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Terms used in the Health Education through Religion Series

The following notes are intended for readers who do not know Arabic and who do not have an Islamic background.

Fatwa A formal religious legal opinion
Fiqh

Islamic jurisprudence (literally: understanding and acquisition knowledge).
Hadith

A saying or action ascribed to the Prophet (pbuh) or an act approved by Prophet (pbuh)
Haram


Prohibited, banned, illegal, impermissible, from a religious stand point. Epithet applied, in general to actions or things considered sinful for Muslims.
Hijra


The emigration of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), from Mecca to Medina in AD 622. The event is used as the starting point for the Islamic Calendar.
Prophet


The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), the Messenger of God.  Any authority reference to the Prophet is usually followed by the phrase "Peace be upon him (pbuh)".
Quran The Holy Book of Islam: the highest and most authentic authority in Islam. Quotations from the Quran are normally followed by a reference to the number of the chapter (sura) and the number of the quoted verse (aya).  All Quranic texts in this publication are printed in Italic.
Schools
of fiqh
The schools of Islamic thought or jurisprudence, the four most important of which were founded by Malik, Abu Hanifa, Al-Shafie and Ahmad ibn Hanbal.
Sharia

The body of Islamic law based on the Quran and the sunna (see below).

Sunna
Practices undertaken or approved by the Prophet (pbuh) and established as legally binding precedents.