Basic Islamic Phrases: Part 2

Islamic Terms

Abdul: This means “Servant of.” Many Muslims like to change their names from non-Muslim names to Muslim names. A favorite choice is Abdul. But who is the person a servant of? You must always have something after “Abdul.” The place to look is in the 99 Names of Allah. Allah has many names, such as Wadud (the Loving), Malik (the King), Rahman (The Merciful), Hakim (the Wise.) Just add one of those after Abdul and you become “The Servant of _______”. (For example: Abdul Khaliq: The Servant of the Creator.) etc…

Adab: Manners and ettiquette.

Adhan: (Athzan) The call to prayer.

Ahl al Kitab: This means the “People of the Book.” Allah uses this term in the Qur’an to refer to the Jews, Christians and any other people who received revelation from an authentic Prophet in the past. Because the Ahl al Kitab lost their revelations and twisted the teachings they had, Allah sent one last Messenger to the world, the Prophet Muhammad. He brought the Qur’an from Allah. The Ahl al Kitab are called to believe in Allah’s last message. To repeat: their own message has been lost or changed so much that there is very little of Allah’s truth left in it. The Bible is not the word of Allah. It is a book made up of people’s writings that was put together by Europeans in the year 325 at Nicea. That’s 300 years after the time of Prophet Jesus (‘Esa).

Akhee: My brother.

Akhirah: The next life or the life after death.

Akhlaq: Your character and behavior or the way you conduct yourself.

Alhumdu lillah: All Praise is for Allah.

‘Alim: A scholar or a learned man. The plural is ‘Ulema.

Allah: The name for God in the Arabic language. (Literally: THE GOD). Muslims prefer to say “Allah” no matter what language they speak because in Arabic it is a stand-alone word. In other words, you can’t make it masculine or feminine, plural or whatever. In English you can change “God” to Gods, Goddesses, Demi-God, etc… There is no way to do that in Arabic to the name, Allah.

Islam teaches that Allah is not a male or a female, nor is He black or white. He is not even a human like us. We cannot percieve what god is because our brains are only limited to percieve matter and time and anything beyond this is not percievable at all.
We only use the term “He” when we refer to Him because their is no “it” in Arabic and it seems disrespectful to call Allah an “it” in English. Allah sometimes refers to Himself as “We” or “Us” but don’t be mislead because the reason he says this is because he is the most high and worthy of the highest respect. In many languages, (including English) a single being can call himself a “We” if he wants to so that it emphasizes his power. Allah is everywhere and nowhere. He is never tired and He never needs a “rest.” He is Loving and the upholder of justice and He is the Source of Creation.

Allahu Akbar: “Allah is the Greatest.” This is the universal catch-all phrase of Muslims. When a Muslim shouts, “Takbeer” (Who’s the Greatest!) everyone replies with “Allah Akbar!”

Amir: This means a leader. The Prophet said every group of Muslims must make a leader among them, even if they were only three in number. An Amir is not a dictator and can’t just order people around, however. He must also be elected by the consent of the majority. Because Allah said believers consult each other in their affairs (shura), the Amir must listen to the opinions of the Muslim group and take them seriously. If an Amir begins to clearly go against Islamic teachings, then the Muslims must elect a new one.

Angels: In Arabic they are called the Mala-ika. They are created from light energy. Their only purpose is to serve Allah. They are behind the forces of nature. Some Angels are given the job of watching humans and noting their good and bad deeds for the day of judgment where we will be judged according to what we did in this life and our good and bad deeds will be weighed and whichever is heavier will mean either heaven or hell. Angels can take on physical form, sort of like a hologram, and can appear as humans or whatever.Again we can’t percieve what they look like because our brains cannot think beyond what is on this earth and which is visible to the human eye.Angels are all good and never disobey Allah. They are not male or female. Christianity teaches that some angels went bad and that’s where Satan and the devils came from. Islam teaches that this is not true. Angels are also not people running around in white robes with halos over their head.