The Israelite king, mentioned sixteen times in the Qurʾān. David (Dāwūd) appears in the Qurʾān as a link in the chain of proph-¶ ets who preceded Muḥammad (q 4:163; 6:84). Although he is not one of the law giving prophets (ulū al-ʿazm), he is far from a marginal figure. David in the Qurʾān David was the recipient of a written divine book of psalms (q.v.; q 4:163; 17:55). Mountains and birds obeyed him in praising God (q 21:79; 34:10). He killed Goliath (q.v.; Jālūt) and God granted him kingship ( mulk, see kings and rulers ) after Saul (q.v.; Ṭālūt) and wisdom (q.v.; ḥikma,q 2:251), sometimes exp…

 see psalms Bibliography

Click here to open EPK-44 Author Nerreter, David, 1644-1726. Language German Reference BM Arabic II, col. 429. | Schnurrer, C.F. von. Bibliotheca Arabica, p. 424. | Binark & Eren. World bib., 813. In Nerreter, David, 1644-1726. David Nerreters Neu-eröffnete Mahometanische Moschea. Gedrückt in Nürnberg : Wolffgang Moritz Endters, 1703. p. 1-504. Original held by Bayerische Staatsbibliothek -- Munich, Germany Shelfmark BSB A.or.587 Prof. dr. Hartmut Bobzin

Israelite king mentioned in both the Qurʾān and the Bible. Called Ṭālūt, the “tall one,” in the Qurʾān, Saul is mentioned briefly in q 2:246-51. After Moses (q.v.), the Israelites (see children of israel ) asked an unnamed prophet (see prophets and prophethood ) — identified in qurʾānic commentaries as Ashmawīl or Shamwīl, Samuel (q.v.) — that God appoint a king so that they could fight in his path (see kings and rulers; path or way). They were surprised to find that Saul was appointed, especially since he was a poor water-carrier. The Israelites considered themselves …

Click here to open EPK-11 Author Megerlin, David Friedrich, d. 1778. Imprint Franckfurt am Mayn : Bey Johann Gottlieb Garbe, 1772. Physical description 876 p. : front. ; 18 cm. Language German Reference BM Arabic I, col. 892. | Schnurrer, C.F. von. Bibliotheca Arabica, p. 430. | Binark & Eren. World bib., 812. Original held by Württembergische Landesbibliothek -- Stuttgart, Germany Shelfmark WLB Theol.oct.9947 Prof. dr. Hartmut Bobzin

The title of a book of religious songs and poems of praise and prayer poems in the Hebrew Bible to which, according to most interpretations, reference is made in the Qurʾān. It is called Tehillim in rabbinical Hebrew (lit. “songs of praise”) with the connotation in post-exilitic Bible books of “songs of Temple worship”; psalmos is Greek for “a song sung to a harp.” One of the common words for this kind of composition found in the book of Psalms itself is mizmōr, which is related to the Arabic mizmār, “single-pipe woodwind instrument resembling the oboe,” and mazmūr, “psalm.” The Hebrew psal…

Foe of the Children of Israel (q.v.) slain by David (q.v.). Goliath's name (Jālūt; this Arabic rendition of the name is possibly influenced by the Heb. word for exile, gālūt; cf. Vajda, Djālūt) is mentioned three times in q 2:249-51 wherein he is portrayed as the ancient Israelites' opponent in battle. The qurʾānic account conflates the biblical story of Gideon's conflict with the Midianites (see midian ) — in particular the episode wherein God instructed Gideon to ¶ select only those men who drank from the river by scooping water with their hand ( Judg 7:1-7) — with the account of the wars of Sau…

In Arabic, khalīfa is the title adopted by the head of the Muslim polity (see community ¶ and society in the qurʾān ) ever since the death of the prophet Muḥammad in 11/632. The term occurs in the Qurʾān twice in the singular and seven times in the plural, as khalāʾif or khulafāʾ, and some of its verbal occurrences (particularly khalafa and istakhlafa) are semantically very closely connected with it. There is little in the qurʾānic occurrences of the term that prepares for its politically and theologically charged meaning. By far its most prevalent meaning in the …

