Dictionary of Islamic Words & Expressions

The majority of Muslims are not native Arabic speakers, and many never get the chance to learn the language properly. Translation is therefore unavoidable, however incomplete it must be — and even good translators find the special terms the hardest part.

The Problem This Solves

A cursory look across translated Islamic works reveals two kinds of discrepancy. Between the Arabic text and its rendering into English. And between different translators rendering the same Arabic term differently — or the same translator rendering it differently at different times.

The consequence for a reader is that he meets a term in three books under three English words and does not realize it is one concept. Or worse, he meets one English word standing in for three distinct Arabic terms and flattens the difference.

What Each Entry Gives

• The word in Arabic
• Its transliteration
• A short, concise meaning
• A description of how, where and when the term is used — which is the part a glossary omits and the part that actually matters
• References to where it may be found

That fourth element is what makes this a dictionary rather than a word list. Terms like taqwa, ihsan, fitnah, sabr or hikmah do not have single English equivalents; what a reader needs is a sense of the range they cover and the contexts they appear in.

Who It Is For

Every serious reader of translated Islamic works. Students of knowledge. Translators, writers and khateebs. New Muslims, who meet twenty unfamiliar terms in the first month. Anyone learning Arabic who wants the religious vocabulary specifically.

Related Reading

• Arabic Course (3 Volume Set) — the Madinah University Arabic course
• Learning Arabic Language of the Qur'an — Arabic grammar taught from Qur'anic examples
• What is the Holy Qur'an & How to Recite? — correct pronunciation and the rules of recitation