What's He Chattin' About?

There are many words we read and hear but aren’t too sure what they mean. So The Revival attempts to define some Islamic terms used in this issue...

Alim/Alimah – a man/woman of knowledge, a scholar, especially in the sciences of Islam.

Fiqh – the science of the application of the Sharia. A practitioner or expert in Fiqh is called a Faqih.

Fard al-'ayn - an individual obligation.

Fard al-kifaya - a collective obligation, something which is obligatory for the community as a whole and is satisfied if one adult performs it.

Ghiba – backbiting, slander, mentioning anything about a person that they would dislike to hear, even if it is true.

Ghusl – major ablution of the whole body with water required to regain purity after having sexual intercourse, any sexual discharge (e.g. of semen), completion of the menstrual cycle, post-natal bleeding, and death by natural causes.

Haya – shame or modesty, which demands awareness of Allah’s presence and behaving accordingly.

Imam – Muslim religious or political leader; the leader of Muslim Congregational worship.

Qiyama – the arising of people at the Resurrection on the Last Day.

Tayammum – purification for prayer with clean dust, earth or stone, when water for Ghusl or Wudhu is either unavailable or would be detrimental to health.