Sūrat Ṣād  Sūrat Ṣād   Cosmology   David   Dreams and Sleep   Mysterious Letters   Narratives   Ritual and the Qurʾān   Verse(s)  1   Form and Structure of the Qurʾān   Memory   Names of the Qurʾān   Prayer   Remembrance   Rhetoric and the Qurʾān   Sūra(s)  1-11   Narratives  3   Generations   Grammar and the Qurʾān   Mercy  4   Insanity   Jinn   Magic   Marvels   Provocation  4-5   Miracles  4-7   Quraysh  4-8   Muḥammad  6   Community and Society in the Qurʾān   Mecca   Moses   Trust and Patience  7   Foreign Vocabulary   Muḥammad  8   Names of the Qurʾān  10   Kings and…

  q-ḍ-y    qaḍā    Conquest    Cosmology    Fate    Grammar and the Qurʾān    Judgment    Persian Literature and the Qurʾān    Word of God    qaḍāʾ    Belief and Unbelief    Cosmology    Death and the Dead    Decision    Ethics and the Qurʾān    Fate    Freedom and Predestination    Impotence    Judgment    Philosophy and the Qurʾān    Trust and Patience    qaḍāʾ wa-(l-)qadar    qāḍī, pl. quḍāt    African Literature    Judgment    Maintenance and Upkeep    Reciters of the Qurʾān    Ritual and the Qurʾān    Seeing and Hearing    Teaching and Preaching the Qurʾān    Torah…

Adoption (tabannī) was a recognized practice in pre-Islamic Arabia, with Muḥammad, prior to his prophetic mission, himself having reportedly adopted his freedman, Zayd ibn Ḥāritha, who consequently became known as Zayd b. Muḥammad. Q 33:4-6, however, abrogated this pre-Islamic custom, dissolved the fictive ties of kinship  (al-muʾākhāt) that the Prophet Muḥammad had established between the Meccan immigrants to Medina and the Medinans upon his arrival there, and recognized ties of fictive kinship between the Prophet’s wives and the Muslim community by declaring them…

The son of the biblical king David (q.v.) and heir to his throne. Solomon (Ar. Sulaymān) is presented in the Qurʾān as playing three important roles, although they are often interwoven in its narrative (see narratives ). He was a ruler who inherited his father's knowledge as well as his kingdom (see kings and rulers; knowledge and learning; power and impotence); a prophet (see prophets and prophethood ) who, despite occasional lapses in devotional practice (see piety; worship; ritual and the qurʾān), enjoyed divine protection (q.v.) and was assured an honored place in paradi…

Khaled M. Abou El Fadl, University of California at Los Angeles Binyamin Abrahamov, Bar-Ilan University Ibrahim M. Abu-Rabiʿ, Hartford Seminary Nadia Abu-Zahra, Oxford University Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd, University of Leiden Charles J. Adams, McGill University Camilla P. Adang, Tel Aviv University Asma Afsaruddin, University of Notre Dame M. Shahab Ahmed, Harvard University Ahmad M. al-Baghdadi, Kuwait University Michael W. Albin, Library of Congress, Washington, DC Scott C. Alexander, Catholic Theological Union, Chicago Muhammad al-Faruque, Stanford University Ilai Alon, Tel…

Sūrat Sabāʾ  Sūrat Sabāʾ   Exegesis of the Qurʾān: Classical and Medieval   Persian Literature and the Qurʾān   Sheba  1   Pairs and Pairing   Praise  1-5   Destiny  2   Basmala   Jinn   Pairs and Pairing   Spiritual Beings  3   Adultery and Fornication   Book   Computers and the Qurʾān   Day, Times of   Destiny   Instruments   Language and Style of the Qurʾān   Last Judgment   Measurement   Money   Provocation   Time   Weights and Measures  4   Book   Forgiveness  5   Inimitability   Reward and Punishment   Ritual Purity   Verse(s)  6   Pairs and Pairing   Path or Way   S…

