-sharʿī – religious law

ḥulūl – immanence

ḥusayniyyah – congregation hall used by Shia Muslims for religious ceremonies

I

ʿibādah – (sing. of ʿibādāt) ritual act of worship

ʿibādāt – (pl. of ʿibādah) ritual acts of worship

ibn al-sabīl – a stranded traveller

ʿiddah – prescribed waiting period for a woman before she can remarry

ʿiddat al-wafāt – the ʿiddah of a widow, i.e. the prescribed waiting period for a woman whose husband has died

ifṭār – breaking a fast

iḥrām – state of ritual consecration of pilgrims during hajj and ʿumrah

iḥtiyāṭ – precaution

al‐iḥtiyāṭ al‐lāzim – necessary precaution (this is the same as al-iḥtiyāṭ al-wājib)

al-iḥtiyāṭ al-mustaḥabb – recommended precaution

al-iḥtiyāṭ al-wājib – obligatory precaution

ijārah – hiring; renting; leasing

ijtihād – (1) the process of deriving Islamic laws from authentic sources (2) the level of someone who is a jurist

ikhfāt – whispering the recitation (qirāʾah) of prayers, as opposed to pronouncing it aloud (jahr)

ikhtiyār – volition; authority

al-ʿilm al-ijmālī – non-specific knowledge

imāmah – religious leadership

inqilāb – change

intiqāl – transfer

īqāʿ – unilateral instigation

iqāmah – call to stand up for prayer

iqrār – (1) avowal (2) admitting to a right to one’s own detriment or denying a right for oneself over someone else

irth – inheritance

ʿishāʾ – evening

istibrāʾ – (1) the process of clearing the male urethra of urine after urinating (2) preventing an excrement-eating animal from eating impurity for some time and feeding it pure food so that after that period, it is no longer considered to be an excrement-eating animal (3) the method of checking whether or not menstruation has stopped

istiḥāḍah – irregular blood discharge

al-istiḥāḍah al-kathīrah – excessive irregular blood discharge

al-istiḥāḍah al-mutawassiṭah – medium irregular blood discharge

al-istiḥāḍah al-qalīlah – slight irregular blood discharge

istiḥālah – transformation

istījārī – a ritual act of worship that a person is hired to perform on behalf of someone else

istikhārah – the practice of seeking from Allah the best choice between two or more options

istinjāʾ – purification of the anus and the urinary outlet

istisqāʾ – invocation for rain

Ithnā ʿAsharī – Twelver

iʿtikāf – spiritual retreat; the act of staying in a mosque under particular conditions with the intention of worshipping Allah

iṭmiʾnān – confidence

ʿiwaḍ – payment in exchange

J

jabīrah – something with which a wound or a break in a bone is bandaged, or the medication that is applied to a wound

al-jāhil al-muqaṣṣir – culpably ignorant person

al-jāhil al-qāṣir – inculpably ignorant person

al-jahl al-quṣūrī – inculpable ignorance

al-jahl al-taqṣīrī – culpable ignorance

jahr – pronouncing the recitation (qirāʾah) of prayers aloud, as opposed to whispering it (ikhfāt)

jāʿil – offeror

jāʾiz – permitted; lawful

jamāʿah – congregation

janābah – ritual impurity

juʿālah – reward

junub – someone in the state of janābah

K

kafālah – surety for the appearance of a debtor

kafan – shroud

kaffārah – recompense

kafīl – surety, i.e. a person who undertakes to present a debtor whenever the creditor seeks him

kāfir – (sing. of kuffār) disbeliever

al-kāfir al-ḥarbī – a disbeliever who is not a dhimmī and has not entered into a peace or security treaty with Muslims

kāfūr – camphor

kathīr al-safar – frequent traveller

kathīr al-shakk – excessive doubter

khiyār – option; the right to annul a transaction

khiyār al-ʿayb – option due to a defect

khiyār al-ghabn – option due to cheating

khiyār al-ḥayawān – option pertaining to animals

khiyār al-majlis – option while meeting

khiyār al-ruʾyah – option pertaining to seeing

khiyār al-sharṭ – option due to a stipulated condition

khiyār al-shirkah – option due to a partnership

khiyār taʿadhdhur al-taslīm – option due to an inability to hand over

khiyār al-tadlīs – option due to deceit

khiyār takhalluf al-sharṭ – option due to a breach of condition

khiyār al-taʾkhīr – option due to delay

khulʿ – the divorce of a wife who has an aversion to her husband and gives him her dowry or some of her other property so that he divorces her

