Husayn: The grandson of the Prophet. See Karbala.
Ifrit: A hostile and vicious type of jinn.
Inshallah: “If God wills.” It is used to mean “Yes,” “No,” and “Maybe,” and “if God wills,” also as a statement of humility in response to praise.
Jinn: The general category of creatures made of fire. They are many types. They can be friendly and helpful--but always tricky--to demonic. See @aaolami on Twitter for helpful categorizations and descriptions.
Karbala: After the third Caliph, Uthman, was murdered and Ali was ultimately offered the position of Caliph, several prominent companions of the Prophet, led by his wife Aisha, challenged Ali’s authority. This challenge ended on the battlefield with Ali soundly defeating them. Nevertheless, his authority continued to be contested. After Ali’s death, his son Hasan negotiated away his right to lead, and the caliphate came into the hands of the Umayyads under the leadership of Muawiyya. After Muawiyya’s death, Ali’s other son, Husayn, was encouraged by the people of Kufa to lead a rebellion against the hereditary designation of Muawiyya’s son Yazid as caliph. Husayn answered the call, but before he could reach Kufa he was met on the plain of Karbala by Umayyad forces. The people of Kufa, under threat from the Umayyads, failed to support Husayn in battle. Others argue that no rebellion was planned, and the tensions arose from Husayn’s refusal to submit to Yazid at his behest. Whichever case, Husayn’s party which included many members of the Prophet’s family were brutally killed, including women and children, while survivors were marched away and taken into custody. The loss of the Prophet’s family, the loss of the leadership of his family, and the sorrow of the people of Kufa haunt the Shia religious imagination, as we see Ammar often experiencing.
Mashallah: “God willed it.” It can be used to mean “Well, that’s a done deal,” to “wonderful,” to “God willed it, so nothing can harm it.”
Mazalim High Court: The highest religious court “hosted” by the Caliph. It saw appeals from lower religious courts, cases of heresy, political cases, or cases deemed too controversial for lower courts.
Marketplace Inspector: The marketplace inspector handled all petty crime in the marketplace, theft and weights and measures issues. The inspectors also policed public decency in the markets. My understanding is that this court was more in line with a “hearing,” rather than a court proper.
Police Chief’s court: All criminal cases, except for petty marketplace crime, was handled by this court.
Religious courts: Most cities had only one of these, but Baghdad had three for each major region of the city. They handled what we would think of as civil matters, family matters, and religious questions. While religious scholars discussed the adjudication of criminal matters in their legal writings, they did not often hear these cases in court.
Nahariyya: Literally a “day-time” marriage house, meaning a brothel.
Niqab: A face veil, typically the eyes can be seen. Only privileged women wore them, with the exception of prostitutes. Other women covered their faces with their wraps as needed.
Qamis: A tunic worn by men or women of different lengths.
Qadi: The religious court judge.
Qur’an: For Muslims, the Qur’an is the word of God in the Arabic language as received by Muhammad through the angel Gabriel over 23 years.
Re’ya: A kind of jinn or spirit that tells secrets.
Sama: A Sufi ritual involving music, recitation of prayers remembering God, praise of the Prophet, and meant to induce ecstasy.
Sayyid/Sayyida: Master or Mistress, in the vein of Lord or Lady, typically used to refer to the Prophet and his family by Shia and some Sunni Muslims. Sayyidi means “My Master.” Versions of this can also be used as the equivalent of sir or ma’am, as well.
Shahada: The statement “There is no god but God and Muhammad is God’s messenger.” It can be use to convert to Islam. It is said in babies ears just after they are born to make them Muslim. It is used as a general exclamation as well as a daily act of remembrance that people find meditative.
Sharia: Meaning “Islamic Law” in the most general terms. In a general sense, it refers to God’s legal intent for Muslims as expressed in the Qur’an. In a particular sense, it is what any scholar at any point in time and place argues is God’s legal intent based on the textual sources and interpretive methods they use to determine that intent. Overall, legal scholars and schools agree to disagree on the details which allows for extraordinary diversity of rulings. The term for determining that intent is “fiqh,” meaning jurisprudence.
