Arabic Terms
takfir
the act of declaring someone else an unbeliever; was important to the Takfir wa-Hijra group, which declared all leaders of Muslim countries who do not institute Shariah unbelievers
Hasan al-Bana
the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood; born at the beginning of the 20th century to a scholarly family; was a teacher; was assassinated by agents of the government in 1949
salaf
'forefathers'; referring to the first generation/s of Muslims
Muhammad Abduh
Egyptian reformer from the 19th century who studied with al-Afghani and is one of the earliest theorizers of salafism. he thought that there is no conflict between reason and revelation/Islam and that reform of Islam was necessary because people had forgotten the original principles of the religion
1798
Napoleon's invasion and occupation of Egypt
jahiliyya
period of ignorance; usually refers to the time before the Prophet's revelation; Sayyid Qutb expands its meaning to refer to any society in which the Shariah is not the law of the land
tawhid
literally unity -- refers mainly to the oneness of God. the MB also use it to refer to unity among Muslims and unity between realms that were thought to be separate at the time (private/public, state/religion etc)
salafism vs Salafism
a second-order term to refer to reform movements that are oriented towards a 'golden age' of Islam, imagined as occurring during the lifetime of the Prophet // a first-order term that people use to describe themselves (i.e. Salafist parties)
Muhammad Morsi
Became the first democratically-elected president of Egypt in 2012; member of the Muslim Brotherhood who lacked charisma and confidence as a leader and was deposed by Sisi in 2013
Ashura
the day that Imam Husayn was martyred in Karbala; re-interpreted in the Iranian revolution as an act of self-sacrifice against corruption
aqida
creed; refers to a common creed shared among different Salafi groups; emphasis on tawhid and rejection of any innovation (bid'a)
Isma'iliya
a city near the Suez Canal where Hasan al-Bana was stationed as a teacher and where he founded the Muslim Brotherhood with the goal to bring a new kind of Islam to the Egyptian people
Goal of the Salafiyya movement
to establish a fully Islamic society (according to what they think that means), which can only be accomplished through the reform of the individual believer
Muhammad Mosaddeq
elected prime minister of Iran who nationalized the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (BP); he was deposed in a coup organized by the US and UK in 1952
shura
'consultation' -- refers to the 'unanimous' decision to appoint Abu Bakr the successor of the Prophet/ first Caliph. is used as an indigenous concept of democracy
tamarrud
rebellion; refers to a coalition of anti-Morsi groups that aimed to collect 15 million signatures for his resignation and ended up collecting 22million (in 2013)
Shariah
the contents of the law (rather than the process of determining law, which was the classical sense of the word); it refers to the ideal law that the Prophet executed (not what was contained in the 4 Sunni schools of jurisprudence)
Nasir al-Din al-Albani
dominated the la-madhhabiyya movement in the 1960s-90s; was a self-taught scholar and was known to criticize all known Islamic authorities for deviating from the Prophet
Muhammad al-Shawkani
a Yemeni scholar (fl. turn of the 19th century) who argued that all four Sunni schools of jurisprudence deviated from the teachings of the Prophet and is seen as the main theorizer of the la-madhhabiyya movement
Nur Party
political Salafi movement in Egypt; originally supported Sisi, but withdrew support after the Rabi'a al-Adhawiyya mosque massacre
fard ayn
an individual duty; al-Farag argued in his text "The Neglected Duty" that jihad has become an individual duty that all believers are required to fulfill (on par with prayer)
women should be part of the political process; men are allowed to marry up to 4 wives; women are primarily responsible for bearing and raising children, once this obligation has been fulfilled, they can take up leadership roles in society if they wish
Organization of the Supporters of Muhammad's Sunnah
an organization founded by Muhammad Hamid al-Fiqi in 1926 in Cairo; adopted a la-madhhabiyya philosophy and rejected both the Azhar and the Brotherhood
Muhammad Khatami
served as the fifth president of Iran until 2005, was succeeded by Ahmedinejad
activist Quran commentary
phrase describing Sayyid Qutb's work 'In the Shade of the Quran,' which focused on the relevance of Quranic verses to contemporary life