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159 words you will meet on this site, each explained in its own tradition's terms.
- BCE and CE (AD, BC, AH) General
Before the Common Era and Common Era: the same numbering as BC and AD, without the Christian titles.
Muslims also date by AH (after the Hijra) and Jews by Anno Mundi, from creation as traditionally counted.
- Bhagavad Gita (the Gita) Hindu
“The Song of God”: a dialogue in which Krishna teaches the warrior Arjuna about duty, devotion and the self, part of the epic Mahabharata.
Among the most read Hindu scriptures.
- Bhakti Hindu
Loving devotion to God, expressed in song, prayer and service.
The Bhagavad Gita praises it, and poet-saints such as Mirabai and Kabir spread it. Some of their hymns are in the Guru Granth Sahib.
- Bismillah (Bismillāh ar-Raḥmān ar-Raḥīm) Muslim
“In the name of God, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.” Said before eating, travelling, starting work, almost anything.
It opens 113 of the 114 suras. Saying it is a way of beginning with God and with mercy.
- Abrahamic (Abrahamic faiths) General
Judaism, Christianity and Islam, the faiths that trace themselves to Abraham (peace be upon him) and his One God.
We say “Abrahamic”, which includes all three, rather than “Judeo-Christian”, which leaves Islam out. Other faiths with roots in that family include the Druze and the Baháʼí.
- Brahman Hindu
In Hindu thought, the one ultimate reality behind and within everything.
The Upanishads teach that Brahman is beyond all description, “not this, not this” (neti neti), and many Hindus understand the many deities as forms or faces of the One. Not to be confused with Brahmin, a priestly caste, or Brahma, a creator deity.
- Catholic Church (Roman Catholic) Christian
The largest Christian church, led by the Pope, the Bishop of Rome.
Its Vatican II declaration Nostra Aetate (1965) speaks with esteem of Muslims and of the Jewish people.
- Christmas (the Nativity) Christian
The festival of the birth of Jesus, celebrated on 25 December (7 January in many Orthodox churches).
The Qur'an also tells of Jesus' birth, to Mary beneath a palm tree (19:22–26).
- Contingency (contingent; necessary being) General
A contingent thing might not have existed; a necessary being cannot fail to exist. The contingency argument goes back to Ibn Sina.
Ibn Sina called God the Necessary Existent (wājib al-wujūd). Aquinas and Leibniz built on similar reasoning.
- Creed (Nicene Creed; Apostles' Creed) Christian
A short statement of Christian belief said in worship. The Nicene Creed begins: “We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty …”
Agreed at Nicaea (325) and Constantinople (381). Most churches still say it, Arabic-speaking churches with “nuʾmin bi-ilāhin wāḥid”, “we believe in one God”.
- Dhamma (Dharma) Buddhist
The Buddha's teaching, and the truth it points to.
The “Three Jewels” are the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha, the community.
- Dhammapada Buddhist
A much-loved collection of 423 verses of the Buddha's teaching, in Pali.
It opens: “All that we are is the result of what we have thought.” Verse 5: “Hatred does not cease by hatred at any time: hatred ceases by love” (Max Müller, 1881).
- Adhan (adhān; azan; the call to prayer) Muslim
The call to prayer, sung five times a day. It begins “Allāhu akbar”, God is greater.
The first muʾadhdhin was Bilal, a freed Abyssinian slave. In Britain the adhan is usually heard inside the mosque; some mosques have permission to call aloud on Fridays or in Ramadan.
- Dharma Hindu
Right order and right living: duty, ethics and the law that holds the world together.
Dharma depends on one's stage of life and role. Buddhists and Sikhs also use the word, each in their own sense.
- Dhikr (zikr; remembrance) Muslim
Remembrance of God: repeating short phrases of praise such as SubḥānAllāh, Alḥamdulillāh and Allāhu akbar, aloud or silently.
“Verily in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest!” (Qur'an 13:28). Many Muslims count dhikr on prayer beads (misbaḥa) or fingers after prayer. Christians with the rosary and Hindus and Sikhs with repeated prayer or the Name know similar practices.
- Diwali (Deepavali) Hindu
The festival of lights in autumn, celebrating the victory of light over darkness, with lamps, fireworks and sweets.
Sikhs mark it as Bandi Chhor Divas, and Jains celebrate it too. Leicester holds one of the largest celebrations outside India.
- Adonai Jewish
“My Lord”: the word Jews say in prayer and reading aloud wherever the four-letter Name of God is written.
