A
- Adab — manners, etiquette. Classical scholars emphasized adab of the memorizer.
- Adhan — the call to prayer.
- Adkar (pl. of dhikr) — remembrance formulas, often morning and evening.
- Ahkam — rulings.
- Aqeedah — belief, creed.
- Ayah (pl. ayat) — a verse of the Quran.
- Ayat Al-Kursi — the Throne Verse, Al-Baqarah 2:255.
B
- Bismillah — “In the name of Allah”; opens most surahs.
- Burda — a classical poem of praise (unrelated but often asked about).
D
- Da’if — weak (hadith grade).
- Du’a — supplication.
- Duha — forenoon; prayer time.
F
- Fajr — dawn prayer.
- Fatha — short “a” vowel mark (ـَ).
- Fatwa — Islamic ruling issued by a qualified scholar.
- Fiqh — Islamic jurisprudence.
G
- Ghunna — nasalization in tajweed.
H
- Hadith — reported saying or action of the Prophet ﷺ.
- Hafs — one of the two main narrations (qira’a); Hafs ‘an ‘Asim is most widely read.
- Hafiz (pl. huffaz) — one who has memorized the Quran.
- Halaqa — a study circle.
- Harakat — vowel marks.
- Hasan — “good” (hadith grade).
- Hifz — memorization.
I
- Ihsan — excellence; doing an act as if Allah sees you.
- Ikhfa — partial concealment (tajweed).
- Ikhlas — sincerity.
- Iman — faith.
- Iqaamah — the second call, signaling prayer about to begin.
- Isnad — chain of transmission (hadith).
J
- Jumu’ah — Friday; the congregational Friday prayer.
- Juz (pl. ajza’) — one of the 30 divisions of the Quran.
- Juz Amma — the 30th juz; surahs 78–114.
K
- Kasra — short “i” vowel mark.
- Khatam / Khatma — completion of the Quran.
L
- Laam Qamari — “moon laam”; pronounced clearly.
- Laam Shamsi — “sun laam”; silent, assimilated.
- Laylat al-Qadr — the Night of Decree in Ramadan.
M
- Madd — elongation in tajweed.
- Madrasah — Islamic school.
- Majlis — a gathering; often a study gathering.
- Makkah (Mecca) — the holiest city.
- Meccan — revealed in Mecca (pre-Hijrah surahs, generally).
- Medinan — revealed in Medina (post-Hijrah surahs, generally).
- Mufakhkham — heavy (pronunciation).
- Mujawwad — the slow, melodic style of recitation.
- Muraja’a — revision, review.
- Murattal — steady, measured recitation style (faster than mujawwad).
- Mushaf — the physical copy of the Quran.
- Mutashabihat — similar or identical verses across the Quran; a memorizer’s challenge.
- Mutqin — firmly memorized.
N
- Naskhi / Uthmani — two common Arabic scripts.
- Niyyah — intention.
- Nun Sakinah — a nun (ن) with sukoon; governs four tajweed rules.
Q
- Qari (pl. qurra’) — a reciter.
- Qalqala — echo sound in tajweed (ق ط ب ج د).
- Qiraa’at — the canonical recitations (10 recognized; most common is Hafs ‘an ‘Asim).
- Qibla — direction of the Ka’bah.
- Quran — the final revelation, preserved.
R
- Ramadan — the month of fasting.
- Rakaah (pl. rakaat) — a unit of prayer.
S
- Sabaq — new lesson (classical madrasah term).
- Sabqi — recent review.
- Sadaqa — charity.
- Sahih — authentic (hadith grade).
- Sajda / Sujood — prostration.
- Salah — prayer.
- Seerah — biography of the Prophet ﷺ.
- Shaddah — doubling mark in tajweed.
- Sheikh / Sheikha — a religious teacher / scholar.
- Sukoon — absence of vowel.
- Sunnah — Prophetic practice.
- Surah — a chapter of the Quran.
T
- Tadabbur — reflection on meanings.
- Tafsir — exegesis; scholarly explanation.
- Tahajjud — night prayer.
- Tajweed — rules of correct Quranic recitation.
- Tanween — double vowel mark (an / in / un).
- Tarawih — nightly Ramadan prayers with long recitation.
- Tasmee’ — recitation before a teacher.
- Tawbah — repentance.
- Tilawah — recitation.
U
- Ummah — the global Muslim community.
- Uthmanic mushaf — the standardized script from the era of Uthman (RA).
W
- Wasl — connection between verses.
- Waqf — stopping; tajweed rules govern where stops are appropriate.
- Wudu — ritual ablution.
Y
- Yaum — day.
Z
- Zakat — obligatory charity.
- Zellige — Moroccan geometric tile art; inspires HafizPrime’s design.
Missing a term? Tell us and we’ll add it.
