Memorize 193 Islamic Terms by Arabic Root: From Abd to Zakat

Most glossaries of Islamic terms are long alphabetical lists, and Islamic Terms & Vocabulary (ZP1196) is one of them. It has 193 cards running from Abd to Zakat al-Fitr, taken from Wikipedia's Glossary of Islam. Alphabetical order is the hardest way to memorize this vocabulary. Most of these words come from a few dozen three-letter Arabic roots, so learn them in families.

Sample cards

The deck also covers adhan, iqamah, wudu, ghusl, rak'ah, khushu, dhikr, du'a, tasbih, istighfar, tawhid, shirk, aqidah, iman, taqwa, qadar, akhirah, qiyamah, jannah, jahannam, ijma, ijtihad, madhhab, fatwa, mufti, hudud, riba, maisir, khamr, hijab, jilbab, khimar, awrah, mahram, nikah, mihrab, minbar, minaret, qibla, Laylat al-Qadr, Isra and Mi'raj, Dajjal and al-Mahdi.

Tip 1: learn root families, not letters

Arabic builds words from consonant roots, and the deck uses many of them more than once:

• S-L-M (peace, submission): Islam, Muslim, as-salamu alaykum
• ʿ-L-M (knowledge): ilm, alim, ulama
• J-H-D (effort): jihad, mujahid, ijtihad, mujtahid
• ʾ-M-N (faith, safety): iman, mu'min, amanah, amin
• K-F-R / SH-R-K: kufr, kafir / shirk, mushrik
• H-J-R (migration): hijra, muhajirun
• F-T-W: fatwa, mufti · F-Q-H: fiqh, faqih
• ʿ-B-D: abd, ibadah · S-J-D: masjid · Q-D-R: qadar, Laylat al-Qadr

When a card shows up, say the root out loud first. One root can bring back three or four cards at once. Our Arabic grammar study guide explains how the pattern system works.

Tip 2: build the grids the alphabet breaks up

• The five rulings, from obligatory to forbidden: fard/wajib → mustahabb → mubah → makruh → haram. All five are in the deck, but they're scattered across cards 50 to 190. Put them on one card in order.
• The five daily prayers: Fajr (47), Dhuhr (40), Maghrib (127), Isha (92)… and Asr, the afternoon prayer, is missing. Write it yourself.
• The five pillars: the cards give numbers for the shahadah (first), zakah (third), sawm (fourth) and hajj (fifth). Salah is never labelled as the second pillar.

Cards to fix

• Card 146 Mu'adhdhin gives مأذن. The usual spelling is مؤذن.
• Cards 14 and 124 show only part of the Arabic: Allahu Akbar needs الله أكبر, and Laylat al-Qadr needs ليلة القدر.
• Card 140 Mi'ad (معاد): the word for the Return/Resurrection is usually romanized ma'ad.
• Card 18 starts with a stray "An". Cards 33 Caliph and 112 Khalifah are duplicates, so keep one.
• Card 133 Ma'ruf is better glossed "the known good", as in al-amr bil-ma'ruf, than "consensus".
• The alphabet runs out early. Cards 1-121 cover A to K, and only 72 cards cover L to Z. Common terms like sahih/da'if (hadith grades), tawaf, sa'i, tayammum, tafsir, tajwid, tawbah, Zamzam and zuhd are missing. Shuffle the deck so the A-words don't get all the reps.

For the beliefs and history behind these words, see our Islam study guide.

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