English Bibles such as the JPS 1917 translation print the four-letter Name as “the LORD” in capitals to show it.
- Dukkha Buddhist
Suffering, unease, the unsatisfactoriness of life: the first of the Four Noble Truths.
The Buddha taught that dukkha has a cause, craving, and can end, through the Eightfold Path.
- Duʿa (dua; duʿāʾ) Muslim
Personal prayer: speaking to God in your own words, in any language, at any time.
Different from salah, the set prayer. The Qur'an promises: “Call on Me and I will answer you” (40:60). Hands are often raised, palms up, as if to receive.
- Advent Christian
The four weeks of preparation before Christmas, a season of waiting and hope, marked with candles and calendars.
It begins the Christian year.
- Easter (Pascha) Christian
The festival of Jesus' resurrection, Christianity's greatest feast, preceded by Holy Week and Good Friday.
Its date follows the moon, in the spring near Passover. Orthodox churches usually celebrate on a later Sunday.
- Eid al-Adha (Eid ul-Adha; Bakra Eid; the Festival of Sacrifice) Muslim
The festival of sacrifice during the Hajj, remembering Abraham's readiness to sacrifice his son and the ram God provided.
Families who can afford it sacrifice an animal (qurbani), sharing the meat with family, neighbours and the poor. The Qur'an says: “Neither their meat nor their blood reaches God; what reaches Him is your devotion” (22:37).
- Eid al-Fitr (Eid ul-Fitr; ʿĪd al-Fiṭr) Muslim
The festival that ends Ramadan: prayers, new clothes, family visits and a gift to the poor (zakat al-fitr) so everyone can celebrate.
“Eid Mubarak” means “blessed festival”. It falls on the first day of the month of Shawwal, when the new crescent is seen or calculated.
- El (Eloah) Jewish
An ancient Semitic word for God, found in Hebrew names such as Isra-el, Dani-el and Beth-el, and in titles such as El Shaddai, God Almighty.
At Ugarit, El was the chief god of a pantheon; in the Hebrew Bible El is the One God of Abraham. Eloah is a poetic singular, common in the book of Job.
- Elohim (Elohīm) Jewish
A Hebrew word for God, used from the first line of the Bible: “In the beginning Elohim created …” (Genesis 1:1).
The form is plural, but used of the One God it takes singular verbs; scholars call it a plural of majesty. It belongs to the same family of words as El, Eloah, Aramaic Elah and Arabic ilāh and Allāh.
- Lent (Great Lent) Christian
The 40 days before Easter: fasting, prayer and giving, remembering Jesus' 40 days in the wilderness.
It begins on Ash Wednesday. Many give up a food or habit; Orthodox Christians keep a strict fast without meat, dairy and often oil. In some years Lent and Ramadan overlap.
- Eucharist (Holy Communion; Mass; the Lord's Supper; Divine Liturgy) Christian
The central Christian act of worship: bread and wine shared as Jesus did at the Last Supper, “Do this in remembrance of me.”
Eucharist means “thanksgiving”. Catholics, Orthodox, Anglicans and other Christians understand Christ's presence in it in different ways.
- Fine-tuning General
The observation that some of nature's constants fall in a narrow range that allows stars, chemistry and life.
Some see design; others point to a multiverse, the anthropic principle or brute fact. The size of the effect is debated.
- Fitra (fiṭra; fitrah) Muslim
The natural disposition God gave every human being: an inborn sense of the Creator and of right and wrong.
From Qur'an 30:30. A hadith says every child is born upon the fitra. Muslims connect it with the near-universal human instinct to seek God, which researchers in the cognitive science of religion also study, from a different angle.
- Five Pillars (arkān al-islām) Muslim
The five core practices of Islam: shahada, salah, zakat, sawm (fasting in Ramadan) and Hajj.
From a well-known hadith (Bukhari, Muslim). Each has parallels in other faiths: declaring faith, set prayer, giving, fasting and pilgrimage.
- Four Noble Truths Buddhist
The Buddha's first teaching: life involves dukkha; it arises from craving; it can end; the path to its end is the Noble Eightfold Path.
The Eightfold Path is right view, intention, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness and concentration.
- al-Fātiḥa (al-Fatihah; the Opening) Muslim
The first sura of the Qur'an, seven verses long, recited in every unit of every prayer.
It praises God, Lord of the worlds, the Merciful, Master of the Day of Judgement, and asks: “Guide us to the straight path.” Muslims often compare its place with the Lord's Prayer for Christians.