Shaykh: In general, it can refer to any teacher of any sort. In these books, I use it to refer only to an established Sufi guide. It was not used by Sufis at this time, but since it is the accepted term later, I use it.
Shia: Those who would come to be known as Shia were those who believed that the Prophet and God, as articulated in certain verses of the Qur’an, had designated, Ali, his cousin and son-in-law to be his successor rather than Abu Bakr. Although Shia did not use this name at the time of the book, I use it for clarity’s sake. Most believe that true leadership is spiritually invested (rather than primarily politically), inhering in those with unique spiritual gifts as Ali was known to have. Ali was passed over three times for the caliphate, and by the time he was offered the position, the young empire was on the brink of civil war. The civil war ended after his death with his adult son, Husayn, and other members of his family and companions, slaughtered at Karbala in Iraq, by opposing political forces. Although all Muslims find those events to have been an extraordinary tragedy, the Shia continue to see the world’s injustices through the lens of that fateful day. For most Sunnis, it was a terrible wrong, but something best left in the past.
Sirwal: Loose pants worn under the qamis tunic.
Subhanallah: “God is glorious” can be used as a kind of secular “wow,” to a state of spiritual awe and wonder.
Sunna: The Sunna is the “Way” of Muhammad characterized by which Hadith one accepts or rejects. Muslims seek to follow his Sunna in ways small and large, such as drinking water the way he did or being “a man,” on his model. While a great deal is accepted and consistent across Muslim cultures and times, Muslims continue to argue--sometimes violently--over other matters. Sexual consent and marriage are important points of dispute.
Sunni: The Muslims who would ultimately call themselves “Sunni,” were those who chose to follow Abu Bakr as the first caliph of the Muslim community after Muhammad died. They believe scholars are the inheritors of the Prophet’s guidance. There are four main Sunni schools of law and several schools of theology Hanbali, Hanafi, Shafii, and Maliki.
Time: Although there were water clocks and sundials, most people kept time by looking at the sun and the stars, but also by the call to prayer (see Adhan). There were six calls daily. About an hour before dawn (for a supererogatory prayer). Dawn. Just after zenith. Mid-afternoon. Sundown. After dark.
Walla: “By God,” an oath akin to “I swear.”
Ya Rabb: “Oh Lord,” used as a sincere calling to God to pure sarcasm.
Yazid: The son of Mu`awiyya and the second of the Ummayad caliphs. Husayn and the rest of the Prophet’s family were slain at Karbala on his order. To say someone is “no better than Yazid” is to say they are not only unjust, but one who would betray humanity for worldly power.
Zunnar: A rope belt, sometimes with knots, used specifically by non-Muslim “dhimmis,” protected religious minorities, to identify them. There were extensive laws delineating what protected minorities could wear, but with the exception of two caliphs in the Abbasid Period, these were not enforced. Please see my website, under “clothing,” for more details and trustworthy resources.
Characters
Arab Naming Conventions
Umm Marwa [Mother of Marwa] Fatima [Personal Name] bint Fahim [Daughter of Fahim] al-Jarriri [Fahim, the Potter] al-Karkhi [From Karkh]
Parent of Child Name: Abu (Father) or Umm (Mother) of Marwa
&n
bsp; Personal Name: Fatima
Child of Father/Mother’s Name (then often a list of ancestry, Parent Child of Grandparents’s Name, and so on): ibn (Son) or bint (Daughter) of Fahim
Nickname or Profession Name: “al-Jarriri,” The Potter.
Tribe Name or Neighbourhood/City/Region Name. “al-Karkhi,” from Karkh
Characters are mainly referred to by their parental name or their personal names in the book. The narrator uses short forms of nicknames or profession names, Nuri rather than “an-Nuri,” or “Ibn Salah” instead of “Ibn as-Salah.” Shortening is an English language convention of Arab names, but Arabs do it, too, in some regional dialects.
The pronunciation guide is an approximation for North American English speakers without strong regional accents.
