Key Terms Related to Terrorism

Below is a list of words and titles that may be unfamiliar along with their definitions. All definitions are from Dictionary.com.

Ashari: A school of early Muslim philosophy. It was instrumental in drastically changing the direction of Islamic philosophy, separating its development drastically from that of philosophy in the Christian world. It was founded by the theologian Abu I'Hasan al-Ashari (d. 945) who gave it is name.

Caliphate: The office or jurisdiction of a caliph. The last caliphate was held by Ottoman Turkish sultans until it was abolished by Kemal Atat�rk in 1924.

Caliph: A leader of an Islamic polity, regarded as a successor of Muhammad and by tradition always male

Hadith: A report of the sayings or actions of Muhammad or his companions, together with the tradition of its chain of transmission; the collective body of these traditions.

Hijaz: a coastal region of the western Arabian Peninsula bordering on the Red Sea; includes both Mecca and Medina; formerly an independent kingdom until it united with Nejd to form the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Intifadah: An uprising among Palestinian Arabs of the Gaza Strip and West Bank, beginning in late 1987 and continuing sporadically into the early 1990s, in protest against continued Israeli occupation of these territories.

Mahdi: The messiah who, it is believed, will appear at the world's end and establish a reign of peace and righteousness; A leader who assumes the role of a messiah.

Monotheism: The doctrine or belief that there is only one God

Mujahedeen /mujahed: Muslim guerrilla warriors engaged in a jihad

Polytheism: The worship of or belief in more than one god

Jihad: A Muslim holy war or spiritual struggle against infidels; a crusade or struggle.

Kurds: A member of a pastoral and agricultural people inhabiting the transnational region of Kurdistan in southwest Asia.

Salafi: A practitioner of Salafiyyah (Salafism); the term is also used for the Wahhabi branch of Islam.

Shaykh: synonym for sheikh, which is a religious official in Islam; a leader of an Arab family or village; or used as a form of address for such an official or leader

Sharia Law: The code of law based on the Koran.

Shia: A member of the branch of Islam that regards Ali and his descendants as the legitimate successors to Muhammad and rejects the first three caliphs; also Shiite.

Shura: a consultative body

Sunnis: The branch of Islam that accepts the first four caliphs as rightful successors of Muhammad; pl. Sunni or Sun�nis A Muslim belonging to this branch; a Sunnite.

Ulema: Muslim scholars trained in Islam and Islamic law.

Umma: the Muslim community or people, considered to extend from Mauritania to Pakistan; "moderate Muslims urge the Ummah to reject the terrorism of radical Muslims

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