khums – the one-fifth tax

kitābī – one who is among the People of the Book, i.e. Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians

kuffār – (pl. of kāfir) disbelievers

kufr – disbelief

al-kullī fī al-dhimmah – non-specified undertaking

kunyah – an appellation given to someone as the father or mother of someone

kurr – a quantity of water greater or equal to approximately 384 litres

L

laqab – epithet; title

M

madhhab – religious denomination

madhī – fluid that sometimes comes out of the penis as a result of sexual arousal

maʿdhūr – someone who is legally excused

mā fī al-dhimmah – intention to fulfil whatever one’s obligation happens to be with regard to a particular act

maghrib – the time shortly after sunset (ghurūb) when the redness of the sky in the east has passed overhead

maḥall al–ishkāl – problematic (for practical purposes, if a matter is said to be ‘problematic’ it amounts to saying the ruling is based on obligatory precaution)

maḥall al-taʾammul – a matter of deliberation (for practical purposes, if a matter is said to be one of ‘deliberation’, it amounts to saying the ruling is based on obligatory precaution)

al-maḥjūr ʿalayh – someone who is prohibited from having disposal over his property

mahr – dowry

mahr al-mithl – the standard amount for a dowry

maḥram – a person one is never permitted to marry on account of being related to them in a particular way, such as, being their parent or sibling

majhūl al-mālik – unknown owner

makrūh – (sing. of makrūhāt) disapproved

makrūhāt – (pl. of makrūh) disapproved acts

mālik – owner

maʾmūm – someone who follows an imam in congregational prayers

al-manūb ʿanhu – someone who is represented

marājiʿ – (pl. of marjaʿ) jurists who have the necessary qualifications to be followed in matters of Islamic jurisprudence; sources of emulation in these matters

marjaʿ – (sing. of marājiʿ) a jurist who has the necessary qualifications to be followed in matters of Islamic jurisprudence; a source of emulation in these matters

masāʾil – (pl. of masʾalah) rulings

masʾalah – (sing. of masāʾil) ruling

masḥ – wiping

mashaqqah – excessive difficulty

mashhūr – opinion held by most jurists

mashrūʿ – sanctioned in Islamic law

mashrūʿiyyah – legality

al-masjid al-jāmiʿ – a mosque that is not particular to a specific group of people but is frequented by people from different areas of the city

maʿṣūm – (sing. of maʿṣūmīn) Infallible

maʿṣūmīn – (pl. of maʿṣūm) Infallibles

al-mawqūf ʿalayh – beneficiary of an endowment

maẓālim – property that has been unrightfully or unknowingly taken

miḥrāb – niche, chamber, or slab in a mosque facing the direction of Mecca and where the imam usually stands for congregational prayers

miskīn – a needy person; someone whose living conditions are worse than that of a poor person (faqīr)

muʿāhad – a cosignatory with Muslims to a peace or security treaty

muʿāmalah – (sing. of muʿāmalāt) transaction

muʿāmalāt – (pl. of muʿāmalah) transactions

muʿāriḍ – countervailing argument

muʿāwaḍah – exchange

mubāḥ – (1) permissible (2) not usurped

mubāhalah – mutual imprecation

al-mubāḥāt al-aṣliyyah property that does not belong to anyone in particular and can be used by people in general

mubārāh – a divorce that takes place when a husband and wife have an aversion to each other and the wife gives some property to her husband so that he divorces her

mubtadhilah – a woman who does not observe hijab in front of non-maḥram men and does not take heed when she is forbidden from continuing with this behaviour

mubtadiʾah – a menarcheal woman, i.e. a woman who has her period for the first time

mubṭilāt – things that invalidate

muḍāf – mixed water

muḍārabah – sleeping partnership; silent partnership

al-muḍārabah al-idhniyyah – sleeping partnership that is based on the owner giving the worker permission to trade with his property

muḍghah – embryo

muḍṭaribah – a woman with a disordered menstruation habit

mufallas – someone who has been proclaimed bankrupt

mughārasah – tree planting contract

muḥtaḍar – a dying person; moribund

muḥtalim – someone who has had a ‘wet dream’, i.e. semen has been ejaculated in his sleep

muḥtaram al-māl someone whose property is inviolable, i.e. a Muslim, or a dhimmī disbeliever, or a cosignatory with Muslims to a peace or security treaty (muʿāhad)

mujādalah – disputing with others

muʾjir – a person who gives something on rent; lessor

mujtahid – jurist; someone who has attained the level of ijtihād, qualifying him to be an authority in Islamic law

mukallaf – a duty-bound person; someone who is legally obliged to fulfil religious duties

