TABLIGH

TABLIGH. Qazi Muhammad Sulaiman Mansurpuri (d. 1930), an Indian scholar known for several works defending Islam against criticism by non-Muslims, defined tabligh in Tabligh al-Islam […]

SYNDICATES

SYNDICATES. Professional syndicates-like labor unions (which are not treated here)-have arisen in the Islamic world in the past century in new or significantly altered occupations […]

SURROGATE MOTHERHOOD

SURROGATE MOTHERHOOD. Surrogate motherhood is a contractual agreement whereby a woman agrees to be impregnated by a man, or implanted with a prefertilized embryo, and […]

SUNNI ISLAM

SUNNI ISLAM. Historical Overview Practiced by the majority of Muslims, Sunni Islam refers primarily to the customary practice of the prophet Muhammad. The term Sunni (sometimes […]

SUNNAH

SUNNAH. The Arabic term sunnah since pre-Islamic times has signified established custom, precedent, the conduct of life, and cumulative tradition. In a general sense, such […]

SULTAN

SULTAN. The Arabic word sultan is used to denote power, might, and authority, or the possessor of such power, a ruler. In the Qur’an it […]

SUICIDE

SUICIDE. Qatl al-nafs, literally “self-murder,” is the term used to denote suicide in classical Islamic texts. Intihar, originally meaning “cutting of the throat,” is the […]

SUFISM AND POLITICS

SUFISM AND POLITICS. Traditional Sufism is an interiorization of Sunni quietism, articulating the pre-Islamic Pahlavi vision of monarchic government by religious principles, as echoed by […]

SUDAN

SUDAN. Islam entered the region of the Sudan, as it is known today, decisively in the sixteenth century CE. Today approximately 70 percent of Sudan’s […]

SOUTH AFRICA

SOUTH AFRICA. The 1993 South African apartheid census figures divided the population into four categories: Africans, 32 million; Coloureds, 5 million; Indians, I million; and […]