Fiqh Glossary

1. baligh : one who has attained the age of puberty.
2. barzakh : period between death and resurrection; purgatory; isthmus.
3. dyyah : indemnity or compensation for injury or death.
4. azl : coitus interruptus.
5. eid : religious festival.
6. fiqh : Islamic positive law.
7. ghusl : major ritual ablution (washing) of the entire body to achieve a state of ritual purity.
8. hadath : condition requiring wudhu or ghusl.
9. hadd : punishment prescribed in Textual sources (Quran and Sunnah) for certain violations.
10. hadd al-tarakhkhus : point away from the boundary of a city whose inhabitants cannot be seen. Some jurists consider it to be a point #9; from where the city's call to prayers (adhan) cannot be heard. However, Ayatollah Seestani objects to this latter definition. (MS, p. 297, Q918)
11. hajj : pilgrimage to Mecca performed in the last month, Dhu-l-Hijjah, of the Islamic lunar calendar.
12. al-hakim al-shar : religious authority, Mujtahid.
13. hayd : bleeding of a menstrual cycle.
14. hijab : statutory Islamic dress code of modesty.
15. hilal : crescent
16. husna : kindness
17. ihram : state of ritual consecration to perform major pilgrimage (Hajj) or minor one
18. istihadah : irregular bleeding other than the menstrual cycle.
19. istihalah : transformation, chemical change.
20. istinqath : rescue, salvage.
21. janabah : state after having sexual intercourse or ejaculation.
22. jumu : Friday
23. kaffarah : expiation, compensation, penalty.
24. kafir : unbeliever
25. khums : 20% tax levied on certain items.
26. mahram : one who falls within the prohibited degree for marriage.
27. majhul al-malik : unknown owner, derelict property.
28. majlis (pl. majalis) : assembly to commemorate religious events
29. makruh : discouraged, reprehensible
30. marja : high-ranking religious authority whose guidance is sought by the laity.
31. mukallaf : one who is competent to undertake religious obligations; religiously accountable
32. muomin : believer
33. nadhr : solemn vow, pledge.
34. najasah : ritual impurity.
35. najis : ritually impure; not equivalent to unhygienic or unclean.
36. nifas : bleeding of a woman after childbirth.
37. non-baligh : one who has not attained the age of puberty.
38. non-mahram : opposite of mahram.
39. qada : lapsed or due prayers, fasts, etc.
40. qasr : shortened prayers of a traveller.
41. qiblah : direction to Kaba
42. Ramadan : Ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar and the month of fasting.
43. riba : interest, usury.
44. al-risalah al-amalia : practical treatise prepared by the jurist for the laity.
45. salat : ritual prayer; formal worship.
46. sai : pacing back and forth seven times by a pilgrim between Safa and Marwah.
47. shar' : lawful, legitimate.
48. shari : universal Islamic values and norms; commonly referred to as the Islamic law.
49. Shawwal : tenth month in the Islamic lunar calendar.
50. siyam : fasts
51. tahir : ritually pure; not equivalent to hygienic or clean.
52. tamam : complete prayers.
53. taqlid : emulating the opinions of a religious authority.
54. taqsir : cutting a piece of hair or nail by the pilgrim.
55. tathir : ritual purification.
56. tawaf : circulation around the Kaba
57. tayammum : substitution for wudhu and/or ghusl.
58. ta’zeer : discretionary punishment estimated by al-hakim al-shar'
59. ulama : religious scholars.
60. urf : convention, customary law.
61. wudu : minor ritual ablution of certain parts of the body.