  f-t-w / f-t-y    aftā    Traditional Disciplines of Qurʾānic Studies    fatayāt    Concubines    Slaves and Slavery    fatiya    Moses    Slaves and Slavery    Teaching    fatwā, pl. fatāwā    Adultery and Fornication    Barēlwīs    Gambling    Media and the Qurʾān    Medicine and the Qurʾān    Persian Literature and the Qurʾān    Printing of the Qurʾān    Ritual and the Qurʾān    Slaughter    Teaching and Preaching the Qurʾān    Temporary Marriage    Torah    lajnat al-fatāwā    istafā    Teaching    muftī    Politics and the Qurʾān   f-t-ḥ   Conquest   Expeditions an…

Undeserved favor or unmerited salvation. Grace has no linguistic or conceptual equivalent in the Qurʾān, although faḍl in certain contexts suggests shades of that meaning. q 2:64, criticizing the Israelites (see children of israel ) for breaking a covenant (q.v.) with God, says “Were it not for God's faḍl upon you and his mercy (q.v.), you would have been among the losers.” This implies that while, strictly-speaking, the breach called for punishment (see chastisement and punishment ), God's faḍl gave the Israelites respite and another chance. It was David's (q.v.) special gift that…

Plants distinguished by their jointed stems, narrow and spear-shaped blades and fruits of a seedlike grain; also, the green herbage affording food for cattle and other grazing animals. The Qurʾān does not contain spe-¶ cific words for grass(es) as used in the modern Arabic language such as ʿushb and ḥashīsh. The word ḍighth in q 38:44, rendered in some translations as “a handful of (green or dry) grass,” can also refer to a mixture of herbs or a handful of twigs from trees or shrubs; Lane conveys a gloss of the term in the same passage as “a bundle of rushes.” Al-Ṭabarī (d. 310/923) understands…

Khārija b. Zayd  Ḥadīth and the Qurʾān Khārijī(s)/Khārijites  Ambiguous  Belief and Unbelief  Courage  Deferral  Dissimulation  Emigration  Epigraphy  Expeditions and Battles  Faith  Forgery  Heresy  Immunity  Imām  Intercession  Iraq  Jews and Judaism  Justice and Injustice  Khārijīs  Language and Style of the Qurʾān  Last Judgment  Laudation  Numismatics  Parties and Factions  Philosophy and the Qurʾān  Politics and the Qurʾān  Reciters of the Qurʾān  Revision and Alteration  Reward and Punishment  Sin, Major and Minor  Sovereignty  Taxation  Witnessing and Testi…

Kings and rulers refer to male sovereigns and other political leaders. They are evoked or alluded to in a number of Qurʾānic terms and passages. Derived from the root m-l-k, which connotes possession, having power or dominion over someone or something (see Power and Impotence), or the capacity or ability to obtain something, the Arabic term malik, “king,” appears thirteen times in the Qurʾān (its plural form mulūk appears twice). Related Qurʾānic terms include mulk, “dominion, power, or kingdom,” and malakūt, “dominion or kingdom.” The former, attested many times in the Qur…

Royal male sovereigns and other political leaders. The Arabic term malik, “king,” appears thirteen times in the Qurʾān (its plural form mulūk appears twice), and is derived from the root m-l-k, which connotes possession (q.v.), having power or dominion over someone or something (see power and impotence ), or capacity, the ability to obtain something. Other qurʾānic terms relevant to this subject include mulk, “dominion, power or kingdom,” and malakūt, “dominion or kingdom.” The former, which is attested many times in the Qurʾān, may be associated either with God …