- Gaon (plural Geonim) Jewish
Title of the heads of the great Jewish academies of Babylonia, about 600–1050 CE. Saadia Gaon is the most famous.
The Geonim answered questions on law sent from across the Jewish world.
- Agnostic General
Someone who holds that we do not, or cannot, know whether God exists.
The word was coined by the biologist Thomas Huxley in 1869.
- Gospel (Injīl; evangelion) Christian
“Good news”: the message of Jesus Christ, and the four books Matthew, Mark, Luke and John that tell his life, death and resurrection.
Scholars generally date the Gospels to about 65–100 CE, Mark usually first. Christians read a Gospel passage at most services. The Qur'an speaks of the Injīl given to Jesus.
- Gurdwara (gurdwara sahib) Sikh
A Sikh place of worship: “the Guru's door”. Open to everyone, with a free kitchen, the langar.
Britain's first gurdwara opened in a house in Putney in 1911, moving to Shepherd's Bush in 1913. Visitors cover their heads, remove shoes and do not bring tobacco or alcohol.
- Guru Granth Sahib (Adi Granth) Sikh
The Sikh scripture, honoured as the living Guru. Compiled by Guru Arjan in 1604; declared Guru by Guru Gobind Singh in 1708.
It holds hymns of six Gurus and of Hindu and Muslim saints such as Kabir and Sheikh Farid, set to classical ragas. It is kept on a raised throne under a canopy and read with a chaur, a fan, waved over it.
- Guru Nanak (Guru Nanak Dev Ji) Sikh
The founder of Sikhi (1469–1539) and first of ten human Gurus, born in Talwandi, now Nanakana Sahib in Pakistan.
Sikhs remember his words, “There is no Hindu, there is no Muslim”, said after a spiritual experience, meaning that all are one before God. He travelled widely and, by tradition, visited Makkah.
- Allah (Allāh; al-ilāh; Alla (Maltese)) Muslim
The Arabic word for God: the One God, Creator of all. Arabic-speaking Muslims, Christians and Jews all use it.
Most scholars trace it to al-ilāh, “the God”, from the same Semitic family as Hebrew Elohim and Syriac Alāhā. Muslims understand it as God's own name, with no plural and no gender. Arab Christians pray to Allah in church; Saadia Gaon used it in his Arabic Torah.
- Hadith (ḥadīth; plural aḥādīth) Muslim
A report of what the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ (peace be upon him) said, did or approved, passed on through named chains of narrators.
Collections such as al-Bukhari and Muslim (9th century) are the most respected among Sunni Muslims; Shia Muslims have their own collections. Scholars grade each report by its chain and content, from sound (ṣaḥīḥ) to weak. Hadith are second only to the Qur'an as a source of teaching.
- Hajj (ḥajj; pilgrimage) Muslim
The pilgrimage to Makkah in the month of Dhu al-Hijja, required once in a lifetime of every Muslim who is able.
Pilgrims wear simple white cloth, circle the Kaʿba, walk between Safa and Marwa as Hagar did, and stand in prayer at ʿArafat. The rites remember Abraham, Hagar and Ishmael (peace be upon them). About 1.8 million took part in 2024.
- Alhamdulillah (al-ḥamdu lillāh) Muslim
“All praise and thanks belong to God.” The everyday word of gratitude, said after eating, sneezing or hearing good news, and in hardship too.
It is the opening line of the Qur'an after the Bismillah (1:2). Ḥamd is praise mixed with thanks. Jews and Christians have close parallels: “Baruch HaShem”, “Thanks be to God”.
- Harmandir Sahib (the Golden Temple; Darbar Sahib) Sikh
The holiest gurdwara, in Amritsar, with four doors open to all four directions.
The Adi Granth was first installed there in 1604. Its langar serves tens of thousands a day.
- Harvest Festival (Harvest thanksgiving) Christian
A British church tradition of autumn thanks for the harvest, with hymns such as “We plough the fields” and gifts of food.
Schools across Britain still mark it. It sits alongside Sukkot, Pongal and Vaisakhi as a thanksgiving for food.
- HaShem (Hashem; “the Name”) Jewish
“The Name”: how many Jews refer to God in everyday speech, out of reverence for God's holy name.
God's personal name in the Hebrew Bible, written with four Hebrew letters, is not pronounced. In prayer Jews say Adonai; in conversation, HaShem. Some write G-d in English for the same reason.
- Hebrew Bible (Tanakh; Jewish scripture) General
The scripture of Judaism, written mostly in Hebrew with some Aramaic. Christians include these books in their Old Testament.