Main Characters
Zaytuna [zay-TOON-ah]: Our heroine, Zaytuna is a twenty-seven year old clothes washer of Nubian and Arab descent. She is the daughter of a female mystic, unnamed in the story, but known as al-Ashiqa al-Sawda, the Black Lover of God.
Tein [teen]: Zaytuna’s twin, a former frontier fighter, a ghazi. He finds work with Ammar in the Baghdadi Police’s Grave Crimes section.
Mustafa [MOOS-tah-fah]: Zaytuna and Tein’s childhood friend, twenty-six years old, sometimes called a cousin or a brother to them. He is a Hanbali hadith scholar of Persian and Arab descent.
Saliha [SAH-lee-hah]: Zaytuna’s best friend, neighbour and a corpse washer. She is a twenty-five year old Arab who comes from the countryside.
Ammar [ahm-MAAR]: Tein’s old friend from his days as a ghazi, the main investigator for the Grave Crimes Section, and Tein’s boss.
Major Recurring Characters
Zaytuna and Tein’s mother, known as al-Ashiqa as-Sawda [al-AH-shee-ka as-SOW-duh]: A Nubian woman who is overcome without warning by states of ecstasy in which her ego-self dissolves into the ocean of God’s love. Her character is a composite of women from the early period, but most explicitly based on Shawana, a 1st H/7th CE mystic of African descent.
Junayd [joo-NAID]: This character is based on the famous historical Sufi of Baghdad, Abu al-Qasim al-Junayd ibn Muhammad ibn al-Junayd al-Khazzaz al-Qawariri. Junayd is seventy-two years old. He is called “Uncle Abu al-Qasim” in the book, al-Junayd in more formal form, or simply Junayd.
Nuri [NOOR-ee]: This character is also based on a famous historical Sufi, Ahmad ibn Abu al-Husayn an-Nuri. Nuri is sixty-seven years old. He is a loving father-figure to Zaytuna, Tein, and Mustafa. He is called “Uncle Nuri” in the book, or simply Nuri.
Layla [LAY-luh]: Layla, a ten year old Arab servant girl, indentured by her parents at a young age.
Yulduz [YOOL-duhz] and Qambar [KAHM-baar]: Zaytuna and Saliha’s neighbours. Yulduz is a bold Turkmen woman, wife to Qambar. Qambar is an Arab Shia who fell madly in love with Yulduz when they were young.
YingYue [ying-yway]: YingYue is an eighteen year old Chinese mystic prodigy from Taraz, a city on the edge of the Muslim empire in the East.
Burhan [buhr-HAAN] and Abu Burhan: Burhan is a hadith scholar who grew up in an environment of privilege. His father, Abu Burhan is the judge for the Karkh district of Baghdad.
Marta: Marta is Yuduz’s best friend. She is a widowed Syriac Christian who brings her children a bit of coin by selling cups of pre-soaked chickpeas, ready to cook, on the roadside, just outside the official vegetable marketplace.
Maryam [MARE-yam]: Imam Ibrahim’s housekeeper, Layla’s boss and mother figure.
Major Characters In This Book Alone
Imam [ee-MAAM] Hashim [hah-SHEEM]: The victim of the crime. A religious scholar of ill-repute.
Hanan [hah-NAAN]: The wife of Imam Hashim
Isam [e-SAAM]: The brother or Imam Hashim, brother-in-law to Hanan
Ta’sin [ta’-SIIN]: Imam Hashim’s housekeeper
Hushang [hoo-shung]: Tavern Keeper at the Pomegranate Nahariyya
Chandi [CHAAN-dee] and Agnes: Prostitutes at the Pomegranate Nahariyya
Khalil [kha-LEEL]: Tein’s old friend from frontier days who now threatens debtors.
Ibn Salah [sah-LAAH]: A jurist who follows the Hanafi school of religious law
Qadi [Qaw-DEE] Ibn al-Zayzafuni [ib-in al-zay-zaw-FOON-ee]: The judge of the Rusafa district of Baghdad
Tansholpan [tan-shohl-PAN]: A Turkmen talisman and cursewriter, friend of Yulduz
The Jealous Page 42
