QEALIS (Arabic & Islamic Studies) flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Jāhiliyya

Pre-Islamic Arabia, literally 'age of ignorance.' Used for the period before the Prophet's mission and its poetic and religious culture, especially in Qur'anic and literary contexts.

Isnād

The chain of transmitters linking a report back to its source. Hadith critics assess its continuity, narrator integrity, and accuracy to grade the report.

Matn

The actual text or content of a hadith, as distinct from its isnād. Critics examine both the chain and the text for defects or contradiction with stronger evidence.

Mutawātir

A report transmitted by so many independent chains at every level that collusion is implausible. It yields certain knowledge and is not subject to narrator-by-narrator grading.

Ḥadīth Ḥasan

A report whose chain is continuous and whose narrators are acceptable but less accurate than those of ṣaḥīḥ. It is admissible as legal evidence in most Sunni schools.

ʿIlm al-Jarḥ wa-l-Taʿdīl

The science of evaluating hadith narrators, assigning them ranks of reliability or discredit. Biographical dictionaries record these judgments and support isnād analysis.

Tafsīr bi-l-Maʾthūr

Exegesis based on transmitted evidence: the Qur'an itself, prophetic reports, and Companion statements. It prioritizes inherited authority over independent rational interpretation.

Asbāb al-Nuzūl

The occasions or circumstances of revelation that explain why a verse or passage was revealed. Knowing them clarifies the verse's original context and legal import.

Nāsikh wa-Mansūkh

Abrogation: a later ruling or verse supersedes an earlier one in a specific respect. Scholars disagree on scope, and the category is applied cautiously in tafsīr and law.

Iʿjāz al-Qurʾān

The doctrine that the Qur'an is inimitable in eloquence and content, serving as evidence of prophethood. Al-Bāqillānī and al-Jurjānī developed its rhetorical arguments.

Muḥkam and Mutashābih

Qur'anic verses classified as clear and decisive (muḥkam) or ambiguous and open to multiple readings (mutashābih). Exegetes differ on which verses fall into each category.

Qirāʾāt

The canonical recitational readings of the Qur'an, traced to named reciters. They differ in pronunciation and occasionally in wording but are treated as authentic transmissions.

Iʿrāb

The system of case and mood marking in Arabic, shown by vowels or long vowels. It signals grammatical function such as subject, object, or genitive complement.

Idāfa

The Arabic construct phrase, where the first noun is annexed to the second. The first takes no definiteness marker or tanwīn; the second is genitive.

Muḍāriʿ

The Arabic imperfect verb, expressing ongoing or possible action. It is inflected for person, number, and mood, unlike the perfect (māḍī).

Muʿtall Verb

A weak verb containing wāw or yāʾ as a root consonant. Its form changes according to whether the weak letter is first, middle, or last in the root.

Fuṣḥā

The formal register of Arabic used in writing, formal speech, and religious contexts. It contrasts with regional dialects (ʿāmmiyya) in phonology, lexicon, and syntax.

Tawḥīd

The doctrine of God's oneness, central to Islamic creed. It affirms God's unity in essence, attributes, and worship, and is the first article of faith.

Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿa

The higher objectives of Islamic law, classically including protection of religion, life, intellect, lineage, and property. Modern thinkers extend the list to justice and dignity.

Qiyās

Analogical reasoning in Islamic law: extending a known ruling to a new case because the two share an effective cause (ʿilla). It is a secondary source after Qur'an, Sunna, and consensus.

Ijmāʿ

Consensus of qualified scholars on a legal or theological matter. It is a recognized source of law, though schools differ over whose consensus counts and when it binds.

Ijtihād

Independent legal reasoning by a qualified scholar (mujtahid) to derive a ruling from revealed sources. It contrasts with taqlīd, following an established school's position.

Maqāma

A classical Arabic prose genre of rhymed episodes featuring a trickster narrator. Al-Hamadhānī and al-Ḥarīrī are its most celebrated practitioners.

ʿIlm al-Balāgha

Arabic rhetoric, divided into maʿānī (syntax and context), bayān (figurative expression), and badīʿ (embellishment). It analyzes how wording fits its communicative setting.

Istiʿāra

Metaphor in Arabic rhetoric, where a word is used for something other than its literal meaning on the basis of resemblance. It is a central device in bayān.

Sajʿ

Rhymed prose with parallel clause endings, used in the Qur'an, maqāmāt, and oratory. It is distinguished from poetry by meter and by the absence of strict line structure.

Qaṣīda

The classical Arabic ode, built on a single rhyme and meter. Its conventional sections include the nasīb (lament), raḥīl (journey), and madīḥ (praise).

Ibn Khaldūn

Fourteenth-century historian and author of the Muqaddima. He theorized ʿaṣabiyya (group solidarity) and cyclical dynastic rise and decline in Islamic history.

Hijra

The Prophet's migration from Mecca to Medina in 622 CE. It marks year one of the Islamic calendar and the founding of the first Muslim polity.

Ribā

Interest or usurious gain prohibited in Islamic finance. Modern scholars apply the prohibition to conventional interest-bearing loans and develop alternative structures such as murābaḥa.

Taḥqīq

Critical editing of a manuscript based on comparison of witnesses, recording variants and verifying attribution. It is central to the study of classical Islamic texts.

ʿArūḍ

The science of Arabic poetic meter, systematized by al-Khalīl ibn Aḥmad into sixteen meters. It governs syllable patterns and determines whether a line scans correctly.