Words worth
knowing

Arabic

Allah

What it means

God, the One God. Said by Arabic-speaking Muslims, Christians and Jews.

How it is misused

Treated as the name of a separate “Muslim god”, or heard only in news of violence.

Say it well

Say “Allah, the Arabic word for God”.

English

God

What it means

From a Germanic root, not related to Allah or Elohim. Used by all three faiths.

How it is misused

Some Muslims prefer “Allah”, to avoid “gods” and “goddess”.

Say it well

Both are fine. Follow the speaker's own usage.

Hebrew · Greek · Arabic

Lord

What it means

Jews say Adonai in place of God's Name; Christians say Lord of God and of Jesus; Muslims say Rabb, “Lord of the worlds”.

How it is misused

Heard as meaning the same thing in all three when it doesn't.

Say it well

Say whose “Lord”, and what it refers to.

Hebrew, “the Name”

HaShem

What it means

How many Jews refer to God in everyday speech, out of reverence.

How it is misused

Sometimes mocked as evasive.

Say it well

Use it when quoting Jewish speakers; explain it once.

Aramaic, “father”

Abba

What it means

The word Jesus (peace be upon him) used in prayer (Mark 14:36).

How it is misused

Popularly said to mean “Daddy”; scholars dispute that.

Say it well

Say “Father (Aramaic Abba)”. Muslims do not call God “Father”.

Arabic, “God is greater”

Allāhu akbar

What it means

Said in every Muslim prayer, at the call to prayer, in joy and at births. Arab Christians say it too.

How it is misused

Shouted by some attackers, so many people hear it only that way.

Say it well

Know its everyday use first. Its misuse is the Name used in vain.

Arabic, “if God wills”

In shā' Allāh

What it means

Said of anything in the future (Qur'an 18:23–24). Christians say the same: “If the Lord wills” (James 4:15).

How it is misused

Joked about as meaning “never”.

Say it well

A shared humility phrase. Use it as a bridge.

Arabic, “what God has willed”

Mā shā' Allāh

What it means

Praise and admiration, and a guard against envy.

How it is misused

Rarely misused; often misunderstood.

Say it well

Gloss it once.

Arabic · Hebrew, “peace”

Salām · Shalom

What it means

The greetings as-salāmu ʿalaykum and shalom aleichem. As-Salām is a Name of Allah; Shalom is a name of God in Jewish law.

How it is misused

Not misused: a perfect “same word” moment.

Say it well

Use it.

Arabic, “striving”

Jihad

What it means

In the Qur'an: patient endurance, argument and self-defence. Later writers spoke of the greater, inner jihad and the lesser, armed one.

How it is misused

Used by extremists to justify terror; used by others to brand all Muslims.

Say it well

Say “striving”. Never use it as shorthand for terrorism.

Arabic, “path to water”

Sharia

What it means

The divine way of life: prayer, ethics, family, law. Distinct from fiqh, the human, fallible working-out of it.

How it is misused

A scare word (“sharia law taking over”).

Say it well

Sharia councils in England are not courts and cannot override UK law.

Arabic, from “to cover”

Kāfir

What it means

In the Qur'an, ingratitude or covering the truth; in 57:20 it simply means farmers, who cover seed.

How it is misused

Extremists use it against other Muslims; in South Africa it became a racial slur.

Say it well

Explain it with care; never use it as a label for people.

Hebrew · Latin, “nation”

Goy · gentile

What it means

In the Bible goy means any nation, including Israel; later, non-Jews.

How it is misused

Antisemitic propaganda falsely presents it as proof of contempt.

Say it well

Say “non-Jew” in plain English.

Latin, “unfaithful”

Infidel

What it means

A medieval Christian term, often for Muslims; a loose rendering of kāfir.

How it is misused

Used as an insult in both directions.

Say it well

Avoid it, except to explain its history.

Latin

Crusade

What it means

The medieval Latin Christian military campaigns, especially 1095–1291.

How it is misused

Painful history for Muslims, Arab Christians and Jews, who were massacred in the Rhineland in 1096.

Say it well

Avoid it as a metaphor.

English

Muslim · Islamic · Islamist

What it means

A Muslim follows Islam; “Islamic” describes the faith and its civilisation; “Islamist” usually means a political ideology.

How it is misused

“Islamist” used to mean any Muslim, or a terrorist.

Say it well

Never use “Islamist” as shorthand for “Muslim”. Name the group and the act.

Arabic, ahl al-kitāb

People of the Book

What it means

The Qur'an's term for Jews and Christians, honoured as receivers of earlier scripture, invited to “a common word” (3:64).

How it is misused

Sometimes read narrowly, to mark outsiders.

Say it well

A warm bridge term. Use it with its verses.

English

Abrahamic

What it means

A modern umbrella term for Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

How it is misused

Overused to mean “all the same”.

Say it well

Say “the God of Abraham, understood differently”.

English

Antisemitism

What it means

Hostility to Jews as Jews. Spelt without a hyphen, as CST and the IHRA spell it.

How it is misused

Denied, or used loosely.

Say it well

Name it, and report it.

English

Anti-Muslim hatred

What it means

Hostility to Muslims as Muslims. The UK government now uses “anti-Muslim hostility”; “Islamophobia” is also widely used.

How it is misused

Denied, or used loosely.

Say it well

Name it, and report it.