Glossary

The Walking Qur'an: Islamic Education,

Embodied Knowledge, and History in West Africa
Rudolph T. Ware

Print publication date: 2014

Print ISBN-13: 9781469614311
Published to North Carolina Scholarship Online: September 2014
DOI: 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469614311.001.0001

(p.258) (p.259) Glossary

abjad (Arabic)
the alphabet, especially arranged in numerological order
adab (Arabic)
etiquette, manners, training, education
ʿajamī (Arabic)
non-Arab; refers here to African languages written in Arabic script
ʿālim (Arabic) (pl. ʿulamāʾ)
learned or knowledgeable person
almaami (Fula)
Fula rendering of the Arabic al-imām, leader or guide
alwāḥ (Arabic)
wooden boards for Qurʾan learning (Wolof, àlluwa)
baraka (Arabic)
blessing, grace, benediction, divinely derived power (Wolof, barke)
basmala (Arabic)
invocation of God’s name, bismillah, usually upon beginning a task
bāṭin (Arabic)
hidden or concealed, esoteric knowledge
bayḍān or bīḍān (Arabic)
“white,” racial designation, salient after 1600 in West Africa
ceddo (Wolof)
enslaved warrior caste; from ceɗɗo (Fula, sing.; pl. seɓɓe)
ceerno (Fula)
Qurʾan teacher, cleric; closely related etymologically to Wolof, sëriñ
daara (Wolof)
Qurʾan School; from Arabic dār al-Qurʾān, house of the Qurʾan
daara tarbiya (Wolof)
training school, a male Murid institution focused on work
dāʾira (Arabic)
circle or group; in Wolof, a religious association, daayira or kurél
duʿā’ (Arabic)
supplication, call on God, prayer distinct from ritual ṣalāt
duɗal (Fula) (pl. dude)

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Glossary

hearth, Qurʾan school, referring to firelight studies

école arabe (French)
modern Arabic school; also école franco-arabe, médérsa
école française (French)
school using French as the main medium for instruction
fiqh (Arabic)
Islamic law as a discipline in the curriculum of Islamic study
Fuutanke (Fula) (pl. Fuutankoobe)
inhabitant of Fuuta Tooro in Senegal River Valley
gariibu (Fula)
young, beginning Qurʾan student; derived from verb meaning “to beg”
hadiyya (Arabic)
gift, esp. the gifts given to Qurʾan teachers, clerics, and Sufi shaykhs
hāfiẓ (Arabic) (pl. huffāẓ)
keeper or guardian; Wolof, kàŋ; (ḥifẓ) memorization
ḥubb (Arabic)
love, especially affection and kindness to teachers as a social value
ʿilm (Arabic) (pl. ʿulūm)
knowledge, discipline or field of study in Islamic curriculum
jaam (Wolof)
slave or slaves; in Fula, maccuɗo and rimayɓe
janng (Fula)
read, study, or learn; Wolof, jàng (learn), jàngal (teach)
julli (Wolof)
Muslim ritual prayer; jullit: Muslim, Pious Person; from Fula, juul
khidma (Arabic)
service, especially voluntary labor offered to a teacher or cleric
kuttāb (Arabic)
writing place, Middle Eastern term for Qurʾan school
madhhab (Arabic) (pl. madhāhib)
school of Islamic jurisprudence or legal rite
(p.260) madrasa (Arabic)
place of study, formal school, especially in medieval Middle East
maḥw (Arabic)
erasure, “holy water” made by washing Qurʾan verses from alw āḥ
majlis al-ʿilm (Arabic)
knowledge session, classical format for advanced study
marabout (French)
Muslim religious leader or notable; from Arabic mrābiṭ
médérsa (French)
French colonial Islamic school; from Arabic madrasa
moodibo (Fula) (pl. moodibaaɓe)
scholar, educator; from Arabic muʾaddib
murīd (Arabic)
spiritual aspirant, seeker of God, technical term in Sufism
ndongo (Wolof)
Qurʾan school student, equivalent of taalibé
njàngaan (Wolof)
live-in Qurʾan student, alms-seeking trip by Qurʾan school

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Glossary

qāḍī (Arabic)
judge, historically in West Africa, often nonstate arbitrators
saafara (Wolof)
remedy, especially Qurʾan water referred to as kiis; see also maḥw
ṣadaqa (Arabic)
voluntary or expiatory alms, especially to taalibés; Wolof, sarax
sëriñ (Wolof)
Qurʾan teacher, cleric, evangelist; likely from Arabic bashirīn
sūdān (Arabic)
blacks, dark-skinned Africans; bilād al-sūdān: lands of the blacks
sūdānī (Arabic) (adjectival form)
black, from the bilād al-sūdān, African
sunna (Arabic)
well-trod path, normative example, especially of the Prophet
taalibé (Wolof)
Qurʾan learner, disciple of religious leader; from Arabic ṭālib
taalibo (Fula)
advanced Qurʾan learner, student of religious sciences; from Arabic ṭālib
tafsīr (Arabic)
Qurʾan exegesis, among final fields broached in classical curriculum
takfīr (Arabic)
to call a Muslim a nonbeliever, verbal excommunication
tamsiir (Fula) or tafsiir
Qurʾan exegete, scholar, religious official; from Arabic tafsīr
ṭarīqa (Arabic) (pl. ṭuruq)
path, way, method, technical term for a Sufi order
taṣawwuf (Arabic)
the science (or discipline) of spiritual excellence, Sufism
téere (Wolof)
book, but especially written talisman; Songhay, tira
yalwaan (Wolof)
seeking alms, ritual mendicancy
yar (Wolof)
lash, whip, switch; to raise or educate, moral education and discipline
ẓāhir (Arabic)
manifest or apparent, exoteric knowledge

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