A niche in the wall of a mosque, at the point nearest to Mecca, toward which the congregation faces to pray
a collection of traditions containing sayings of the prophet Muhammad which, with accounts of his daily practice (the Sunna), constitute the major source of guidance for Muslims apart from the Koran
a small stone building in the court of the Great Mosque at Mecca that contains a sacred black stone and is the goal of Islamic pilgrimage and the point toward which Muslims turn in praying
the wall in a mosque that faces Mecca
a head covering worn in public by some Muslim women; the religious code which governs its wearing
In Islam, a prayer leader
the Islamic sacred book, believed to be the word of God as dictated to Muhammad by the archangel Gabriel and written down in Arabic
, fundamental practices in Islam, considered to be obligatory acts of worship for all Muslims. They are summarized in the famous hadith of Gabriel
"recitation" in Arabic; the preferred spelling of "Koran" by Arabic & Islamic scholars
the second holiest city in Islam after Mecca and the burial place of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad
the larger of the two main branches of Islam, which differs from Shia in its understanding of the Sunna, its conception of religious leadership, and its acceptance of the first three caliphs
a tall slender tower, typically part of a mosque, with a balcony from which a muezzin calls Muslims to prayer
, the branch of Islam that believes that Ali succeeded Muhammad as leader, and that places emphasis on the prophet's family
a month-long religious holiday for Muslims as a time of self-reflection and strengthening their relationship with God. It is dictated by the lunar cycle, beginning and ending with a crescent moon. The religious holiday involves fasting, praying and being around loved ones
, Arabic for "God", the one and only God in Islam