Glossary

adab –

the full range of accomplishments, from some knowledge of mathematics and poetry to the arts of conversation and genealogy, expected of an Arab gentleman.

A.H. –

Anno Hegirae, the latin term for the dating of the lunar years of the Muslim Era of the Hegira (also Hejira). The term refers to the Prophet’s withdrawal from Mecca to Medina on 16 July A.D.622.

al-Jazirah –

from the Arabic word for ‘island’, the region lying within upper Iraq and south-eastern Turkey between the Upper Euphrates and Tigris rivers –i.e. Upper Mesopotamia.

atabeg –

a ruler of a city, from the Turkish word for ‘a tutor’, i.e. originally the regent for a minor, the nominal ruler.

Hajj –

the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, enjoined on all pious Muslims.

imam –

a leader of the Muslim community, in some contexts the caliph himself. In the Shia tradition the imams are leaders of special sanctity and absolute moral and religious authority who have appeared at successive epochs in history.

iqta –

a payment in land revenues, to be derived by the holder (mukta) from estates, villages or towns assigned to him for the purpose.

khutba –

a sermon. For the cultivated Muslim the khutba was an exercise in high poetic literary art, followed avidly so that a listener might be able to repeat passages verbatim. Skilled practitioners were much admired. It was an oration that might have political as well as religious significance.

mamluk or mameluke –

a (usually Turkish) soldier of slave origins. Saladin followed convention by recruiting slave corps in his armies in Egypt. In 1250 a leader of one of these corps200 Saladin seized power, establishing the Mamluk dynasty that was to rule Egypt for the next 250 years.

mihrab –

a prayer niche in the wall of a mosque that faces in the direction of Mecca, the qibla; the mihrab thus indicates the qibla.

minbar –

the pulpit from which the khutba is delivered.

muezzin –

the official of a mosque who declaims the call to prayer from the minaret.

mulla, mullah –

deriving from an Arabic word (mawlah) denoting ‘lord’ or ‘master’, mulla came be used as a term of respect for a religious teacher.

qadi –

a judge in the tradition of the shari’ah law; he came to be an administrator of pious bequests or a guardian of minors and other vulnerable people such as widows.

qibla –

the direction to be faced by the Faithful for prayer, indicated in a mosque by the mihrab.

razzia –

a raiding campaign (original Arabic ghazia, meaning ‘war’).

rais –

the senior official of a town administration.

sultan –

originally with the meaning of moral or religious authority as such, from the eleventh century it was used as the title of a ruler.

tchogandar –

the polo master, an important court official. The word derives from tchogan, ‘ball’.

ummah –

the religious political community of Islam in which the power of the Faith is vested and the consensus of whose opinions is the ultimate guide to right-doing. An unpopular or corrupt ruler or regime may be considered a arasitic intermediary on the ummah.

zarf –

the sense of style, elegance and refinement that should underlie a gentleman’s education.