Islam Stack Exchange
Islam Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [terminology]

Questions about Islamic terms, the ways they are used, and what they mean.

From Wikipedia:

Terminology is the study of terms and their use. Terms are words and compound words that in specific contexts are given specific meanings, meanings that may deviate from the meaning the same words have in other contexts and in everyday language. The discipline Terminology studies among other things how such terms of art come to be and their interrelationships within a culture. Terminology differs from lexicography in studying concepts, conceptual systems, and their labels (terms), whereas lexicography study words and their meanings.

123 questions
16
votes
5 answers

Why are converts to Islam called reverts?

I have noticed that when a person converts from one religion to Islam it is said that he or she reverted. This is said even when it is the first time he or she embraces Islam as a religion. Why is this?
Badger Cat
  • 2,107
  • 9
  • 25
  • 41
9
votes
3 answers

What does "shahid" mean?

When shahid is used to mean "martyr" (rather than "witness"), who is considered a shahid? Does someone who died in a battle qualify? What about suicide bombers? Does the act of becoming a shahid absolve any sins? E.g., the 9.11 hijackers were seen…
Lev
  • 293
  • 2
  • 9
6
votes
4 answers

What does a.s. mean?

OK, so I know very little about Islam, but this question doesn't seem to be Google-able. I've seen some people in the Qur'an described with a.s. after their name - such as Nuh a.s. What does that mean?
Abnormaldiversity
  • 61
  • 1
  • 1
  • 2
6
votes
2 answers

What is a "saint" in Islam?

How does Islam define the word saint? Does it just mean any reasonably good person; or a person in close communication with God? Is it in some way analogous to the Christian concept of a "saved" person? Can you call someone a saint while they're…
TRiG
  • 316
  • 3
  • 18
4
votes
1 answer

What are the minimum requirements for someone to be a "student of knowledge"?

A student of knowledge (طالب العلم) describes someone who studies Islam (or, more specifically, sacred knowledge). However, it's hard for me to tell if someone is genuinely a student of knowledge, or perhaps a hobbyist. An article The Difference…
Rebecca J. Stones
  • 20,778
  • 38
  • 158
  • 329
4
votes
1 answer

Is it wrong to use the words Namaz, Khuda, Roza?

I am from Bangladesh. Here almost everyone exclusively use the word Namaz to refer to Salat. Recently my parents have been pressuring me to use the word Salat in place of Namaz. Their argument goes like this. Namaz is supposedly a word that was…
Ibraheem Moosa
  • 141
  • 2
3
votes
3 answers

Is to say "God" the same as to say "Allah"?

Clearly I'm not very familiar with Islam, but I prefer to become knowledgeable in a wide range of things, so if I'm asking a question here, or speaking to a Muslim, should I strictly use "Allah" to refer to the creator of the universe or does saying…
J.Todd
  • 215
  • 2
  • 5
2
votes
3 answers

Why is Islam called "The Religion of Peace"?

What does it mean. Is this politically correct term to describe Islam? What is its origin? Islam - Religion of Peace - Wikipedia
muslim1
  • 8,260
  • 27
  • 87
  • 121
1
vote
2 answers

Conversion / converted or "Reversion" / "Reverted"?

I often hear some anthropologists or "experts" and Western converted Muslims say that it is wrong to use the term "convert", and that we should instead use the neologism "revert(ed)", because "that is the way the Muslims themselves use, because they…
user574859
  • 123
  • 4
0
votes
1 answer

What if Allah freed one of his slaves?

We are all slaves of Allah, but what if he decided to free someone very noble who asked to be freed? What would happen to that person, if he decided not to continue to serve Allah as his servant? What if he continued to serve Allah as a servant? If…
Abdul Moiz Qureshi
  • 9
  • 3