Zaynab is said to be the subject of a cluster of Qurʾānic passages (Q 33:36, 33:37-8, 33:53, 66:1-4), some of which are addressed to the Prophet Muḥammad. Later historians and exegetes equated this unnamed woman in the Qurʾān with the figure of Zaynab bt. Jaḥsh al-Asadiyya (d. 20/641). She was Muḥammad's first cousin; the daughter of his paternal aunt Umayma bt. ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib and Jaḥsh b. Riyāb, who was from the tribe of Asad b. Khuzayma and a client of the clan of ʿAbd Shams.1. Zaynab's Marriage to Zayd (Q 33:36)The biographer Ibn Saʿd (230/845) describes her as a beautiful woma…

Zayd b. Muḥammad, né Zayd b. Ḥāritha b. Sharāḥīl al-Kalbī (b. ca. 580, d. 7 or 8 AH/629 CE), is the only Muslim apart from Muḥammad who is mentioned by name in the Qurʾān (Q 33:37). The reference to Zayd in this verse generated a substantial number of narrative reports that are scattered across Qurʾān commentaries, ḥadīth collections, sīra texts, biographical dictionaries, and historical chronicles. When these reports are assembled and arranged in chronological order, there emerges the rich and colourful life of a man who played an important role in the emergence of Islam.Zayd was born a…

-khāʾ-   kh-b-r    ikhbār    Witnessing and Testifying    ikhtibārī    Recitation of the Qurʾān    Witnessing and Testifying    khabar, pl. akhbār    Expeditions and Battles    History and the Qurʾān    Hospitality and Courtesy    Language and Style of the Qurʾān    Martyrs    Narratives    News    Persian Literature and the Qurʾān    Qibla    Sheets    Traditional Disciplines of Qurʾānic Studies    Ḥadīth and the Qurʾān    khabīr    God and his Attributes    History and the Qurʾān    Wisdom    khubr    News   kh-b-th    khabāʾith    Ethics and the Qurʾān    khabīth, pl. k…

  ʿ-t-w    ʿataw    Pride    ʿatā    Conceit    ʿutuww    Conceit    ʿātiya    Air and Wind    Book   ʿ-w-d    maʿād    Everyday Life, Qurʾān In    Judgment    Last Judgment    Philosophy and the Qurʾān    Resurrection    ʿāda    Last Judgment    Medicine and the Qurʾān    ʿādda, pl. awāʿid    Consecration of Animals    ʿīd    Almsgiving    Epigraphy    Festivals and Commemorative Days    Fātiḥa    Geography    Miracles    Prayer    Ramaḍān    Sacrifice    Table    ʿīd al-aḍḥā    ʿīd al-fiṭr    ʿīd al-qurbān    ʿūd    Recitation of the Qurʾān   ʿ-w-dh    istaʿādha    Amule…

God   House of   City   Throne of   Medina   Throne of God   Water of Paradise Goddard, H.  Baptism Goethe, J.  Exegesis of the Qurʾān: Early Modern and Contemporary  Language and Style of the Qurʾān  Translations of the Qurʾān Gog [Yajūj]  Alexander  Antichrist  Apocalypse  Conquest  Gog and Magog  Last Judgment  Narratives  Noah  Power and Impotence  Resurrection  Trips and Voyages Goitein, S.  Fasting  Fātiḥa  Night of Power  Ramaḍān Golden Gate  Jerusalem Goldenberg, G.  Grammar and the Qurʾān Goldman, S.  Joseph Goldziher, I.  Abrogation  Age of Ignorance  Contemporary Cri…

Persian(s)  Antichrist  Byzantines  Christians and Christianity  Crucifixion  Expeditions and Battles  Foreign Vocabulary  Foretelling in the Qurʾān  Gambling  Geography  History and the Qurʾān  Ilāf  Monasticism and Monks  Noah  Persian Literature and the Qurʾān  Pre-Islamic Arabia and the Qurʾān  Provocation  Soothsayer  Sīra and the Qurʾān  Time  Translations of the Qurʾān Pesach see Passover Peter (apostle of Jesus)  Table Peter Alphonsi (Petrus Alphonsi, Rabbi Moses Sephardi, d. after 1130)  Pre-1800 Preoccupations of Qurʾānic Studies Peter the Great (czar)  Trans…

