list of Arabic words

This page contains all the Arabic words used in the book. Click on the word to go to the explanation of it.

al Masih

Arabic for ‘the anointed’, i.e. the Messiah, one of the titles of the Lord Jesus.

Abdul

Arabic for “servant” or “slave”. This is the position of man before God the Creator.

Allahu Akbar

Arabic for ‘God is greater’. With those words the Muslim confesses that God is greater than everything that exists and he honors Him as the Creator of heaven and earth.
Allah is a contraction of al-Illah, which literally means “the God.” Both Arab Muslims and Arab Christians use the name Allah for God in Arabic.

‘Asr

Mid-afternoon. The third Islamic prayer time of the day.

Aya

Equivalent van ‘vers’ in de Bijbel. Het woord ‘aya’ betekent letterlijk ‘wonder’. In de Islam wordt ieder vers in de Koran gezien als een wonder van God. Daarom wordt de Koran met het grootste respect behandeld.

Bin

Bin means “son” or “son of.”
Whereas in the West someone’s first and last name are the most important, in the Middle East one’s name is made up of the following: his name, his father’s name, his grandfather’s name. It is not necessary to place the word ‘bin’ between the names, as that is generally assumed. Thus someone may be called Abdullah Khaled Muhammad.
For girls the same applies. They take the name of their father and paternal grandfather. Thus the sister of the above mentioned person is called Fatima Khaled Muhammad.

Dhuhr

Noon. The second Islamic prayer time of the day.

Fajr

Dawn. The First Islamic prayer time of the day. For more information, go to prayer times.

Hajj

Name of the pilgrimage to Mecca which every adult Muslim is obliged to perform once in his or her life, unless he is financially unable or for health reasons. The word is derived from the verb hajja which means “to convince” or “beat” someone (with arguments. Hajj takes place in the month of Dhu al-Hajj and lasts five days.

 

Haram

Arabic for “unlawful, not allowed”, according to the teachings of Islam.

Imam

This word comes from the verb ‘to lead the way, lead by one’s example’. It literally means ‘leader’ and is the equivalent of pastor in the church or rabbi in the synagogue. The Arabic preposition ‘amam’ means ‘in front of’. Thus the imam is the person who leads the believers in their prayers while standing in front with his face in the direction to Mecca.

Injil

This means “gospel”. Originally this wasn’t an Arabic word, but probably came from the Greek to Arabic, by way of Aramean.
For more information, go to meaning Injil

Isa

The name of Jesus in the Qur’an. In the Arabic Bible he is called Jesou’a.

Ishaah

Arabic for a chapter in the Bible.

Isha

Supper. The fifth and last Islamic prayer time of the day.

Kafir

Arabic for “unbeliever.” In general it means someone who denies the existence of God, but it is also used by different groups of Muslims for Christians, Jews and other Muslims who don’t follow their particular Islamic teaching.

Maghreb

Sunset. The fourth Islamic prayer time of the day.

Sifr

Arabic for ‘Bible book’. This is used by Arab Christians.

Surah

Arabic for a chapter in the Qur’an.

Umra

Name of the small pilgrimage to Mecca, where less rituals are performed as with the big Hajj and which can be performed any time in the year. The word is derived from the verb amara, which means “long life” or “be prosperous.”

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