Istiṭāʿa (ability) in the Qurʾān is synonymous with qudra (power, q.v.) but, unlike it, is used only for creatures and never for the Creator because it necessarily implies a process on the part of the agent. It is the infinitive noun of istaṭāʿa, the tenth derivative form of the root ṭ-w-ʿ (to comply) which means aṭāqa (to be capable) as Ibn Sīda (398-458/1007-1066) defines it (Muḥkam 2:225a) or, more literally, istaṭāqa (to try to make oneself capable), per Abū Ibrāhīm al-Fārābī (d. 350?/961?) (Dīwān al-adab 3:451), primarily in the physical but also in the moral sense as in “bearing with something.”

Ritual purification requires washing of the whole body (ghusl), or parts of it (wuḍūʾ) with water or in its absence with dust, sand, or other non-combustibles (tayammum). This topic is covered in the following sections: I. Major Ablution (Ghusl); II. Minor Ablution (Wuḍūʾ); III. Dry Ablution (Tayammum); IV. Bibliography.

“Abode” is the translation of dār, which occurs 47 times in the Qurʾān while its synonym bayt or “house” is mentioned 57 times. Both of these terms can also be rendered as home, dwelling, habitation, and residence. The first is more general as it can mean a precinct—a bounded plot of land on which houses can be built, an orchard with a well—and thus encompasses the second.

This article comprises the following sections: i. Definitions; ii. Wisdom; iii. Modalities; iv. Prerequisites of Abrogator and Abrogated; v. Legal Scenarios; vi. Some Disputed Criteria; vii. Mutual Abrogability of Qurʾān and Sunna; viii. Some Constants of Abrogation; ix. Scholarly Literature; x. Islam’s Abrogation of Prior Dispensations; xi. al-Suyūṭī’s List of Intra-Qurʾānic Abrogations; xii. Bibliography.

This article comprises the following sections: i. Definitions; ii. Relinquishing Unbelief and Sin; iii. Relinquishing Worldly Lusts; iv. Relinquishing One’s Own Rights; v. Relinquishing One’s Own Life; vi. Relinquishing All but Allah Most High; vii. Early Zuhd Literature; viii. Bibliography.

This article comprises the following sections: i. His Ancestry and Appellation; ii. His Life before Islam; iii. His Conversion and Life in Makka after Islam; iv. Attempted Hijra to Abyssinia; v. Hijra to Madina; vi. His Life in Madina; vii. His Role in the Events Surrounding the Demise of the Prophet, upon him blessings and peace; viii. His Caliphate; ix. The Compilation of the Qurʾān; x. His Death; xi. His Character and Personality; xii. His Eminence and Virtues; xiii. Verses of the Qurʾān Related to Him; xiv. Hadiths in his Praise; xv. Bibliography.

Literally “the father of flame,” Abū Lahab was the epithet given to ʿAbd al-ʿUzzā b. ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib (d. 2/624), a paternal uncle of the Prophet, upon him blessings and peace, because of his glowing countenance or the redness of his face (Ibn Ḥajar, Fatḥ al-bārī, Tafsīr, sub Q 111:1; Zamakhsharī, Kashshāf and Rāzī, Tafsīr, sub Q 111:1). His name is mentioned once in the Qurʾān in the opening verse of Sūrat al-Masad (also known as Sūrat Tabbat yadā and Sūrat al-Lahab): Broken be the hands of Abū Lahab and may he perish. Some commentators are of the opinion...