Extreme hunger, denoted in the Qurʾān by the synonymous terms, makhmaṣa and masghaba. Makhmaṣa occurs at q 5:3 (cf. Ṭabarī, Tafsīr, iv, 424-5) and q 9:120. The first instance is situated in the context of food taboos (see food and drink; forbidden) where it is stated, “Whoever is constrained by hunger ( makhmaṣa, i.e. to eat of what is forbidden) not intending to commit transgression, will find God forgiving and merciful (see forgiveness; mercy).” The second instance suggests hunger suffered for the cause of God ( fī sabīli llāhi, see path or way ). The full sense of the word in both pa…

  ḥ-j-b   Trade and Commerce    ḥijāb    Barrier    Barzakh    Clothing    Community and Society in the Qurʾān    Epigraphy    Eschatology    Furniture and Furnishings    God and his Attributes    People of the Heights    Prophets and Prophethood    Religious Pluralism and the Qurʾān    Textual Criticism of the Qurʾān    Veil    Wives of the Prophet    Women and the Qurʾān    min warāʾi ḥijāb[in]    ʿ_ʾisha bint Abī Bakr    Ḥadīth and the Qurʾān    ḥijāban mastūran    ḥājib    Soothsayer   ḥ-j-j    iḥtajja    Politics and the Qurʾān    ḥajj    Almsgiving    Caravan    Cave…

-mīm-   m-d-d    amadda    Readings of the Qurʾān    madad    Intercession    madd    Recitation of the Qurʾān    Ḥadīth and the Qurʾān    madda    Day, Times of    Earth    Time    Word of God    madda    Recitation of the Qurʾān    midād    Instruments    Literacy    Nature as Signs    Orality and Writing in Arabia    Writing and Writing Materials    mudda    Time   m-d-n    madīna, pl. madāʾin/mudun   m-d-ḥ    madīḥ, pl. madāʾiḥ    Everyday Life, Qurʾān In   m-h-d    mahd    Earth    Furniture and Furnishings    mihād    Earth    Furniture and Furnishings    Pit   m-h-l    muhl    F…

Being subject to change, departure or destruction. The Qurʾān contrasts the transitoriness of this world (q.v.; see also generations; history and the qurʾān; air and wind; ashes) with the eternally enduring quality of the hereafter (see eschatology ) and also with the eternity (q.v.) of God (see god and his attributes ). The Qurʾān often states that whereas this life (al-ḥayāt al-dunyā) will pass away (e.g. q 10:24; 18:45) and both its ¶ pleasures (e.g. q 57:20) and its trials (e.g. q 7:94-5; see trial; trust and patience) are transitory, the realities to come in the hereafter (al-ākhira) w…

Sūrat al-Anbiyāʾ  Sūrat al-Anbiyāʾ   Narratives   Ritual and the Qurʾān  1   Expeditions and Battles   Last Judgment  2   Belief and Unbelief   Remembrance  2-3   Magic  3   Grammar and the Qurʾān   Magic   Muḥammad   Whisper  3-4   Provocation  4   Ears   Pairs and Pairing  5   Agriculture and Vegetation   Divination   Dreams and Sleep   Foretelling in the Qurʾān   Language and Style of the Qurʾān   Literature and the Qurʾān   Muḥammad   Poetry and Poets   Popular and Talismanic Uses of the Qurʾān   Prophets and Prophethood   Provocation   Revelation and Inspiration   R…

Thankfulness or disdain in response to a kindness. A dominant feature of the concept of gratitude in the Qurʾān is its use to describe the spiritual bond binding the believer to God. Gratitude has a very broad semantic field in the Qurʾān with a strong theocentric character in the sense that gratitude is owed chiefly to God, even if that means through what God has made and the offices he has appointed. Gratitude is a spiritual and moral state of mind, spiritual in the sense of acknowledging the …

