Vocabulary of the Islamic Sciences
ArabicTransliterationDiscipline / Meaning
فِقْه / فَقِيه / فُقَهَاءfiqh / faqīh / fuqahāʾjurisprudence / jurist / jurists
عَقِيدَة / مُعْتَقَدʿaqīda / muʿtaqadcreed / belief
حَدِيث / رِوَايَة / سَنَدḥadīth / riwāya / sanadhadith / narration / chain of transmitters
تَفْسِير / مُفَسِّرtafsīr / mufassirQurʾānic exegesis / exegete
أُصُول الْفِقْهuṣūl al-fiqhprinciples of jurisprudence
إِجْمَاع / قِيَاس / اجْتِهَادijmāʿ / qiyās / ijtihādconsensus / analogy / independent reasoning
وَاجِب / مُسْتَحَبّ / مُبَاح / مَكْرُوه / حَرَامwājib / mustaḥabb / mubāḥ / makrūh / ḥarāmthe five rulings: obligatory / recommended / permitted / disliked / forbidden
Iḍāfa Chains سِلْسِلَة الإِضَافَة
Iḍāfa (possession/association structure) chains multiple nouns together. In a chain: only the first noun may be indefinite or take the definite article directly; all others are genitive (kasra). Only the last noun takes tanwīn if indefinite.
Arabic ChainAnalysisMeaning
كِتَابُ أُصُولِ الْفِقْهkitāb + uṣūl + al-fiqh (all genitive)the book of the principles of jurisprudence
دَارُ عُلُومِ الْقُرْآنdār + ʿulūm + al-Qurʾānthe house/institute of Qurʾānic sciences
مَسَائِلُ فِقْهِ الْأَسْرَةmasāʾil + fiqh + al-usraissues of family jurisprudence
Reading a Ḥadīth
Classical ḥadīth texts have two parts: the سَنَد (chain of narrators) and the مَتْن (text of the narration). Book 7 trains you to identify each part and understand the grammatical structure of the matn.
عَنْ عُمَرَ بْنِ الْخَطَّابِ رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ: سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللهِ ﷺ يَقُول: إِنَّمَا الْأَعْمَالُ بِالنِّيَّات
ʿAn ʿUmara bni l-Khaṭṭābi raḍiya llāhu ʿanhu qāla: samiʿtu rasūla llāhi ﷺ yaqūlu: innamā l-aʿmālu binniyyāt
On the authority of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (may Allah be pleased with him) who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: "Actions are judged only by intentions." (Al-Bukhārī 1)
Grammar note: إِنَّمَا (innamā) = إِنَّ + مَا the مَا neutralises إِنَّ's effect on the subject. الأَعْمَالُ stays nominative (subject). بِالنِّيَّات = preposition + noun (predicate).
Reading Scholarly Arabic فَهْم النَّص الْأَكَادِيمِي
Academic Arabic sentences are dense. The key parsing strategy: (1) Find the main verb. (2) Identify its subject. (3) Strip out all embedded clauses and iḍāfa chains. (4) Re-read with full embedded content.
اتَّفَقَ جُمْهُورُ الْفُقَهَاءِ مِنَ الْمَذَاهِبِ الأَرْبَعَةِ عَلَى أَنَّ صَلَاةَ الصُّبْحِ رَكْعَتَان
Ittafaqa jumhūru l-fuqahāʾi min al-madhāhibi l-arbaʿati ʿalā anna ṣalāta ṣ-ṣubḥi rakʿatāni
The majority of jurists from the four schools agreed that the Fajr prayer is two rakʿas. (Main verb: اتَّفَقَ. Subject: جُمْهُورُ. Object clause: أَنَّ + nominal sentence.)
Summarising and Citing التَّلْخِيص وَالاقْتِبَاس
FunctionArabic PhraseTransliteration
Author deals withيَتَنَاوَل الْكَاتِبyatanāwalu l-kātib
Argues thatيَذْهَبُ إِلَى أَنَّyadhhabu ilā anna
Points outيُشِير إِلَىyushīru ilā
Concludes thatيَصِلُ إِلَى نَتِيجَةٍ مَفَادُهَاyaṣilu ilā natījatin mafāduhā
Quoted byنَقَلَهُ / كَمَا ذَكَرَهُnaqalahu / kamā dhakarahu
See alsoأَنْظُر أَيْضاً / رَاجِعunẓur ayḍan / rājiʿ
Study aims toتَهْدُف هَذِهِ الدِّرَاسَة إِلَىtahduf hādhihi d-dirāsatu ilā
- Iḍāfa rule: All nouns in an iḍāfa chain after the first take kasra. None can have tanwīn except the final one (if indefinite).
- Ittafaqa Form VIII: اتَّفَقَ Form VIII verbs insert tāʾ after the first root letter. Common in scholarly agreement: "it was agreed that..."
- جُمْهُور: "The majority" the single most important word in fiqh discussion. جُمْهُور الْفُقَهَاء = the majority opinion.
- ACTFL target: Advanced-Low can read and summarise Islamic scholarly texts, identify ḥadīth structure, and write research-style Arabic.