Kerala +2 Islamic History key terms

The term for Arabia before Islam, meaning the age of ignorance. It describes tribal society, polytheism, and oral custom that the Prophet's message challenged and later historians contrasted with Islamic guidance.

The migration of the Prophet Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Medina in 622 CE. It marks the start of the Islamic calendar and the founding of the first Muslim community.

The 'helpers' of Medina, mainly from the Aws and Khazraj tribes, who gave shelter and support to the Prophet and the Meccan migrants. Their pact with the Muhajirun shaped early community life.

The Meccan emigrants who left their homes for Medina with the Prophet. They formed the other half of the early community and were paired with the Ansar through bonds of brotherhood.

A written agreement attributed to the Prophet that regulated relations among the Muhajirun, the Ansar, and the Jewish tribes of Medina. It is often studied as an early charter of collective civic responsibility.

The chain of transmitters listed before a hadith report, naming each person who passed the teaching down. Scholars judged its continuity and the reliability of its links to assess authenticity.

The actual text or content of a hadith, as distinct from the chain of transmitters that precedes it. Analysis of matn checks whether the wording fits known teachings and historical context.

A report of a saying, action, or approval of the Prophet Muhammad, transmitted through a chain of narrators. Hadith collections became a major source for law, ethics, and early history.

The Prophet's normative practice and example, known through hadith reports. It complements the Quran as a source of guidance and is central to how Muslim jurists derive rulings.

The scholarly interpretation and explanation of the Quran. It draws on language, context, and transmitted reports, and ranges from concise verse commentary to large multi-volume works.

The human articulation of Islamic law, covering worship, transactions, family, and penalties. It is the product of jurists reasoning from the Quran, Sunna, and agreed principles, distinct from the sources themselves.

Independent legal reasoning by a qualified scholar to reach a ruling on a question not settled explicitly in the sources. Its scope and limits were debated between traditionalist and reformist thinkers.

Following the settled ruling of an established legal school or scholar rather than deriving a fresh judgment. Reform movements often criticised it as a barrier to independent reasoning.

A school of Islamic jurisprudence built around the method and rulings of a founding jurist. The major Sunni schools are Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i, and Hanbali, each with its own legal literature.

The legal school founded by Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafi'i, emphasising a structured hierarchy of sources: Quran, Sunna, consensus, and analogy. It became dominant in much of South Asia and the Malabar Coast.

Speculative theology in Islam, which uses rational argument to defend and clarify beliefs about God, revelation, and creation. It developed alongside law and attracted both strong defenders and critics.

A theological school that stressed God's unity and justice and upheld five core principles, including the createdness of the Quran. Its rationalist stance was influential under early Abbasid patronage.

A Sunni theological school associated with Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari, which used reasoned argument while affirming traditional teachings on God's attributes. It became widely accepted across much of the Sunni world.

A Sunni theological school linked to Abu Mansur al-Maturidi of Samarkand, close to Ash'ari method but differing on several points, including the scope of human responsibility. It spread widely in Hanafi regions.

The Abbasid inquisition, mainly in the ninth century, that tested officials and scholars on the doctrine of the created Quran. It is studied as a landmark episode in the relation between state power and theology.

The 'rightly guided' caliphs: Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali. Their period is treated as a model of early governance and is central to debates on succession and legitimacy.

Consultation in decision-making, practised by the Prophet and early caliphs on matters not settled by revelation. Later writers invoked it to argue for collective deliberation in political authority.

A non-Muslim subject of an Islamic state, usually a Jew or Christian, who paid a poll tax and received protection and internal communal autonomy. The status shaped legal and social relations for centuries.

The poll tax levied on protected non-Muslim adult males in an Islamic state, in return for protection and exemption from military service. Its rates and application varied by time and region.

A land tax assessed on agricultural land in conquered territories, distinct from the poll tax on persons. Its administration shaped early Islamic fiscal institutions and landholding patterns.

A register or government bureau that recorded soldiers, revenues, and administrative affairs. Introduced in the early conquest period, diwans became central to Umayyad and Abbasid statecraft.

A chief minister or senior administrator under the Abbasids and later states, supervising departments and advising the ruler. The office became a powerful institution in its own right.

The 'House of Wisdom' in Baghdad, an Abbasid centre associated with translation and scholarship. It is studied as a symbol of the movement of Greek, Persian, and Indian learning into Arabic.

The large-scale rendering of Greek, Syriac, Persian, and Indian works into Arabic, especially from the eighth to tenth centuries. It transmitted medicine, mathematics, astronomy, and philosophy into Islamic scholarship.

A ninth-century scholar of Baghdad whose work on algebra and on Indian numerals shaped mathematics. His name underlies the word algorithm, and his texts circulated in Latin translation.

A scholarly institution, notably the Fatimid Dar al-Ilm in Cairo, providing libraries and teaching in the sciences and humanities. Such foundations show how learning was patronised beyond the caliphal court.

An endowment of property or income dedicated in perpetuity to a charitable or religious purpose, such as a mosque, school, or hospital. Waqf law sustained many Islamic educational and welfare institutions.

An institution for advanced teaching of law, theology, and related sciences, often attached to a mosque and supported by endowment. Madrasas spread widely from the eleventh century and shaped scholarly careers.

A primary or elementary school where children learned Quran recitation, basic Arabic, and religious fundamentals. Maktabs formed the base layer of education beneath the madrasa.

The term for Muslims of the Malabar Coast in Kerala, also called Moplahs, with a long history of Arab trade contact and local settlement. Their literature and reform movements are central to Kerala Islamic history.

The southwestern coast of India, now largely in Kerala, long linked to Arabian Sea trade. Its port towns hosted Muslim merchant communities and produced distinctive regional Islamic scholarship.

The title of the rulers of Calicut, a major Malabar trading state. Their dealings with Arab and other merchants helped shape the commercial and religious landscape of the coast.

A body of Malayalam-language Muslim poetry and song, including the Mappila pattukal, blending local metre with Islamic themes. It shows how Islam was expressed in Kerala's vernacular culture.

Movements from the late nineteenth century that criticised customs and sought closer adherence to Quran and Sunna through education and organisation. They reshaped community institutions and public life in Kerala.

A reform current that calls for returning to the practice of the early Muslim generations and rejecting later accretions. It influenced modern movements across the Islamic world, including South Asia.

An eighteenth-century Indian scholar who wrote on hadith, law, and reform and urged renewal of Islamic learning. His work influenced later South Asian reform and educational movements.

A late nineteenth-century reform effort led by Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan, promoting modern education and social change among Indian Muslims. It produced a college that became a university.

The commander whose campaign in the early eighth century brought Sind into the Umayyad orbit. His conquest is treated as the start of organised Muslim rule in the subcontinent.

The dynasty ruling from Damascus after the Rashidun, from the seventh to the mid-eighth century. It is studied for administrative centralisation, expansion, and later criticism of dynastic rule.

The mid-eighth-century overthrow of Umayyad rule that brought the Abbasids to power with support from Khurasan. It shifted the centre of empire toward Iraq and new administrative forms.

The science of evaluating hadith transmitters, assessing their reliability, memory, and trustworthiness. It underpins the classification of reports as sound, good, weak, or fabricated.

Quran commentary based on transmitted reports, such as explanations attributed to the Prophet, Companions, and early successors. It is contrasted with commentary relying mainly on reason and language.