Waardenburg, J.  Death and the Dead Wadd  God and his Attributes  Iconoclasm  Idols and Images  Narratives  South Arabia, Religions in Pre-Islamic [Wādī l-] Shuḍayf  South Arabia, Religions in Pre-Islamic [Wādī] Mahzūr  Qurayẓa (Banū al-) [Wādī] Rumm (in Trans Jordan)  Syria [Wādī] al-Dawāsir  Geography [Wādī] al-Rumma  Geography Wadud-Muhsin, A.  Feminism and the Qurʾān  Gender  Teaching and Preaching the Qurʾān  Women and the Qurʾān Wagl  South Arabia, Religions in Pre-Islamic Wagtendonk, K.  Fasting  Myths and Legends in the Qurʾān  Night of Power  Post-Enlightenment Aca…

Saturday, technically, Friday evening to Saturday evening. While related etymologically to the Aramaic and Hebrew words for the Sabbath (in which tradition it connotes the day of “rest”), the Arabic term (sabt) was provided with an appropriate Islamic sense by the Qurʾān and later Muslim interpretation. The Qurʾān uses the word sabt six times (plus once as a verb, yasbitu, “to keep the Sabbath,” in q 7:163) and clearly draws a relationship between the Jews, the Sabbath and not working on that day of the week, in keeping with the Jewish tradition (see jews and judaism ). The day was imposed…

Jeffery, A.  Barzakh  Chronology and the Qurʾān  Codices of the Qurʾān  Conquest  Contemporary Critical Practices and the Qurʾān  Cups and Vessels  Foreign Vocabulary  Instruments  Lord  Pit  Post-Enlightenment Academic Study of the Qurʾān  Raqīm  Revelation and Inspiration  Revision and Alteration  Ritual Purity  Textual Criticism of the Qurʾān  The Collection of the Qurʾān  Tools for the Scholarly Study of the Qurʾān Jehenna  World Jehoshaphat  Last Judgment Jehovahʿs Witnesses  Hypocrites and Hypocrisy Jehuda ha-Levi (d. 1141)  Torah Jenssen, H.  Arabic Language Jerba …

Saracen(s)  Aqṣā Mosque  Archaeology and the Qurʾān  Pre-1800 Preoccupations of Qurʾānic Studies Sarah  Abraham  Good News  Laughter  Marvels  Theology and the Qurʾān  Women and the Qurʾān Sargis-Baḥīrā see Baḥīrā Sargon II (Assyrian)  Thamūd Saritoprak, Z.  Rod  Sand Sarkīs  Printing of the Qurʾān al-Sarrāj, Abū Naṣr (d. 378/988)  Khaḍir/Khiḍr  Ṣūfism and the Qurʾān Sarwat Anis al-Assiouty see al-Assiouty, Sarwat Anis Sasanian(s)/Sasanid(s)  Byzantines  Christians and Christianity  Conquest  Iraq  Magians  Monasticism and Monks  Money  Numismatics  Odors and Smells  P…

The putrefying flesh of a carcass. The Arabic term is mayta, from the verbal root meaning “to die.” Hence the word is used ¶ in an adjectival sense as in q 36:33: “The dead earth (al-arḍ al-mayta) is a sign for them. We have brought it to life [i.e. by means of rain]…” In all other qurʾānic instances, the term refers specifically to carrion, one of the Islamic food taboos supported also in prophetic traditions (see food and drink; forbidden). E. Lane's definition of mayta includes both animals which have died a natural death (explicitly mayta, as in q 2:173; 5:3; 6:139, 145; 16:115) and those kil…

The adoration and exaltation of God, the Arabic terms for which (derived from the root letters s-b-ḥ) cover a range of meanings: worship (q.v.) or prayer (i.e. q 3:41); wonder at his ability to perform miraculaous deeds (i.e. q 17:1); constant remembrance (q.v.) of God ( dhikr, exemplified in q 13:13); contrition ( tawba, exemplified in q 24:16; see repentance and penance ); as well as a negative assertion of what God is not (see Dāmaghānī, Wujūḥ, i, 446-7 for an elaboration of these themes). Tasbīḥ, the qurʾānic word most often translated as glorification of God, is essentially…