We use “Hebrew Bible” for Jewish scripture because “Old Testament” is a Christian term. Our quotations come from the Jewish Publication Society translation of 1917, which is public domain.
- Hijra (hijrah; Hegira) Muslim
The Prophet's migration from Makkah to Madinah in 622 CE. Year 1 of the Islamic calendar.
Dates are written AH (Anno Hegirae). The lunar year is about 354 days, so 1 Ramadan moves through the seasons. The Sinai Arabic 151 manuscript is dated 253 AH, which is 867 CE.
- Humanist (humanism) General
Someone who lives without religion, finding meaning and ethics in human reason, compassion and this life.
Humanists UK represents many non-religious people in Britain.
- Ibrāhīm (Abraham; Avraham) Muslim
Abraham (peace be upon him), whom Muslims call Khalīl Allāh, the Friend of God, and the father of monotheism.
The Qur'an calls him ḥanīf, a pure believer in One God, “neither a Jew nor a Christian” (3:67) because he came before both. All three faiths trace themselves to him; hence “Abrahamic”.
- ʿIbāda (ibadah; ʿibādah; worship) Muslim
Worship in its widest sense: anything done for God's sake, from prayer and fasting to honest work and kindness.
The Qur'an says people were created “to worship Me” (51:56). Many Muslims explain worship as a life of thanks and service to the One who gave life, not only rituals.
- Icon (eikon) Christian
A painted holy image, especially in Orthodox Christianity, venerated (honoured) as a window to heaven, not worshipped.
Icons show Christ, Mary and the saints in set styles. Judaism and Islam avoid images in worship; this site shows no picture of God, prophets or Mary.
- Iftar (ifṭār) Muslim
The meal that breaks the fast at sunset in Ramadan, traditionally begun with dates and water.
Many British mosques, churches, synagogues and charities now host open iftars for neighbours of every faith. Suḥūr is the meal before dawn.
- Ik Onkar (Ik Oankar; ੴ) Sikh
“There is One Creator”: the first words of the Guru Granth Sahib, written as a single symbol, ੴ.
Ik is the numeral one; Onkar names the Creator. The opening Mool Mantar continues: Truth is the Name, the Creator, without fear, without hate, beyond time, unborn, self-existent, known by the Guru's grace.
- al-Ikhlāṣ (Surah al-Ikhlas; sura 112; Sincerity) Muslim
Four short lines on who God is: One, the Everlasting Refuge, who neither begets nor was begotten, with none comparable to Him.
A hadith says it equals a third of the Qur'an. It is the clearest statement that God is beyond any picture or likeness, known through His Names and signs.
- In shā' Allāh (Inshallah) Muslim
“If God wills.” Said about any future plan, from “see you tomorrow” to a wedding date.
From Qur'an 18:23–24. Arab Christians say it too. It is meant as humility about the future, not vagueness.
- Incarnation Christian
The Christian belief that God the Son became human in Jesus, fully God and fully human.
Christmas celebrates it. “The Word became flesh and lived amongst us” (John 1:14). Islam and Judaism do not share this belief.
- Interfaith (inter faith) General
People of different faiths, and none, meeting to understand one another and work together.
Inter Faith Week has been held each November since 2009, first in England and Wales.
- Iḥsān (ihsan; excellence) Muslim
Excellence: “to worship God as if you see Him, for if you do not see Him, He sees you” (hadith of Gabriel).
Iḥsān also means doing good to others, beyond what is required. The Qur'an says: “God loves those who do good” (2:195).
- Jazāk Allāh khayran (Jazakallah) Muslim
“May God reward you with good.” A thank-you that passes the thanks on to God.
A hadith calls it a full expression of thanks (al-Tirmidhi).
- Judeo-Arabic Jewish
Arabic as spoken and written by Jews, usually in Hebrew letters. For centuries it was the everyday language of Jewish learning from Baghdad to Córdoba.
Saadia Gaon, Maimonides and Judah Halevi wrote major works in it. Maimonides' Guide for the Perplexed was written in Judeo-Arabic.
- Jumuʿa (jummah; Friday prayer) Muslim
The Friday midday congregational prayer, with a sermon (khuṭba). Friday is the day of gathering, not a day of rest.
Sura 62 (al-Jumuʿa) commands it. Jews keep Shabbat from Friday sunset and most Christians gather on Sunday: three faiths, three weekly days set apart for God.