The act of acquiring, earning, or laboring to acquire and earn, whether with regard to material things (as in acquiring material goods or gathering wealth) or non-material things (as in ‘acquiring’ knowledge, deeds, and rewards). The Qurʾān emphatically repeats that on the Day of Judgment (q.v.) each person will be responsible for his or her own acquisitions (kasb): And fear the day when you shall be returned to Allah—then every soul shall be paid in full what it has earned (mā kasabat); and they shall not be wronged (Q 2:281; also 6:164; 17:15; 34:25; 39:7). This article focuses on the Qurʾānic concept of kasb as explicated in exegetical and hadith literature. For the usage of the term kasb in Kalām and Sufi texts, where it proved a key concept for those who sought at once to maintain Divine sovereignty and human ability, that is, to maintain the possibility of human responsibility qua moral agent

ʿĀd, an ancient Semitic tribe, who according to classical scholars dwelt in Southern Arabia, amidst long, curved sand-dunes (aḥqāf, Q 46:21) between Oman and Yemen’s Hadramaut region. The former dwellings of ʿĀd were still known to the Arabs (cf. Q 29:38) at the time of the Prophet Muḥammad—Allah bless him and grant him peace. The tribe often found mention among pre-Islamic Jāhilī poets (e.g., Ṭarafa, Zuhayr). Classical Muslim historians consider ʿĀd as part of the ancient ethnic grouping of al-ʿArab al-bāʾida (the perished Arabs) or al-ʿArab al-ʿāriba (the indigenous Arabs) (see Arabic; Bedouins) (Ibn Ṣāʿid, Ṭabaqāt al-umam p. 41; Ibn Khaldūn, ʿIbar 2.1:34). The tribe is said to be named after an eponymous ancestor: ʿĀd, son of ʿAwṣ, son of Iram, son of Sām, son of Prophet Nūḥ. ʿĀd himself is said to have had numerous offspring and ...

This article consists of the following sections: i. Usage and Etymology; ii. Creation and Merits; iii. Presentation to the Angels; iv. Creation of His Spouse; v. Heavenly Life; vi. Hubūṭ (Descent); vii. Khalīfa (Vicegerent) on Earth; viii. His Prophethood; ix. Ādam’s Death; x. Heterodox Views; xi. Bibliography.

The practice of assuming parenthood of another’s child. Adopted children are mentioned three times in the Madani Sūrat al-Aḥzāb (Q 33:4-5, 37). In Q 33:4 and 37, the word used for them is adʿiyāʾ, the anomalous plural of daʿī, from the root d-ʿ-w; eight forms of this root occur in the Qurʾān, 112 times in all. In Q 33:5, adopted children are the referent of the pronoun (-hum) in the phrase “call them”.

This entry comprises the following: i. Meaning and Usage; ii. Legal Definition; iii. Analogies; iv. The Enormity of Zinā; v. Marrying a Fornicator; vi. Social Harms of Zinā; vii. Legal Proof; viii. Repercussions; ix. Repentance; x. Prevention; xi. Rape; xii. Bibliography.

This article comprises the following sections: i. Lexical Background; ii. Usage; iii. Hadith References; iv. Muslim Practice and Literature; v. Bibliography.

This article is about the Qurʾānic concept of aggression as encapsulated through two words—iʿtadā and ʿudwān—derived from the root ʿ-d-w/y, which carries the following meanings: “the two sides of a valley; to cross from one side to the other; to run; aggression; animosity; enmity; corruption” (Farāhīdī, ʿAyn; Ibn Fāris, Maqāyīs; Fayrūzābādī, Qāmūs; Zabīdī, Tāj; Ibn Manẓūr, Lisān). Of this root, 15 forms occur 105 times in the Qurʾān. Al-Rāghib al-Aṣfahānī (d. 502/ca.1108) says that al-ʿadw means “transgressing proper limits; when this overstepping is related to a state of the heart, it is called ʿadāwa and muʿāda; when related to walking, it is called ʿadw; when related to infringement or violation of justice (fī-l-ikhlāli bil-ʿadāla), it is called ʿudwān and ʿadw…iʿtadā is to transgress, to commit an aggression” (Mufradāt, sub ʿ-d-w).

This article comprises the following sections: i. Usage and Etymology; ii. Creedal Connections; iii. Historical References in Prophets’ Lives; iv. Parables and Similes; v. Levy on Harvest (ʿushr); vi. Celestial References; vii. Bibliography.

