The Revealer, The Messenger, The Message
Glossary
ADAM: non-being, the opposite of wujud (existence).
AWSIYA': vicegerents or representative of the Prophet, referring specifically to the twelve Imams.
BASATAH: simplicity; as a philosophical term, it refers to an uncomposite thing or being, which is not subject to generation and corruption.
DALIL.: proof or argument; an argument to demonstrate a hypothesis.
DALL FALSAFI: the philosophical proof or argument, used specifically to prove the existence of God.
DALIL ISTIQRA': inductive proof or argument; in this book specifically used to indicate-the method of scientific induction used to prove the existence of God.
DIN: religion or faith; an ideal to which a person adheres and is willing to be judged by.
FATWA (pl. fatawa): legal opinion issued 'by a jurist dealing with a current problem.
FITRAH: that width is originally created; specifically, man's original state of pure intuitive knowledge of God; generally, the native religious sense.
AL-GHAYB: unknown, unseen and unpredictable; usually used to refer to divine knowledge of things to come, e.g., the Day of Judgement.
GHAYBAH: lit., absence; used to describe the concealment or occultation of the twelfth Imam, who is in the world but hidden from human sight.
HADITH: an account, report or a statement; technically, traditions or statements related from the prophet on the authority of various transmitters.
HISAB AL-IHTIMALAT: the reckoning, computation or calculation of degrees of probability, both positively and negatively.
IHTIMAL ( pl. ihtimalat) : probability; something possible or likely to happen.
IHTIMAL QABLI: antecedent or prior possibility, that is, prior to the investigation of the probability of a thing by the inductive method.
IJTTHAD: effort; specifically, considered personal opinion arrived at through to effort of inference, induction or analogy.
'ILLAH: cause; a technical term used in Aristotelian philosophy; cf. ma'lul.
IMAMAH: leadership; generally used to describe the leader, imam, in prayer; also a religious head of community. Technically, the term refers to the authority or leadership of the imams, descendants and successors of the Prophet.
IMKAN: possibility; used philosophically, the term refers to the possibility or potentiality in the thing itself as well as an external power which can bring a thing into being or which effects a major change in it.
ISTIDLAL: to use an argument or proof in establishing a point or hypothesis.
ISTIHALAH: Impossibility; the opposite of imkan (possibility).
ISTINBAT: to delve into or penetrate a matter with the view of inferring a new idea or 'principle.
JUZ': part or part of a whole; used also philosophically to refer to particulars, in contrast with universals, cf. kull
KATHRAH: multiplicity or variety; opposite of wahdah ( unity).
KHILAFAH: representation of succession; more technically, the term is used to refer to the temporal authority of the Prophet's successors, caliphs.
KULL: lit., all; philosophically used to mean 'whole' or universals, in contrast with juz' (particulars).
MA`AD: lit., return; the return of the soul to God who is its source of being (mabda'); generally, the Day of Resurrection.
MA'LUL: effect; a philosophical term used to signify the effect of a cause; cf. 'illah. ,
MANTIQ: lit., speech; philosophically used to mean logic.
AL-MANTIQ AS-SURI ASH-SHAKLI: formal logic.
NASS: text transmitted or dictated, or statement establishing a principle; specifically, the appointment of the imams by the Prophet.
SHARI`AH: lit., highway; it is the way to follow as stipulated by sacred law of Islam.
SUNNAH ( pl. sunan ) : trodden path, way or example, when referring to the sunnah of the Prophet; custom, when referring to cultural patterns; universal law when referring to natural phenomena.
TA'AKHKHUR: posteriority or . that which succeeds something else; specifically, the posteriority of the effect to the cause; opposite of taqaddum (priority).
TAHRIF: deviation or alteration; specifically, alteration of the earlier scriptures.
TAQADDUM: priority or something proceeding something else; specifically, priority of the cause to the effect; opposite of ta'akhkhur (posteriority).
TARAKKUB: compositeness; opposite of simplicity, specifically used to distinguish the composite temporal from the simple eternal being.
TAWHID: Divine Oneness; specifically, the profession of the Oneness of God.
WAHDAH: unity; specifically of being or the universe, being the source of kathrah ( multiplicity), which is its opposite.
WIJDAN: feeling, sentiment or conscience; the source of the unconscious reactions of a human being to his environment.
WUJUD: existence or being, signifying being not as an abstract principle, but a dynamic force or presence; opposite of 'adam (non-being)