Padua  Pre-1800 Preoccupations of Qurʾānic Studies Padwick  Everyday Life, Qurʾān In Pahlavi/Pahlevi (language)  Agriculture and Vegetation  Literature and the Qurʾān  ʿIfrīt Paikuli  Basmala Pakistan  Age of Ignorance  Almsgiving  Aḥmadiyya  Emigrants and Helpers  Material Culture and the Qurʾān  Medicine and the Qurʾān  Printing of the Qurʾān  South Asian Literatures and the Qurʾān  Teaching and Preaching the Qurʾān  Translations of the Qurʾān  Women and the Qurʾān Palaiologues  Pre-1800 Preoccupations of Qurʾānic Studies Palermo  Manuscripts of the Qurʾān  Ornamenta…

Ismāʿīl  Dhū l-Kifl  Prayer Ismāʿīl b. Abī Khālid (d. 146/763)  Ḥadīth and the Qurʾān Ismāʿīl b. Abī ʿUbayd Allāh Muʿāwiya b. ʿUbayd Allāh al-Ashʿarī (d. first half third/ninth cent.)  Language and Style of the Qurʾān Ismāʿīl b. Aḥmad (r. 279-95/892-907)  Creeds Ismāʿīl b. Hibat Allāh (d. 1184/1770)  Shīʿism and the Qurʾān Ismāʿīl b. Muḥammad al-Tamīmī see al-Tamīmī, Ismāʿīl b. Muḥammad Ismāʿīl b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Suddī (d. 127-8/745)  Expeditions and Battles  Satanic Verses  Ḥadīth and the Qurʾān Ismāʿīl b. Ḥammād al-Jawharī (d. ca. 392/1002)  Material Culture and the Qurʾān Ismā…

Bektashiyya (Ṣūfī order)  African Americans  Magic  Popular and Talismanic Uses of the Qurʾān Belial  Antichrist Bell, R.  Afternoon  Apocalypse  Baptism  Book  Cain and Abel  Chronology and the Qurʾān  Clay  Contemporary Critical Practices and the Qurʾān  Death and the Dead  Form and Structure of the Qurʾān  Fātiḥa  Impeccability  Language and Style of the Qurʾān  Muḥammad  Mysterious Letters  Narratives  Night of Power  Pit  Post-Enlightenment Academic Study of the Qurʾān  Religious Pluralism and the Qurʾān  Revision and Alteration  Textual Criticism of the Qurʾān  Theolo…

Stoics  Metaphor  Signs Stowasser, B.F.  Khadīja  Mary  Wives of the Prophet Strabo  Sheba  Ḥijr Strasburg  Agriculture and Vegetation  Pre-1800 Preoccupations of Qurʾānic Studies Strothmann, R.  Anthropomorphism Stuttgart  Translations of the Qurʾān Sudan  African Literature  Almsgiving  Arabic Language  Material Culture and the Qurʾān  Popular and Talismanic Uses of the Qurʾān  Printing of the Qurʾān  Readings of the Qurʾān   Republic of   Material Culture and the Qurʾān  Scholar al-Suddī al-Kabīr, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān (d.127-8/745-7)  Crucifixion  Exegesis of the Qurʾā…

Fluid secreted from the mammary glands of female mammals for the nourishment of their young. The two verses in which the Arabic word for milk, laban, occurs are q 16:66 and 47:15. They have distinct contextual references, though they share the sense of belonging to the signs (q.v.) of God's bounty (see blessing ) toward humankind and of being a reward for ¶ believers' acknowledgment of the divine economy (see belief and unbelief; reward and punishment). The first verse refers to terrestrial existence. “In cattle (see animal life ) too you have a worthy lesson. We give you to drink …

