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Shuayb

(Encyclopedia)Shuayb sho͞ohāyb [key], Qur'anic non-biblical prophet, appeared later than Hud and Salih among “the people of the thicket.” His preaching is said to have consisted of a call to monotheism and so...

Koran

(Encyclopedia)Koran: see Qur'an.

Arabic languages

(Encyclopedia)Arabic languages, members of the West Semitic group of the Semitic subdivision of the Afroasiatic family of languages (see Afroasiatic languages). The Arabic languages comprise North Arabic (or simply...

Azrael

(Encyclopedia)Azrael ăzˈrāĕl [key] [Heb.,=help of god], in the Qur'an, angel of death, who severs the soul from the body. The name and the concept were borrowed from Judaism. ...

Agrapha of Jesus

(Encyclopedia)Agrapha of Jesus ăgˈrəfə [key] [gr.,=unwritten], sayings attributed to Jesus not found in the canonical Gospels, but found elsewhere in the New Testament, the Apocryphal Gospels, the early Fathers...

Nazarene

(Encyclopedia)Nazarene năzˈərēn [key], term used of the early Christians. Jesus was sometimes referred to as a Nazarene, alluding to his home town, Nazareth. This usage occurs several times in the New Testament...

Qutb, Sayyid

(Encyclopedia)Qutb, Sayyid sīˈyĭd kŭˈtəb [key], 1906–66, Egyptian Islamist whose critique of modern civilization and Islam provides the theoretical underpinnings for many contemporary Islamic militants. Edu...

calf, golden

(Encyclopedia)calf, golden, erected by the Israelites on several occasions, as related in the Bible and the Qur'an. Aaron made one while Moses was on Mt. Sinai. Jeroboam placed one at Bethel and another at Dan. Hos...

Islam

(Encyclopedia)Islam ĭslämˈ, ĭsˈläm [key], [Arab.,=submission to God], world religion founded by the Prophet Muhammad. Founded in the 7th cent., Islam is the youngest of the three monotheistic world religions ...

Sibawaihi

(Encyclopedia)Sibawaihi sēbäwīhē [key], c.760–793, Persian grammarian, considered the most important Arabic grammarian. His book al-Kitah fi'l nahwi is the first complete Arabic grammar, upon which all other ...

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