Arabic key word list, and key concepts in study of the Qur’an

First, memorize, in Arabic, important Qur’an passages such as: Surat Al Fatiha (1), Surah
Ikhlas (112), the call to prayer, and other key verses.

Know the Arabic names for the days of the week:

Sunday – yom al ahad - day one
Monday – yom al ithnane – day two
Tuesday – yom al thalatha – day three
Wednesday – yom al arba’a – day four
Thursday – yom al khamees – day five
Friday – yom ajuma’a – day of the gathering (for prayer)
Saturday – yom assabt – day seven

Common greetings, phrases:

Peace upon you – essalam wa’alaikum, (and the mercy and blessing of God – rahmat
Allah wa barakat)
And on you peace – wa’alaikum essalam
How is your condition (how are you)? – kiif halak?
Good, praise to God – Qwais illhamdulillah
In the name of God the merciful and caring – bism-allahi errahman errahim
May God protect me from Satan the cursed one – auza-billahi min asshaitan arrajeem
May God the almighty establish (the reading of the Qur’an just read) – sadaq allah
al’atheem
Glory to God the highest – subhann-allah wa ta’ala
Praised and exalted (is he) – subhanna wa ta’ala
God is greatest – allah-hua akbar
God hears those who praise Him – samia-allah liman hamidah
If God wills (I hope so in common usage) – inshallah
Oh God! (to begin a du’a) – allahumma
Our Lord (used also to begin a du’a) – rabina
Please – min fadlak
Thank-you – shukran
Good bye (peace go with you) – ma’assalama
And God give you peace – allaisallmak
Allah the greatest – takbeer
To exalt Allah – tassbeeh
Peace be upon him (pbuh) – a’alaihi essalam

Key words in the Qur’an:

1. tawhid – unity, oneness

2. huda – guidance
3. ilm – knowledge
4. taqwah – inner sense of right, rightness, hence, conscience. Righteousness, moral
responsibility, sense of.
5. sakinah – tranquility, peace, the same word as shakinah in Hebrew – the glory of
God’s presence
6. akhira – end time (things)
7. yom ad-din – day of reckoning
8. qiyyamat – resurrection
9. rahma – mercy
10. ghafur – forgiving
11. iman – faith
12. mu’min – believer, one who has faith
13. salat – formal prayer
14. du’a – informal (personal) prayer
15. wahy – revelation, inspiration
16. shirk – associate another with God, from sharaka to partner, share
17. nabi - giver of news, prophet
18. rasul – messenger
19. iblis – satan, shaitan
20. na’amat – grace, favor
21. nas – people
22. insan – humankind
23. fitra – primordial nature (in which God created man)
24. nafs – person, self
25. tauba – repentance
26. sharr – evil
27. sadaqa – good (gift)
28. salaha – good, or to be right (verb form, to put right)
29. ayat – signs
30. zakat – pure offering (fr. “to purify”)
31. jihad – struggle (for right, against evil)
32. ijtihad – personal struggle, use of ones reason to struggle to understand the
meaning of the text
33. qital – physical fight, warfare
34. qadar – power, ability, also – free-will
35. ruh – spirit
36. ahl al kitab – people of the book (Jews, Christians)
37. dhikr – remembrance
38. ahl al dhikr – people of the remembrance (those given the guidance)
39. baraka – blessing
40. hilal – allowed, lawful
41. haram – forbidden
42. fard - obligatory
43. sabr – patience
44. shukr - thankfulness
45. salihat – just deeds
46. naskh – to abrogate, see S. 2:106 – the idea comes from progressive revelation
 47. mansoukh – the abrogated
48. sunna – way, practice (of the prophet)
49. ahkam – lit. to decide between two things, refers to “clearly decided verses of the
Qur’an” ie., those of clear, established meaning
50. mutashabihat – to look like or appear like fr. To be doubtful; refers to verses of
the Qur’an the meaning of which are not clear or not completely agreed upon or
open to two or more interpretations.
51. nur – light
52. Torah, Zaboor, Injil – law (given to Moses), Psalms (given to David), Gospel
(given to Isa)
53. kitab – book
54. furqan – clear demarcation between (good and evil) fr. Faraka – to divide
55. khalq – Creator, khalaqa – to create
56. Qur’an – from the word to read or to recite
57. hijra, haj – to flee, ie., pilgrimage
58. juz – portion, part (of the Qur’an – there are 30 juz in the Qur’an
59. karim – generous
60. haq – truth
61. ghayb – unseen
62. shafiya – lit. the healer, redeemer, advocate
63. hib – love
64. malak (pl. mala’ika) - angels
65. jinn – spirits, good and bad
66. sawm – fasting
67. Ramadan – month of fasting

Other words of importance:

1. tafsir – explanation, interpretation (of the text) ie. – exegesis
2. asbab al nuzul – lit. reason for what was sent down, meaning the historical event
related to the revelation
3. ijma – consensus of the ummah (a method of tafsir)
4. qiyas – analogical reasoning (a method of tafsir)
5. tafsir bil ma’thur – explanation by what has been transmitted (from the prophet or
companions of the prophet – sahaba)
6. tafsir bil ray’ – explanation by sound reasoning and ijtihad
7. tafsir bil ishara – explanation by signs
8. hadith – collection of sayings, reports of practice of the prophet
9. hadith qudsi – words of Allah as reported by Muhammad but not in the Qur’an
10. lailat al qadr – night of power in which the first revelations were given to
Muhammad
11. qibla – dirction of prayer
12. mihrab – niche in the mosque designating the qibla
13. mimbar – pulpit (in the mosque)
14. mesjid – mosque
15. isnad – record of transmission of the hadith
16. ilm – knowledge
17. ilm al kalam – theology (knowledge of the word)
18. irja – lit. suspension of judgment, led to theory of predestination
19. madrasa – school, most often a religious school
20. ikhtilaf – disagreement
21. salaf – early fathers of the religion
22. shahada – declaration of faith, lit. testimony
23. salihat – just deeds
24. fitna – being pressured to defect from one’s affiliations or retreat from one’s views
(jihad iin its most common meaning is a struggle against fitna)
25. dalal – misguidedness
26. ayat bayyinat – clear signs
27. khalifa – vicegerent, steward put in charge
28. sultan – overwhelming power, authority
29. ahzab – parties (fr. Hizb – party) or sects
30. azan – call for prayer
31. muadthin – the one giving the call to prayer
32. Ikama – call that prayer has begun
33. Fajr – dawn (prayer)
34. Dhuhr – noon (prayer)
35. Asr – afternoon (prayer)
36. Maghrab – sunset (prayer)
37. Isha’ – night (prayer)
38. ghusl – bath (complete cleansing, required at least daily in the morning
immediately after rising)
39. Ibadah – worship
40. Istaghfar (allah) – forgive (may God)
41. Khutbah – sermon (at Friday prayers in the mosque)
42. raka’a – lit. kneeling, refers to the cycles of the prayer
43. namaaz – formal prayer (salat)
44. wudu – ablution before prayer (partial or minor cleansing required before prayer)