Medinan(s)  Brother and Brotherhood  Children of Israel  Community and Society in the Qurʾān  Emigrants and Helpers  Emigration  Food and Drink  Grammar and the Qurʾān   Helpers [anflār]   Bedouin   Brother and Brotherhood   Circumcision   Consultation   Emigrants and Helpers   Emigration   Inheritance   Jihād   Literature and the Qurʾān   Medina   Musaylima   Occasions of Revelation   Parties and Factions   Prayer   Religious Pluralism and the Qurʾān   Reward and Punishment   Sīra and the Qurʾān   Time   Ḥunayn  Medina  Musaylima  The Collection of the Qurʾān  Theft…

Creature whose body contains two main divisions: one with four pairs of walking legs, the other with two or more pairs of spinnerets for spinning the silk that is used in making the cocoons for its young, nests for itself or webs to entangle its prey. The ¶ word spider (ʿankabūt), which provides the name for q 29, Sūrat al-ʿAnkabūt, occurs twice in the Qurʾān in one and the same verse, q 29:41. In this verse, the spider exemplifies an agent for warning and threatening the infidels for their ungrateful conduct (see animal life; belief and unbelief; gratitude and ingratitude). Those who choose …

A personage whom the Qurʾān notes for his wisdom. Only q 31, the sūra bearing his name, mentions this wise man, and it devotes eight of its thirty-four verses (q 31:12-19) to Luqmān's wisdom (q.v.). At the time of Muḥammad, the Arabs may have known two Luqmāns: one, the son of ʿĀd (q.v.), renowned for intelligence, leadership, knowledge, eloquence and subtlety (Heller, Luḳmān, 811; see knowledge and learning ); the other, Luqmān the Sage (al-ḥakīm), famous for his wise pronouncements and proverbs (see pre-islamic arabia and the qurʾān ). The latter — if these two are not in fact on…

  ʿ-l-m    maʿlam    Pilgrimage    muʿallam    Soothsayer    Teaching    taʿallum    Teaching    taʿlīmāt    Social Sciences and the Qurʾān    ʿalam, pl. aʿlām    Book    Inimitability    Jerusalem    Jesus    Jinn    Names of the Qurʾān    Traditional Disciplines of Qurʾānic Studies    World    ʿalima    Book    Cain and Abel    Codices of the Qurʾān    Grammar and the Qurʾān    Hidden and the Hidden    Intellect    Knowledge and Learning    Scholar    Teaching    ʿallama    Book    Jinn    Knowledge and Learning    Rhetoric and the Qurʾān    Teaching    Trust and Pa…

Ability to understand deeply and judge soundly. God is wise (ḥakīm). He is, however, never described by this characteristic alone, but always in conjunction with another characteristic. Ḥakīm is most frequently connected with ʿazīz, “almighty” (forty-seven times; see power and impotence ), and almost as frequently is God described as ḥakīm and ʿalīm, “omniscient” (thirty-six times; see knowledge and learning; intellect). Ḥakīm with khabīr, “knowing,” is rare (three times) and even rarer are the occurrences of ḥakīm with “forgiving” (tawwāb), “all-embracing” (wāsiʿ), “praisew…

In general terms, the state of the atmosphere at a given time and place, involving the variables of heat, cold, moisture, wind and pressure, and referring both to beneficial and destructive consequences. In the Qurʾān there are a number of words covering many of these aspects, some phenomena having more than one term. In the vast majority of contexts, the agency of God is explicit (e.g. q 30:48). ¶ Rain, for example, is expressed in several ways. The most frequent is the mention of God's “sending down water from the sky” thereby giving life (q.v.) to or restoring it on earth (q.v.; see also …

To express approbation of, or to glorify (especially God); also, to magnify, as in song. A number of qurʾānic lexemes convey this concept, but with varying nuances; derivatives of the following triliteral roots are the most prominent qurʾānic terms connoting “praise”: ḥ-m-d, sh-k-r, s-b-ḥ, ʾ-w-b — although, generally, sh-k-r denotes thanking or thankfulness, and s-b-ḥ, glorification or exaltation, rather than “praise” proper. Occasionally, however, the second verbal form of s-b-ḥ is used in conjunction with the verbal noun, ḥamd, a combination that may be rendered in Engl…