The second of the Prophet’s two proper names in the Qurʾān and, like “Muḥammad,” little used by the Arabs before him, “Aḥmad” is a comparative of superiority—the emphatic afʿal form of (i) the participial adjective ḥāmid, “praiser,” and (ii) the verb ḥamida, “he praises/is praiseworthy,” aorist yaḥmadu, infinitive nouns ḥamd, maḥmada, and taḥmīd—mentioned only once in Sūrat al-Ṣaff, which is also called Sūrat al-Ḥawāriyyīn (cf. al-Suyūṭī, Itqān, Type 17), in the prophecy of Prophet ʿĪsā (q.v.) that there would come a Prophet after me whose name is worthier of praise (Q 61:6, ismuhu Aḥmad), such a Prophet being more praiseworthy than all Prophets, upon them blessings and peace, all of whom were eminent (maḥmūdūn) and intense praisers (ḥammādūn) (Baghawī and Qurṭubī, Tafsīrs, sub Q 61:6; Rāghib, Mufradāt, sub ḥ-m-d).

ʿAlaqa, literally “a thing that clings”, a derivative of the root ʿ-l-q, mentioned six times in the Qurʾān as a stage during embryogenesis. It occurs once as the collective noun ʿalaq (Q 96:2) and five times in its singular form, ʿalaqa (Q 22:5; 23:14 twice; 40:67; 75:38).

This article comprises the following sections: i. Definitions and Usage; ii. Etymology; iii. Belief in Allah Most High is Obligatory (wājib); iv. Gnosis of Allah Most High (maʿrifat Allāh taʿala); I. The Qurʾān and the Existence of Allah (wujūd Allāh): The Qurʾān itself is a Proof of Allah Most High, Knowledge of the Existence of Allah Most High is Innate, Proofs of His Existence from Divine Acts, Proofs for His Existence in Intellectual Works, Position of the Philosophers about His Existence, The Path of the Sufis; II. His Attributes (ṣifāt), His Transcendence (tanzīh), He is the First and the Last, His Self-Subsistence, Speech of Allah Most High (kalām Allāh taʿala); III. Seeing Allah Most High (ruʾyat Allāh taʿala); IV. Table of Selected Texts and Commentaries; V. Bibliography.

The article comprises the following sections: i. Definitions; ii. Importance of Upholding Agreements; iii. Prophetic Treaties with Non-Muslims; iv. Establishing Written Contracts; v. Bibliography.

This entry comprises the following sections: i. Meaning and Usage; ii. Conditions for Divine Acceptance of Alms; iii. Secret and Public Almsgiving; iv. Virtues and Benefits of Almsgiving; v. Perpetual Works of Ṣadaqa and Waqf Endowments; vi. Ṣadaqa in the Generic Sense; vii. Bibliography.

This article comprises the following sections: i. Definitions; ii. Creed; iii. Attributes of the Angels; iv. Their Functions; v. Their Dislikes; vi. Their Perfection and the Superiority of the Prophets; vii. The Most Prominent Angels; viii. The Prophet’s Relationship with the Angels; ix. The Question of Fallen Angels x. Jāhiliyyan and Judeo-Christian Angelolatry; xi. Heterodox Interpretations; xii. Bibliography.

This article comprises the following sections: i. Definitions and Usage; ii. Human Anger; iii. Divine Wrath; iv. Bibliography.

This article comprises the following sections: i. Definition and Usage; ii. The Ant; iii. The Ass; iv. Bees; v. Birds; vi. The Camel; vii. The Cow; viii. The Dog; ix. The Elephant; x. Fish; xi. The Fly; xii. Frogs; xiii. Game; xiv. The Gnat; xv. Goats and Sheep; xvi. The Hoopoe; xvii. Horses; xviii. Hunting Animals; xix. Land Predators; xx. Lice; xxi. The Lion; xxii. Livestock; xxiii. Locusts; xxiv. Monkeys; xxv. Moths; xxvi. Mules; xxvii. The Pig; xxviii. Quail; xxix. The Raven; xxx. The Snake; xxxi. The Spider; xxxii. Termites; xxxiii. The Wolf; xxxiv. Bibliography; xxxv. Animals of the Prophet, upon him blessings and peace; xxxvi. Bibliography.

