An offshoot of Shia Islam, often considered heretical, located primarily in Syria where it makes up approximately 12% of the population.
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Arabic for “God.”
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A full-body and face covering worn by some Muslim women in compliance with an interpretation of a Quranic verse that instructs Muslims to dress "modestly."
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An Islamic State where Sharia is the basis of governance; usually used in reference to past Islamic empires in the Middle East.
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Term used by the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood in a 1991 document to describe its strategy to gradually destroy the United States from within.
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The proselytizing of Islam.
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A legal ruling made according to Sharia (Islamic law)
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Female Genital Mutilation - Partial or complete removal of the external female genitalia usually carried out on girls from a few days old to puberty. Considered a religious obligation by some Islamic authorities in order to control women's sexual desires.
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Islamist strategy often used by the Muslim Brotherhood that calls for incremental, pragmatic change of societies towards compliance with Sharia governance.
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Recorded collection of the acts and sayings of Mohammed, the founder of Islam who Muslims believe was a prophet; "ahadith" refers to the body of collections, each viewed with varying credibility.
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Pilgrimage made to Mecca that is required of all capable Muslims.
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Arabic word for "permissible" under Islamic law (Sharia).
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Veil often worn by Muslim women that covers the scalp but leaves the face exposed in compliance with an interpretation of an Islamic command to dress "modestly."
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The murder of a family member for allegedly "shaming" the family with un-Islamic behavior.
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Islamic term for temporary truce.
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The term Hudud in Sharia (Islamic law) usually refers to the most serious criminal punishments.
For example, the punishment for apostasy, adultery and homosexuality is execution; thievery is punishable by having a hand severed and premarital sex is punishable by 100 lashings.
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Arabic for "Brotherhood," usually in reference to the Muslim Brotherhood.
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Religious authority figure; usually the leader of a mosque.
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The interpretation of Islam as a governmental system in which strict Sharia law must be enforced; synonymous with Political Islam.
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Unwarranted fear of Muslims; term frequently used by Islamist groups and their allies to label critics of Islamic extremism as bigots in order to stifle criticism.
According to Abdur-Rahman Muhammad, a former member of a U.S. Muslim Brotherhood front group (IIIT), “This loathsome term is nothing more than a thought-terminating cliche conceived in the bowels of Muslim think tanks for the purpose of beating down critics.”
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A holy war waged against non-Muslims on behalf of Islam considered to be a religious duty; also, a personal struggle in devotion to Islam.
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The Mahdi is a figure who, according to certain Islamic believers, will unify Mankind under Islam after vanquishing a false messiah; Shiites sometimes refer to him as the "Hidden Imam."
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Arabic for "mosque;" Islamic house of worship.
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Religiously-motivated fighters that volunteer to wage Jihad against the enemies of Islam.
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A worldwide Islamist organization founded in Egypt in 1928 by Hassan al-Banna that seeks to implement Sharia-based governance globally.
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A marriage contracted for a limited period, for a certain sum of money. Such marriages are still legal among Shiites, but are considered prohibitted by Sunnis. (Dictionary of Islam, by Patrick Hughes).
Even though mutʿah is prohibited by Sunni schools of law, several types of nonpermanent marriage exist, including misyar (ambulant) marriage and ʿurfi (customary) marriage, that gained popularity in parts of Sunni world (Mut'a, by Karen Ruffle, Oxford Bibliographies).
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A face veil, worn by some Muslim women,that exposes only the eyes in compliance with an interpretation of an Islamic command to dress modestly.
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The interpretation of Islam as a governmental system; synonymous with Islamism.
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The book that Muslims believe records the prophecies received by Mohammed by God.
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Islamic movement formed in the early 20th century that holds that Muslims must reject much of modernity and replicate the lifestyle of Mohammed and early Islamic authorities; often used synonymously with Wahhabism.
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Arabic for “prayer,” required by Islamic law (Sharia) to be performed five times per day.
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Arabic for “fasting.”
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A declaration required by Islamic law saying that a person believes that Allah is the one God and Mohammed is his messenger.
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A legal framework to regulate public and private aspects of life based upon specific Islamic teachings. Sharia is a strict system which views non-Muslims as second-class citizens, sanctions inequality between men and women and prescribes cruel and unusual punishments for crimes.
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Investments into funds approved by Islamic scholars as being Sharia-compliant; often referred to as "Islamic banking."
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A Muslim preacher with recognized religious authority.
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Branch of Islam that represents 10-15% of Muslims. Shiites believe that Muhammed divinely ordained his cousin and son-in-law Ali to be the next caliph making Ali and his direct descendants Muhammed's successors.
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Practice of Islam that emphasizes mysticism and whose followers organize into "orders."
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Proper behavior as represented by the life of Mohammed and written in the ahadith; often used synonymously with ahadith.
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Branch of Islam that represents 85-90% of Muslims. Sunnis believe that Abu Bakr, the father of Muhammad's wife Aisha, was Muhammad's rightful successor and that the method of choosing leaders is the consensus of the Muslim community.
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Chapter of the Quran.
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The act of declaring ones fellow muslim to be a non-believer. It is a legal categorization for which the sentence is traditionally death, which must be handed down by an Islamic Court. Most notably used in recent times on Salman Rushdie, who was declared a kafir and sentenced to death in a fatwa issued by Ayatollah Khomeini because of passages in Rushdie’s book The Satanic Verses.
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Arabic for “deceit” or “dissimulation.” According to certain Islamic interpretations, Muslims are allowed to lie in certain situations such as to deceive their enemies, particularly non-Muslims.
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Worldwide community of Muslims.
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Term used to describe a puritanical form of Islam like that is instituted in Saudi Arabia; inspired by the preaching of Mohammed al-Wahhab.
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Obligatory donation of income in Islam.
