Words you will meet in Islamic history

Ashura

The 10th of Muharram, the day Husayn was martyred at Karbala in 680.

Amir

Commander or prince. Amir al-Mu'minin, Commander of the Faithful, was a title of the caliph.

Atabeg

A Turkish guardian of a young prince, who often became the real ruler. Zengi was atabeg of Mosul.

Bay'ah

The pledge of allegiance given to a new ruler.

Caliph (khalifa)

Successor. The title of the leader of the Muslim community after the Prophet, combining government with the duty to uphold the faith.

Caliphate (khilafah)

The state or office led by a caliph.

Devshirme

The Ottoman levy of Christian boys from the Balkans, who were converted and trained for the army and government.

Dhimmi

A protected non-Muslim subject of a Muslim state, with rights to life, property and worship.

Diwan

A register or government office. Umar's diwan listed soldiers and their pay; later the word meant a ministry or council.

Fitna

Trial or strife. The name for the civil wars among Muslims: the first from 656 to 661, the second from 680 to 692, and later ones.

Ghazi

A warrior on the frontier. The early Ottoman rulers used the title.

Haram al-Sharif

The Noble Sanctuary in Jerusalem, which contains Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock.

Hijrah

The Prophet's migration from Makkah to Madinah in 622, year 1 of the Islamic calendar.

Hijri calendar (AH)

The lunar Islamic calendar counted from the Hijrah and introduced by Umar. A Hijri year is about 11 days shorter than a solar year.

Ilkhanate

The Mongol state founded by Hulagu in Iran and Iraq. Its ruler Ghazan converted to Islam in 1295.

Janissary

From yeni ceri, new soldier: the Ottoman standing infantry, recruited through the devshirme and abolished in 1826.

Jizya

A tax paid by non-Muslim subjects in return for protection and exemption from military service.

Kharijites

Those who went out: the group that left Ali after the arbitration at Siffin and declared their opponents unbelievers.

Madrasa

A college for religious and legal study. The Nizamiyya colleges of the Seljuk era were famous early examples.

Mamluk

Owned. Slave soldiers, mostly Turks and Circassians, trained from youth. In Egypt they took power and ruled as sultans from 1250 to 1517.

Mandate

A League of Nations arrangement after the First World War under which Britain and France ruled former Ottoman lands.

Mawali

Non-Arab converts attached to Arab tribes. Their unequal treatment under the Umayyads fed the Abbasid revolution.

Mihna

The trial begun by al-Ma'mun in 833 to make scholars accept that the Quran was created.

Nakba

Catastrophe. The displacement of about 700,000 Palestinians in 1948.

Qadi

A judge of Islamic law.

Qibla

The direction of prayer. Jerusalem was the first qibla before it changed to the Kaaba in Makkah.

Rashidun

Rightly guided. The first four caliphs: Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali.

Reconquista

The centuries-long conquest of Muslim Spain by the Christian kingdoms, completed with Granada in 1492.

Ridda

Apostasy. The Ridda wars of 632 and 633 brought the breakaway tribes of Arabia back under Madinah.

Shia

From shi'at Ali, the party of Ali: Muslims who hold that leadership belonged to Ali and his descendants.

Shura

Consultation. Umar's council of six, which chose Uthman, is the classic example.

Sultan

Authority. From the 11th century the title of rulers who held real power, often in the caliph's name.

Sunni

From ahl al-sunnah wal-jama'ah: the majority of Muslims, who accept the first four caliphs in their historical order.

Taifa

A faction. The small rival kingdoms of al-Andalus after the caliphate of Cordoba collapsed in 1031.

Ulama

The scholars of Islamic religion and law.

Ummah

The worldwide community of Muslims.

Waqf

A charitable endowment. The Al-Aqsa compound is run by the Islamic Waqf of Jerusalem.

Wazir (vizier)

Chief minister. The grand vizier ran the Ottoman government for the sultan.

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