Tasnif Style Guide — Page 231
GLOSSARY Abdal Literally means 'Substitutes. Saintly men. Abjad A numerological system that assigns a specific numerical value to each letter in the Arabic alphabet. (Also known as Hisābul-Jumal. ) Ahl-e-Kitāb/Ahlul-Kitāb The Peo- ple of the Book. 'Ainul-Yaqin Certainty by sight. The second of three levels of certainty. Amin Let it be so. Arabic equivalent to amen. Aqtāb Plural of quṭb, which means the polar star. Metaphorically applied to a saintly leader who guides people out of darkness. Arya Samaj A Hindu sect founded by Pundit Swami Dayanand Saras- wati in 1875. 'Asr Late afternoon. One of the five times of the daily obligatory Prayers [i. e. Salāt] in Islam. Auliya' Literally means 'Friends' and is the plural of wali, which is gener- ally used to refer to a saintly person. Shorter version of auliyā'ullāh. Az-Zahir The Manifest. One of the attributes of God. Avatar A term in Hinduism refer- ring to an incarnation of a deity upon earth. Bahadur Literally, 'brave. An hon- our conferred by the British Indian Empire on important Muslims and Parsis. Bai'at Oath of allegiance to a re- ligious leader; initiation at the hands of a Prophet or his Khalifah. Baitud-Du'a' Literally means, abode of prayer. It is the name of a small chamber in the house of the Prom- ised Messiah (as) where he would pray in seclusion. Baitul-Muqaddas A title of the an- cient Temple of Solomon, now the site of al-Aqsa Mosque. Third ho- liest site in Islam. Lit. the Sacred House.