Hallmarks of the Saints — Page 43
Glossary Abd a l Literally, ‘substitutes’. Those who have brought about a holy change in themselves for the sake of Allah. We have translated the term in this book as ‘saints’. A m i n A term which literally means, ‘so let it be’ and is used at the end of a supplication to pray that God may accept it. It is similar in mean- ing to ‘amen’. Hadrat A term of respect used to show honour and reverence for a person of established righteous- ness and piety. The meaning is: His/Her Holiness, Eminence, etc. It is also used for God in the super- lative sense. Holy Prophet s as A title used exclu- sively for the Founder of Islam, Hadrat Muhammad s as. Holy Quran The final and perfect Scripture revealed by Allah for the guidance of mankind for all times to come. It was revealed word by word to the Holy Prophet Mu- hammad s as over a period of twen- ty-three years. Khalifah Caliph is derived from the Arabic word khal i fah, which means ‘successor’. In Islamic termi- nology, the term righteous khal i fah is applied to each of the first four khulaf a ’ who continued the mis- sion of Hadrat Muhammad s as , the Holy Prophet of Islam. Ahmadi Muslims refer to a successor of the Promised Messiah as as Khal i fatul- Mas ih. Khulaf a ’ is the plural of khal i fah. Tahajjud A supererogatory prayer of great merit performed between midnight and dawn. Muhammad s as Founder of Islam. see Holy Prophet s as. S u rah A chapter of the Holy Quran. Wal i Literally, ‘friend’. In the ter- minology of Islamic mysticism, it refers to a very pious person or a friend of Allah. The singular form is wal i [friend] or waliyyull a h [friend of Allah], the plural form is auliy a ’ull a h which is sometimes abbreviated as auliy a ’.