This article comprises the following sections: i. Definitions; ii. Exegetical Function; iii. Stylistic Function; iv. Importance of the Genre; v. Boundaries; vi. History of the Genre; vii. Mubhamāt as a Category of Qurʾānic Sciences; viii. Strengths and Weaknesses; ix. A Divergent Gloss of Q 80:1-10; x. Table of Selected Glosses; xi. Bibliography.

This article comprises the following sections: i. Identification, Etymology, and Usage; ii. Genealogy and Pre-Islamic History of the Anṣār; iii. The Beginning of Islam amongst the Anṣār: The First Pledge of ʿAqaba, The Second Pledge of ʿAqaba; iv. The Anṣār after the Hijra; v. Merits of the Anṣār; vi. Tests and Struggles of the Anṣār; vii. Some Eminent Anṣār; viii. Bibliography.

This article comprises the following sections: i. Definition and Usage; ii. The Storied Apostate: Archetype or Historical Character; iii. The “Wars of Apostasy” and Early False Prophets; iv. Types of Apostasy and Status of the Apostate; v. Apostasy Literature; vi. Bibliography.

The Divine act or decree to apportion the lot of all things. Many Qurʾānic verses declare that everything in existence has been apportioned in its creation, qualities, functions, and relationships to other existent things. For instance, the paths of the sun and the moon have been apportioned by Allah so that each revolves in a fixed orbit (Q 36:38-39); the night and the day alternate such that one cannot overtake the other (Q 36:40); the stages of the moon are determined such that human beings may learn the calculation of years and the reckoning of time (Q 10:5); water is sent down from the sky in just measure (Q 23:18); and Allah Most High created everything in due measure and proportion (Q 25:2).

This article comprises the following sections: i. Definition and Usage; ii. Early History; iii. Geography; iv. Qurʾānic verses about al-Aqsa Mosque and its Environs; v. Hadiths on the Merits and Rulings related to al-Aqsa Mosque; vi. Bibliography.

This article comprises the following sections: i. Arabs and Arabic; ii. History of the Arabic Language; iii. The Qurʾān and Arabic; iv. Seven Modes; v. Arabicized Words in the Qurʾān; vi. The Universal Prophethood of Muḥammad, upon him blessings and peace, and Arabic; vii. Inimitability of the Qurʾān (Iʿjāz al-Qurʾān) and Arabic; viii. Arabic and Exegetical Disciplines; ix. Bibliography.

ʿArafāt (alternate spelling ʿArafa) is the name of the plain where the standing-vigil of Hajj (wuqūf al-ḥajj) takes place on the Day of ʿArafa, the ninth day of Dhūl-Ḥijja, and, by extension, the name of the greatest and indispensible pillar (rukn) of Hajj (q.v.), the standing itself. It is mentioned once in the Qurʾān (Q 2:198) and is implicitly referred to in the verse that follows: You will be committing no sin at all if [during the pilgrimage] you seek any bounty from your Sustainer; and when you surge forth from ʿArafāt, remember Allah at the sacred place—remember Him as the One who has guided you, and...

The process by which parties to a dispute agree to settle their dispute through arbiter(s) and abide by the decision of the arbiter(s). In legal terminology, arbitration (taḥkīm) is distinguished from the settlement of a dispute by an official judge (qāḍī) whose decision (ḥukm) is implemented by state authority (see below and Judgment).

The large vessel the Prophet Nūḥ (q.v.)—upon him peace—built as Divinely instructed and on which he and his family embarked but for his wife and one of their sons, together with pairs (Q 11:40) of the species Allah intended to save from a great flood that destroyed everything else. The Qurʾān uses three words to refer to the Ark...