mumārah – altercating with others

mumayyiz – someone who is able to discern between right and wrong; a discerning minor

munqaṭiʿah – temporary wife

muqallid – a follower of a jurist in matters of Islamic law

murḍiʿah – nursing mother

murtadd – apostate

al-murtadd al-fiṭrī – someone who was born to one or both Muslim parents and later became a disbeliever

al-murtadd al-millī – someone who was born to one or both disbelieving parents and later became a disbeliever

muṣālaḥah – arriving at a settlement with someone

musāqāh – tree tending contract

mushāʿ – joint ownership

mūṣī – testator

mustaḥabb – (sing. of mustaḥabbāt) recommended

mustaḥabbāt – (pl. of mustaḥabb) recommended acts

mustaḥāḍah – a woman who is experiencing istiḥāḍah

mustaḥiqq – (sing. of mustaḥiqqūn) a person who is entitled (mostly used with regard to someone who is entitled to receive khums or zakat)

mustaḥiqqūn – (pl. of mustaḥiqq) those who are entitled (mostly used with regard to persons who are entitled to receive khums or zakat)

mustaʾjir – a person who takes something on rent; tenant; hirer; lessee

mustaṭīʿ – someone who is able to go for hajj

mutʿah – temporary marriage; fixed-term marriage; a temporary wife

muṭahhirāt – things that purify an impure object

muʿtakif – someone who is in the act of performing iʿtikāf

al-muṭallaqah al-rijʿiyyah – a woman who has been given a revocable divorce

al-mutamattaʿ bihā – temporary wife

mutanajjis – something that has become impure by secondary means, as opposed to being an intrinsic impurity (ʿayn al-najāsah)

mutawallī – trustee

muṭlaq – unmixed water

muwakkil – principal (used with regard to agency)

muwālāh – close succession

muwaswis – an obsessively doubtful person

muzāraʿah – sharecropping

N

nadhr – vow

nafaqah – maintenance; alimony

nāfilah – the supererogatory prayer

naḥr – slaughtering of a camel according to Islamic law

al-nahy ʿan al-munkar – forbidding evil

nāʾib – representative

najāsah – (sing. of najāsāt) an impurity

najāsāt – (pl. of najāsah) impurities

najis – impure

naqd – immediate exchange transaction; a transaction in which there is no lapse of time between a buyer paying for an item and receiving it

nāshizah – a recalcitrant wife, i.e. a wife who does not perform her obligatory marital duties

nasīʾah – credit

nāṣibī – (sing. of nawāṣib) someone who shows enmity towards the Imams (ʿA)

nāsiyah – a woman who has forgotten the habit of her period

nawāṣib – (pl. of nāṣibī) those who show enmity towards the Imams (ʿA)

al-nāẓir al-muḥtaram – ‘a respected onlooker’, i.e. someone who is sane (ʿāqil), able to discern between right and wrong (mumayyiz), of the age of legal responsibility (bāligh), and not married to the person being seen

nifās – lochia, i.e. blood discharge after childbirth

niṣāb – taxable limit

niyābah – doing something on behalf of someone else; by proxy

niyyah – intention

nufasāʾ – a woman who is experiencing nifās

Q

qaḍā – (1) making up a religious duty that was not performed in its prescribed time, as opposed to adā (2) a lapsed ritual act of worship

qāʾidat al-tasāmuḥ fī adillat al-sunan – principle of leniency in evidence for recommended acts

qalīl – water that does not gush from the earth and is less than kurr

qasam – oath

qaṣd – intention

qaṣd al-inshāʾ – intention to establish

qaṣd al-qurbah – intention to attain proximity to Allah, i.e. to humbly obey Allah

qaṣd al-qurbah al-muṭlaqah – a general intention to attain proximity to Allah / humbly obey Allah, i.e. an intention to perform a ritual act of worship in order to attain proximity to Allah / humbly obey Allah without specifying any particulars about that act

qaṣr – shortened prayers of a traveller

qirāʾah – recitation

qiṣāṣ – retributory punishment

qiyām – standing position in prayers

qunūt – the act of supplicating in prayers with the hands placed in front of the face

qur ah – lot (as in to draw lots)