- Kaddish (Mourner's Kaddish) Jewish
An Aramaic prayer praising God, said by mourners for a parent for eleven months and on each anniversary.
It never mentions death: mourners respond to loss by praising God.
- Kalam argument (kalam cosmological argument) General
The argument that whatever begins to exist has a cause, the universe began to exist, so it has a cause beyond itself.
Named after Islamic kalām theology, with roots in al-Ghazali and Saadia Gaon. Critics question whether causes apply to the universe as a whole.
- Karma Hindu
Action and its results: what we do shapes what comes to us, in this life and future lives.
Shared with Buddhist, Jain and Sikh thought, with different emphases. The Bible's “whatever a man sows, that he will also reap” (Galatians 6:7) is a common comparison.
- Kaʿba (Kaaba; the House) Muslim
The cube-shaped House at the heart of Makkah's Sacred Mosque, which Muslims believe Abraham and Ishmael (peace be upon them) raised for the One God.
Muslims face it in prayer and circle it on pilgrimage. It is not worshipped; it marks the direction and the House of God. It is covered with a black cloth embroidered with Qur'an verses.
- Khalsa Sikh
The community of initiated Sikhs, founded by Guru Gobind Singh at Vaisakhi 1699.
Initiated Sikhs keep the five articles of faith (the Five Ks), including uncut hair (kes) covered by a turban, and the kara, a steel bracelet.
- Akhira (ākhira; the hereafter) Muslim
The life to come after death, with resurrection, judgement and God's mercy.
Belief in the Last Day is one of the six articles of Islamic faith. Judaism (olam ha-ba, the world to come) and Christianity (resurrection and eternal life) share a hope beyond death.
- Kippah (kippa; yarmulke; skullcap) Jewish
The small cap many Jewish men, and some women, wear as a sign of reverence: there is always Someone above.
Not a biblical command but a long custom; some wear it all day, others only to pray or study. Visitors to a synagogue are often offered one.
- Kosher (kashrut) Jewish
Food fit to eat under Jewish law: certain animals only, slaughtered in a set way, with meat and milk kept apart.
Many rules overlap with Islamic halal, so Jews and Muslims often cater for each other at shared meals.
- Mandir (temple) Hindu
A Hindu temple: a home for the deity, where worshippers come for darshan, the blessing of seeing and being seen.
Neasden's BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir (1995) was described as Europe's first traditional Hindu stone temple. Visitors remove shoes.
- Maryam (Mary; Miriam) Muslim
Mary (peace be upon her), mother of Jesus. The Qur'an names her more than the whole New Testament does, and a sura carries her name.
The Qur'an says God chose her “above the women of the worlds” (3:42). Christians honour her as the Mother of God (Catholic and Orthodox) or the blessed mother of Jesus.
- Masjid (mosque) Muslim
A mosque: literally “place of prostration”. A place for prayer, learning and community.
Britain's first functioning mosque opened in Liverpool in 1889; the Shah Jahan Mosque in Woking, the first purpose-built, opened the same year. Today there are well over a thousand, from converted terraces to large purpose-built mosques. Most welcome visitors.
- Messiah (Christ; Mashiach; al-Masīḥ) Christian
“Anointed one.” Christians believe Jesus is the Messiah (Christ is the Greek form); Jews await the Messiah; the Qur'an also calls Jesus al-Masīḥ.
Each faith means something different by the title. In Judaism the Messiah is a human king of David's line who will bring an age of peace.
- Mettā (loving-kindness) Buddhist
Loving-kindness: a warm wish for all beings to be well, cultivated in meditation.
It begins with oneself and widens to friends, strangers and enemies.
- Midrash (plural midrashim) Jewish
Rabbinic interpretation that searches the Bible for meaning, often through stories that fill gaps in the text.
The story of young Abraham smashing his father's idols comes from midrash (Genesis Rabbah 38), and the Qur'an tells a version too.
- Mishnah Jewish
The first written collection of the Oral Torah, edited by Rabbi Judah the Prince around 200 CE.
Six orders cover blessings, festivals, family, damages, holy things and purity. Its line that saving one life is like saving a whole world (Sanhedrin 4:5) has a parallel in Qur'an 5:32.
- Moksha (mukti) Hindu
Liberation from the cycle of birth and rebirth (samsara): the highest goal in Hindu traditions.
Sikhs speak of mukti; Buddhists of nirvana.
- Monotheism General
Belief in one God. Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Sikhi are monotheistic.
Henotheism is worship of one god without denying others; scholars debate where many ancient religions sit.