Two Qurʾānic verses mention blood-carrying vessels, using two different words: al-warīd (Q 50:16) and al-watīn (Q 69:46). The former is generally translated as the “neck-vein” (Asad), “jugular vein” (Yusuf Ali, Pickthall, Daryabadi, Hilali), or “life-vein” (Shakir); the latter as “life artery (aorta)” (Pickthall, Hilali), “life-vein” (Asad), “artery of the heart” (Yusuf Ali), or “aorta” (Shakir).

This article comprises the following sections: i. Definitions; ii. Usage; iii. Those Who Have Gone Astray; iv. Those Who Lead Others Astray; v. Causes of Going Astray; vi. Leading Astray as Ascribed to Allah Most High; vii. The Punishment of Those Gone Astray; viii. Bibliography.

“Atom” is often used as a problematic translation of the Qurʾānic word dharra (root dh-r-r), which is mentioned six times in the Qurʾān (Q 4:40; 10:61; 34:3; 34:22; 99:7-8) in the sense of an infinitesimal quantity. Its meaning is graphically explained by Ibn ʿAbbās (3bh-68/619-688), may Allah be well-pleased with him and his father both, as “the weight of the head of a red ant” (Ṭabarī, Tafsīr, sub Q 4:40). It is also said to be like “the floating dust-motes seen when sunlight shines through a window” (Ibn Manẓūr, Lisān; al-Khāzin, Lubāb al-taʾwīl, sub Q 4:40); and “the dust which remains clinging to the hand after the rest has been blown off” (Zamakhsharī, Kashshāf, sub Q 4:40). In all six instances of its occurrence, the Qurʾān uses the singular form ...

The Qurʾān refers to Divine authority over humankind, angels, jinn, and the entirety of the natural world as an absolute prerogative by stating Allah’s exclusive possession of power (qudra, Q 2:20, 106, 109) and its synonym sulṭān (Q 7:71; 37:157); dominion (mulk, Q 3:26; 67:1)command (amr, Q 13:31; 3:128); judgment (ḥukm, Q 6:57; 12:40, 67); and glory (ʿizza, Q 4:139; 10:65; 35:10) (see Beautiful Names of Allah; Divine Decree; Judgment; Kingdom; Power; Proof).

This article comprises the following sections: i. Definitions and Usage; ii. Avarice and Greed in Human Nature; iii. The Blameworthiness of Avarice; iv. Commendable and Contemptible Desire; v. Bibliography.

“Fear (khawf) mixed with magnification (taʿẓīm)” is how al-Rāghib al-Aṣfahānī (d. ca.502/1108), the author of the celebrated Mufradāt alfāẓ al-Qurʾān, defines khashya. “It generally arises,” he continues, “from knowledge of the one for whom one has khashya; this is why scholars (al-ʿulamāʾ) are especially identified with it in His saying: ‘of His servants, surely [those who] are endowed with knowledge have awe of Allah…’ (Q 35:28)” (Mufradāt, sub kh-sh-y). Khashya, translated here as “awe”, is the infinitive noun from the root kh-sh-y and appears eight times in the Qurʾān...

One of the twenty-five prophets mentioned in the Qurʾān by name (see Prophets and Messengers). His name appears four times in four different suras (Q 4, 6, 21, 38), one of which (Q 4) was revealed in Madina. Al-Jawālīqī (465-540/1072-1145) maintained that, like all but four Prophetic names (Ādam, Ṣāliḥ, Shuʿayb, and Muḥammad), Ayyūb is a non-Arabic (aʿjamī) proper name (see Arabic) (al-Jawālīqī, al-Muʿarrab 2:61) meaning “oft-returning” (Fayrūzābādī, Qāmūs). It is also said that the name is a Hebrew loan-word...