R

radd al-maẓālim – giving back property – which has been unrightfully or unknowingly taken – to its rightful owner, or if that is not possible, to the poor as ṣadaqah on behalf of the rightful owner

rahn – security; deposit; collateral

rakʿah – a unit of the prayer

rajāʾ – (shorter form of rajāʾ al-maṭlūbiyyah) intention to perform / avoid something in the hope that it is desired by Allah

rashīdah – a mature female who has reached bulūgh and is able to determine what is in her interest

ribā – usury; interest

risālah – manual of Islamic rulings

rūḥ – spirit

rujūʿ – (1) acting on the fatwa of the next most learned mujtahid when one’s marjaʿ has stated that a ruling is based on obligatory precaution (2) returning (used to refer to a condition made in iʿtikāf to leave in the middle of it if a problem arises)

rukn – (sing. of arkān) elemental component of an act of worship

rukūʿ – bowing position in the prayer

rushd – ability to take care of one’s wealth and use it in a correct way

S

ṣadaqah – alms given to the poor; charity

sādāt – (pl. of sayyid) descendants of Hāshim, the great grandfather of Prophet Muḥammad (Ṣ)

safīh – someone who is foolish with finances, i.e. someone who spends his wealth in futile ways

ṣaghīr – a minor; a child who is not of the age of legal responsibility (bāligh)

ṣāḥib al-laban – nursing father

ṣaḥīḥ – (1) valid (2) correct

sahm al-imām – the portion of khums for the Imam (ʿA)

sahm al-sādāt – the portion of khums for sayyids

sahwan – inadvertently

sahwiyyāt – acts that are inadvertently left out in prayers

sajdah – prostration

sajdatā al-sahw – the two prostrations for inadvertence

sajdat al-shukr – the prostration for offering thanks

salaf – prepayment transaction

ṣalāh – (1) prayer; ritual prayer (2) sing. of ṣalawāt

ṣalāh – prayer; ritual prayer

salām – salutation

ṣalāt al-āyāt – the prayer of signs

ṣalāt al-ghufaylah – a recommended prayer that is performed between maghrib and ʿishāʾ prayers

ṣalāt al-iḥtiyāṭ – the precautionary prayer

ṣalāt al-istisqāʾ – the prayer for invoking rain

ṣalāt Jaʿfar al-Ṭayyār – the Prayer of Jaʿfar al-Ṭayyār; a four rakʿah recommended prayer taught by the Holy Prophet (Ṣ) to his cousin, Jaʿfar al-Ṭayyār

ṣalāt al-jamāʿah – congregational prayers

ṣalāt al-jumuʿah – the Friday prayer

ṣalāt al-layl – the night prayer; also known as ‘ṣalāt al-tahajjud’ (the night vigil prayer)

ṣalāt al-mayyit – the funeral prayer

ṣalāt al-waḥshah – the prayer of loneliness (in the grave)

ṣalawāt – (1) invocation of blessings upon Prophet Muḥammad (Ṣ) and his progeny (2) pl. of ṣalāh

ṣarūrah – someone going for hajj for the first time

ṣawm – fasting

saʿy – hajj and ʿumrah ritual of traversing to and from the mountains of Ṣafā and Marwah

sayyid – (sing. of sādāt) a male descendant of Hāshim, the great grandfather of Prophet Muḥammad (Ṣ)

sayyidah – a female descendant of Hāshim, the great grandfather of Prophet Muḥammad (Ṣ)

shahādatayn – the two testimonies, i.e. the testimony to the oneness of Allah and to the prophethood of Prophet Muḥammad (Ṣ)

shākhiṣ – an indicator, such as an upright rod, used to determine the timing of certain prayers by examining the length of its shadow

shakhṣī – specified (used with regard to purchases)

shakk – doubt

shakkiyyāt – doubts that arise in prayers

sharʿan – legally

sharīk – partner

al-sharṭ al-wāqiʿī – absolute condition, i.e. a condition that must be fulfilled for an action to be valid irrespective of the performer’s state of knowledge with regard to that condition

shirkah – partnership

al-shirkah al-idhniyyah – permission based partnership

al-shirkah al-muʿāwaḍiyyah – exchange based partnership

shurakāʾ – partners

sidr – lote tree leaves

ṣīghah – formula

ṣilat al-arḥām – maintaining good family ties

ṣubḥ – morning

sujūd – prostrating

ṣulḥ – settlement

surah – chapter of the Qur’an

T

tabaʿiyyah – subsequence

ṭahārah – (1) purification (2) being in a state of ritual purity, i.e. having wuḍūʾ, ghusl, or tayammum

