abnā’ Literally “sons”
Used (a) of the descendants of Persian settlers in Yemen at the time of Muḥammad, and (b) of the descendants of the Khurāsānīs who came west with the ‘Abbasid armies and settled in Baghdad.
aḥdāth
An urban militia.
amīr
Army commander, provincial governor or ruler of a small independent state.
amīr al-umarā’ Literally “commander of commanders”
Title given to those who took over secular authority in Baghdad from the ‘Abbasid caliphs after 324/936.
Anṣār Literally “helpers”
The inhabitants of Medina who supported Muḥammad.
ashrāf
See sharīf.
‘aṭā’
Salary paid to soldiers.
‘ayyār
Originally a derogatory term meaning “vagabond” but later used for irregular troops and vigilante groups.
bay‘a
Oath of allegiance to the caliph or other ruler.
dā‘ī
Missionary, usually of clandestine religio-political movements.
dā‘wa
Missionary movement (cf. dā‘ī).
dawla
Dynasty or state, e.g. the ‘Abbasid dawla or the Fatimid dawla.
dehqan
Persian term for landowners in Iran and Iraq, usually gentry rather than members of the higher aristocracy.
dihqān
Arabic form of dehqan.
dīnār
Standard gold coin.
dirham
Standard silver coin.
dīwān
Originally list of those entitled to state salaries. Also office or department of government.
ḍiyā‘
Plural of ḍay‘ a meaning landed estate, usually applied to the lands owned by the ‘Abbasid caliphs (cf. ṣawāfī).
fitna
Civil war or dispute within the Muslim community.
ghāzī
A Muslim volunteer who fights in the jihād.
ghazw
Bedouin tribal raid.
ghulām, pl. ghilmān
Literally “young men” or “pages”; term used for Turkish soldiers especially in fourth/tenth century (cf. mamlūk).
ḥājib
Doorkeeper, chamberlain.
ḥajj
The annual pilgrimage to Mecca.
ḥaram
Sanctuary area, esp. around the Ka‘ba in Mecca.
hijra
The emigration of Muḥammad from Mecca to Medina in 622, which marks the beginning of the Muslim era.
ḥimāya
Protection; once a form of lordship in which an important figure exercises fiscal rights over an area or community.
imām
Spiritual leader of the Muslim community.
iqṭā’
Assignment to an individual of right to collect taxes from an area or community, usually in exchange for military service. In common use from the fourth/tenth century.
jāhiliyya
Period of ignorance or savagery in Arabia before the coming of Islam.
jizya
Poll tax levied on non-Muslims.
jund
Army; one of the administrative districts of Syria and Palestine.
kātib
Secretary.
kharāj
Land tax.
khuṭba
Address in mosque at Friday prayer which included mention of the ruler’s name, a sign of sovereignty.
kuttāb
Pl. of kātib.
Maghāriba
Troops recruited in north Africa.
mamlūk
A slave soldier; this term, occasionally used in early Islamic history, came to replace the term ghulām from the fifth/eleventh century onwards.
mawlā,
pl. mawālī Originally “client”, often non-Arab client of an Arab tribe, hence the use of mawālī to describe non-Arab Muslims in the first century of Islam. Later more commonly “freedmen” in the ‘Abbasid period, the term passes out of general use in the fourth/tenth century.
Muhājir,
pl. Muhājirūn Those who participated in the Hijra, that is, the Meccans who accompanied Muḥammad to settle in Medina.
naqīb
Representative; used (a) of those in Medina appointed by Muḥammad to look after his interests before the Hijra, and (b) of those who led the ‘Abbasid movement in Khurāsān during Umayyad times.
qāḍī
Muslim judge.
qaṭī‘a
Form of landholding common in the Umayyad and early ‘Abbasid period. Land was alienable, heritable and subject to a lower rate of tax than kharāj land. Not to be confused with iqṭā‘.
qurrā
A term of disputed etymology, probably meaning (Qur’ān) readers; used for the early Muslim settlers in Iraq, some of whom later joined the Khawārij.
ra’īs al-balad
Unofficial leader of the native civilian population of a town.
ridda
Apostasy from Islam; hence, the wars in Arabia which followed Muḥammad’s death are known as the Ridda wars.
sābiqa
Precedence, especially precedence in conversion to Islam, i.e. the earlier a person was converted, the greater his sābiqa.
ṣadaqa
The payment of alms enjoined by Muslim law.
Saqāliba
Slaves of Slav or western European origin.
ṣawāfī
Lands belonging to the Muslim community or to the caliph, especially in Iraq in early Islamic times (cf. ḍiyā‘).
Sharī‘ā
Muslim religious law.
sharīf, pl.ashrāf
In Umayyad times, tribal leader, chief; by the fourth/tenth century, the title is usually confined to descendants of ‘Alī.
shūra
A council formed to choose a caliph.
shurṭa
Police force or military escort.
Sunna
The sayings and actions of Muḥammad used as legal precedents.
sūq
Market.
umma
The Muslim community.
wāsiṭa
Literally intermediary; hence in Fatimid Egypt the intermediary between the caliph and his subjects, chief minister.
wazīr
Chief minister in the ‘Abbasid and Buyid governments.