The word Āzar appears in the Qurʾān once, in the verse And when Ibrāhīm said to his father, Āzar, do you take idols as gods? Verily, I see you and your people in manifest error (Q 6:74; all exegetical citations in this entry are to this verse, unless otherwise noted). Three different opinions are expressed in classical exegetical literature regarding his identity...

The name of an ancient Mesopotamian city in present-day Iraq, mentioned once in the Qurʾān (Q 2:102) as the abode of Hārūt and Mārūt, two fallen angels (see Angels). The context in which Bābil is mentioned is the attitude of the Children of Isrāʾīl (q.v.) toward the Qurʾān and the Prophet, upon him blessings and peace, who came to them confirming what they already possessed; yet a party of those who were granted Scripture aforetime cast the Divine writ behind their backs as though unaware [of what it says] (Q 2:101). This is followed by a reference to...

This article comprises the following sections: i. Definition; ii. Gravity of Backbiting; iii. Related Sins: Calumny, Ridicule, Taunt, Name-Calling, and Gossip; iv. A Sin of the Tongue; v. Possibly an Enormity; vi. Exceptions; vii. Causes and Remedies; viii. Bibliography.

This article comprises the following sections: i. Location and Events: Badr I, II, and III; ii. The Great Severing (Furqān); iii. The Sura of Badr: Synopsis of Sūrat al-Anfāl; iv. The Prelude to Badr; v. The Major Battle of Badr; vi. Angelic and Prophetic Address to the Unbelievers Who Died at Badr; vii. The Debate over the Captives; viii. The High Rank of the Comrades of Badr (Badriyyūn); ix. Bibliography.

This article comprises the following sections: i. Definition, Usage, Etymology; ii. The Estuarine Barzakh. iii. Figurative Barzakhs; iv. The Pre-Resurrection Afterlife; v. The Bliss or Punishment of the Grave; vi. The Life of Martyrs and Prophets in Barzakh; vii. The Hearing of the Dead; viii. Bibliography.

This article comprises the following sections: i. Definition and Usage; ii. Linguistic Construction and Meaning of bi-sm Allāh al-Raḥmān al-Raḥīm; iii. History of Revelation and Use of the Basmala; iv. The Basmala in Q 27:30; v. The Basmala in Q 11:41; vi. Issues related to the Basmala (Masʾala fī-l-basmala); vii. The Basmala in Hadiths; viii. Legal Rulings (al-aḥkām al-fiqhiyya); ix. Merits of the Basmala; x. Scholarly Literature; xi. Writing the Basmala; xii. Bibliography.

Baʿl is used in the Qurʾān once (Q 37:125) to denote a pagan deity, known as Baal in English, and six times as a common noun, in all instances meaning “husband” (see Family and Household; Marriage and Divorce). Baʿl is derived from the root b-ʿ-l…

This article comprises the following sections: i. Definitions, Usage, Etymology; ii. The Naming, the Named, and the Attribute; iii. The Names as Divinely Ordained or Deducible/Conventional; iv. The Hadith of the Ninety-Nine Names; v. Name Lists in al-Tirmidhī and Ibn Mājah; vi. Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq’s and Sufyān b. ʿUyayna’s Qurʾānic Lists; vii. “Allah has Ninety-Nine Names” may be Specific but not Exhaustive; viii. Ibn Ḥazm’s Restrictive List of Eighty-Four Names; ix. Ibn al-ʿArabī’s Qurʾānic List of One Hundred Forty-Six Names; x. Ibn Ḥajar’s Quintessential List of Ninety-Nine Names; xi. Ibn al-Wazīr’s Inclusive Lists of Two Hundred Twenty-Eight Names; xii. The Four Invocations that Incorporate all the Divine Names; xiii. Pairing (Iqtirān) of Certain Names in the Qurʾān; xiv. Commentary Literature on the Divine Names; xv. Glossary and Sources of Selected Names; xvi. The Greatest Name; xvii. The Use of Divine Names by Human Beings; xviii. Bibliography.