ṭāhir – pure

taḥnīṭ – camphorating

tajwīd – the discipline of reciting the Qur’an correctly

takbīr – proclamation of Allah’s greatness by saying ‘allāhu akbar’

takbīrat al-iḥrām – saying ‘allāhu akbar’ at the beginning of the prayer

takfīn – shrouding

taklīf – responsibility

al-ṭalāq al-bāʾin – irrevocable divorce

al-ṭalāq al-rijʿī – revocable divorce

talqīn – inculcation of principle beliefs to a dying person or a corpse

tamām – complete form of the prayer

taʿqībāt – supplications after prayers

taqiyyah – dissimulation or concealment of one’s beliefs in the face of danger

taqlīd – following a jurist

taqwā – God-wariness

tamyīz – ability to discern between right and wrong

taqṣīr – snipping one’s hair or trimming one’s beard or moustache as part of the hajj and ʿumrah rituals

tartīb – sequence

al-tasbīḥāt al-arbaʿah – the four glorifications, i.e. ‘subḥānal lāhi wal ḥamdu lillāhi wa lā ilāha illal lāhu wal lāhu akbar’

tashahhud – testifying

tashyīʿ al-janāzah – funeral procession

taʿṣīb – a matter of inheritance that is common among Sunni Muslims but invalid from a Shi‘i perspective

ṭawāf – circumambulation of the Kaʿbah

ṭawāf al-nisāʾ – an obligatory circumambulation of the Kaʿbah that is performed as part of the hajj rituals

tawriyah – equivocation

tayammum – dry ablution

turbah – a piece of earth or clay on which one places his forehead when prostrating

U

ʿudhr – legitimate excuse

ujrat al-mithl – standard rate paid for the hired property or work

al‑ujrah al‑musammāh – agreed rate paid for the hired property or work

ʿumrah – pilgrimage to Mecca that has fewer rituals than the hajj pilgrimage; the minor pilgrimage

al-ʿumrah al-mufradah – recommended pilgrimage to Mecca that is performed independently of hajj at any time of the year

uṣūl al-dīn – fundamentals of religion

uṣūl al-fiqh – principles of jurisprudence; legal theory

W

wadhī – fluid that sometimes comes out of the penis after the ejaculation of semen

wadī – fluid that sometimes comes out of the penis after urinating

wadīʿah – deposit

wājib – obligatory

al-wājib al-ʿaynī – individual obligation, i.e. an obligation that every duty-bound person must perform irrespective of whether or not others have also performed it

al-wājib al-fawrī – immediate obligation, i.e. an obligation that must be performed as soon as it is possible to do so, and delaying its performance is not permitted

al-wājib al-kifāʾī – collective obligation, i.e. an act of worship that is obligatory for all duty-bound persons in the first instance but is lifted from them all if it is discharged by someone or some people

al-wājib al-muʿayyan – assigned obligation; time-specific obligation, i.e. an act of worship that must be performed at one distinct time

al-wājib al-takhyīrī – optional obligation, i.e. an act of worship for which a mukallaf has the choice to either perform that act itself or some other particular act

al-wājib al-taʿyīnī – fixed obligation, i.e. an act of worship for which there is no alternative act that a mukallaf can perform instead

wakīl – agent; representative

walī – guardian

waqf – charitable endowment

al-waqf al-ʿāmm – public charitable endowment

al-waqf al-khāṣṣ – private charitable endowment

wāqif – endower

waqt al-faḍīlah – prime time for performing prayers, i.e. the early period of the prescribed time for a prayer in which there is more reward for performing it

waṣī – executor of the bequest of a deceased person

waṣiyyah – will

waswās – obsessive doubting

waṭʾ al-shubhah – sexual intercourse ensuing from a mistake

waṭan – home town

wikālah – agency

wilāyah – (1) guardianship (2) vicegerency

wuḍūʾ – ablution

al-wuḍūʾ al-irtimāsī – immersive ablution

Y

yāʾisah – a postmenopausal woman; in rulings pertaining to marriage and divorce, a woman who has reached the age of fifty (in rulings pertaining to menstruation, the age is sixty), and due to her advanced age she does not experience menstruation and has no expectation of experiencing it again

yaqīn – certainty

yawm al-shakk – day of doubt, i.e. the day regarding which someone doubts whether it is the last day of Shaʿbān or the first day of the month of Ramadan

Z

ẓāhir – apparent ruling (for practical purposes in jurisprudential rulings, expressing an ‘apparent’ ruling equates to giving a fatwa)

zakat – alms tax

zakāt al-fiṭrah – fiṭrah alms tax

ẓann – supposition; conjecture

zawāl – the time after midday when the sun begins to decline

ziyārah – visitation to the place of burial of a holy personality or a holy place

ẓuhr – midday

al-ẓuhr al-sharʿī – legal midday, i.e. after the midway point of the day

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