Glossary: terms and concepts, briefly explained.
Abbasids: The second major Islamic caliphate. The political force which would become a five century dynasty started as a small revolt against the Umayyad caliph in the eastern reaches of the empire. By 750 the Umayyads had been deposed, and within a decade the Abbasids setup a new capital in the city of Baghdad. Abbasid rule over the Muslim empire culminated in what is commonly known as the Islamic Golden Age, as rulers poured resources into the arts and sciences. Notable productions of this time period include One Thousand and One Nights, and a growth in Islamic philosophy. Technological transmissions through the caliphate at this time include gunpowder, paper from China (before they reached Europe) and windmills, which were an indigenous invention. Over time however, the political authority of the Abbasids waned. They retained custody over the more ceremonial religious functions of the empire, but were unable to maintain the sort of political control the Umayyads had enjoyed. The caliphate came to a bloody and sudden end in 1258 when the Mongol Khan sacked Baghdad. The shock of the fall of the caliphate to infidel armies would continue to weigh heavily on Muslim consciousness for centuries to come.
Hadith: Stories and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad as relayed by his companions or those that knew his companions in the decades following his death. Due to the imprecise nature of oral transmission chains of transmission for hadith (isnad) are heavily studied and receive a great deal of scrutiny within the tradition. Hadith are graded on a spectrum of veracity from sahih (authentic) to ma’jul (fabricated). The implications of hadith today are far reaching. These accounts are often used to supplement an understanding of proper conduct in everything from day to day human social interaction, to cleaning teeth, to warfare.
Islamist: Islamist is a broad term used for those who seek to blend Islam and politics. It can be used with many different connotations and encompass groups of people with radically different ideologies. There are political parties which take part in the democratic parliament of countries like Morocco and Malaysia that are Islamist. At the same time groups like Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State should also be described as Islamist. The most common connotation for the term falls somewhere in-between these two, and often is a reference to groups or political parties which seek some sort of greater degree of Islamization within their society, for example an increased use of the hijab. The Muslim Brotherhood is the most well known Islamist organization, and is an umbrella group which has provided the outlines for political ideologies (some quite moderate, some quite extreme) around the world since the 1920s.
Madhhab: In the modern context the word madhhab refers to the remaining (many have fallen out of use) schools of Islamic jurisprudence. There is considerable variation in how each school interprets Sharia law, even within sect. A lack of understanding of the role of madhhabs in the West often results in an oversimplification of understanding Sharia law as a whole. The four maddhabs of Sunni Islam are Hanafi, Hanbali, Maliki and Shafi’i; the Shia madhhab is called Jafari.
Mahdi: The mahdi is a figure Shia muslims (as well as most Sunnis, though the concept features more heavily in contemporary Shia thought) believe will return alongside Jesus Christ as a redeemer to prepare the earth for the apocalypse and the end of days. The concept of the mahdi has played heavily in Shia politics over centuries, including the brief institution of a mahdist state around a supposed mahdi figure in Sudan.
Salafist: Salafism is a movement within Sunni Islam which seeks a return to the practices of the first few generations of Muslims. This refers to both literal practices of these first Muslims, such as methods for brushing teeth, and the spirit of their practices, in terms of political interaction. The movement emerged in the 18th century and has gained popularity in the 20th and 21st centuries largely through propagation by the government of Saudi Arabia via a regional system of education. Salafists represent a relatively wide spectrum, from those who are particularly religious but find political action improper, to those more active in the public eye. Among the politically active segment are those who carry out violent attacks in the name of Salafi principles such as Al-Qaeda, or the Islamic State. Many politically active Salafists are non-violent, but following the 9/11 attacks the term has often become associated with violent extremism.
Sharia: Refers to a system of Islamic laws derived from the Qur’an, and hadith (sayings) of the Prophet Muhammad. Developed after the death of the Prophet and expanded and molded in the centuries that follow. Many key tenets of sharia codes in the 21st century still bear close resemblance to early Islamic codes, sharia has evolved less since its origins than, for example, Western legal understandings. “Implementation of sharia” or similar phrases often cause fright, particularly in the West. A significant majority of global Muslims do indeed support the implementation of sharia law. However, in the modern context even countries which are nearly 100% Muslim do not function on a legal system entirely based on the sharia. More commonly there is a secular system of courts for criminal law, and sharia courts are used for family law, sharia judges (qadi) often hear cases pertaining to divorce, inheritance and other civil issues.
Shia: The Shia take their name from the Arabic word for “partisan” and comprise around 15% of the global Muslim population. In the days immediately following the death of the Prophet Muhammad a group of “partisans” claimed that Muhammad has named his son-in-law Ali to be his successor. For the Shia this meant that Ali, and the wider ahl al-bayt, or house of the Prophet, should carry on Muhammad’s political leadership. Ali was originally passed over for leadership of the community, before finally becoming its fourth caliph. He is then however assassinated, and eventually much of his family dies in battle fighting against perceived enemies of the ahl al-bayt. Long a minority Shias often embrace and celebrate the tragedy of their history, and view themselves as part of a centuries long struggle against injustice. There are only four Shia majority countries in the world today: Iran, Iraq, Oman, and Bahrain.
Sunni: The vast majority of global Muslims, around 85%, are Sunni. Throughout most of the history Islamic civilization, Sunnis have been the dominant religious and political force within the tradition. Sunnis historically (and many still do) believe in the right of a caliph to rule as a vice-regent on earth, over Muslims, following the example of the Prophet Muhammad who governed during his prophet-hood. A Sunni would typically not see fit to label him or herself Sunni, as Sunnis simply regard themselves as the orthodoxy within the tradition, not in need of a qualifier. The early Islamic empires can mostly be understood as Sunni, though theological differences in Islamic practice were less developed at the time than they are today, and thus these distinctions are not always black and white.