- Qur'an
- Islam's central scripture, held by Muslims to be the verbatim revelation received by the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) between 610 and 632 CE; 114 surahs comprising over 6,200 ayat.
- Surah
- A chapter of the Qur'an. Citations are given as surah:ayah — e.g., 51:47 is the 47th verse of the 51st chapter.
- Ayah (pl. ayat)
- A verse of the Qur'an. The word's literal meaning is 'sign.'
- Hadith
- A transmitted report of the words, actions, or approvals of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), recorded in collections compiled in the two or three centuries after his death.
- Sunnah
- The normative practice of the Prophet, known through the hadith literature.
- Isnad
- The chain of narrators through which a hadith was transmitted; the basis of hadith grading.
- Sahih
- 'Authentic' — the highest hadith grade: an unbroken chain of reliable narrators free of hidden defects.
- Hasan
- 'Sound' — a hadith whose chain is acceptable but falls short of sahih precision.
- Da'if
- 'Weak' — a hadith with a defective or broken chain. This site treats da'if reports as weak evidence (Tier 3) or omits them.
- Sahih al-Bukhari / Sahih Muslim
- The two hadith collections regarded by Sunni scholarship as the most rigorously authenticated; a report in both is called muttafaqun 'alayh (agreed upon).
- Saheeh International
- The contemporary English Qur'an translation quoted throughout this site.
- Tafsir
- Scholarly commentary and exegesis of the Qur'an; 'commentators' on this site refers to the classical and modern tafsir tradition.
- Signs of the Hour
- Events foretold in the hadith literature as preceding the Day of Judgment; catalogued here under predictions, with unfulfilled ones plainly labeled as such.
- Barzakh
- A barrier or partition; used in the Qur'an of the boundary between two bodies of water, and of the interval between death and resurrection.
- Bid'
- An Arabic term for a small number between three and nine, relevant to the dating in Surah ar-Rum 30:2-4.
Reference
Glossary
Short definitions of the terms used across this site, for readers new to the material.