- Mool Mantar (Mul Mantar) Sikh
The opening statement of the Guru Granth Sahib, by Guru Nanak, describing the One Creator.
Sikhs recite it daily. Many readers notice how close its line “unborn, self-existent” is to Surah al-Ikhlas; each speaks in its own words.
- Multiverse General
The idea that our universe is one of many, perhaps with different laws or constants.
Some cosmological theories predict it; it has not been observed. It is often offered as an alternative to design.
- Murti Hindu
A sacred image of a deity in which, after consecration, Hindus believe the divine is present to receive worship.
Hindus describe the murti as a focus for devotion to a God who is beyond all form.
- Mā shā' Allāh (Mashallah) Muslim
“What God has willed.” Said in admiration, to give credit to God for something good and to wish it no harm.
Often said on praising a child or a new home.
- Mūsā (Moses; Moshe) Muslim
Moses (peace be upon him), the prophet named most often in the Qur'an, who spoke with God and led his people out of Egypt.
Called Kalīm Allāh, the one God spoke to. For Jews, Moshe Rabbenu, “Moses our teacher”, through whom the Torah was given.
- Nabi and Rasul (nabī (prophet); rasūl (messenger)) Muslim
A prophet receives revelation; a messenger also brings a message or scripture to a people. Muhammad ﷺ is called both.
The Qur'an names 25 prophets, including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Jonah, Jesus and Muhammad (peace be upon them). Islam teaches belief in all of them without distinction (2:285).
- New Testament Christian
The 27 books of Christian scripture written after Jesus: four Gospels, Acts, letters of Paul and others, and Revelation.
Written in Greek in the first century CE. Christians read it with the Old Testament as one Bible. This site quotes the World English Bible, which is public domain.
- Langar Sikh
The free community kitchen in every gurdwara, serving a vegetarian meal to anyone, of any faith or none, seated together as equals.
Started by Guru Nanak and established by Guru Amar Das. British gurdwaras serve many thousands of meals a week.
- Nirvana (nibbāna) Buddhist
The end of suffering and craving: the “blowing out” of greed, hatred and delusion.
It is the goal of Buddhist practice.
- Annunciation (Lady Day) Christian
The angel Gabriel's message to Mary that she would bear Jesus, celebrated on 25 March.
Since 2010 Lebanon has kept 25 March as a shared Christian and Muslim national holiday. The Qur'an tells the same moment (3:45; 19:16–21).
- Anthropic principle General
The point, named by Brandon Carter in 1973, that we can only observe a universe that allows observers to exist.
Sceptics use it to answer fine-tuning arguments; believers reply that it does not explain why the universe allows life at all.
- Old Testament Christian
The Christian name for the first part of the Bible, which shares its books with the Hebrew Bible. Catholic and Orthodox Bibles add some books.
Christians read it as God's covenant with Israel, fulfilled in Christ. On this site, when we mean Jewish scripture, we say “Hebrew Bible”.
- Om (Aum; ॐ) Hindu
The sacred sound and symbol of ultimate reality, chanted at the start of prayers and meditation.
The Upanishads describe it as the sound of Brahman.
- Lord's Prayer (Our Father; Pater Noster) Christian
The prayer Jesus taught: “Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name …” (traditional church wording of Matthew 6:9–13).
Said by almost every Christian church. Each line has close parallels in Jewish prayer, and Muslims often notice echoes of al-Fatiha.
- Orthodox Church (Eastern Orthodox; Oriental Orthodox) Christian
The family of ancient churches of the East, such as the Greek, Russian, Antiochian, Coptic and Syriac churches.
Many of their members speak Arabic and pray to Allah. Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches are distinct families. “Orthodox” also names the traditional stream of Judaism, which is something else.
- Paleo-Arabic General
The Arabic script of the 5th–6th centuries CE, between the Nabataean script and the Arabic of the Qur'an.
The Zabad inscription of 512 is one of the earliest dated examples.
- Pascal's wager General
Blaise Pascal's argument that it is wiser to live as if God exists, since the stakes are infinite.
Published in his Pensées in 1670. Critics ask: which God, and can belief be chosen?
- Peace be upon him (ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam; ʿalayhi s-salām; pbuh) Muslim
A blessing Muslims say after the name of a prophet. This site adds it after every prophet and after Mary.
For the Prophet Muhammad it is “God bless him and give him peace”; for other prophets and for Mary, “peace be upon him” or “upon her”. Jews say “of blessed memory” after the righteous dead.
- People of the Book (Ahl al-Kitāb) Muslim
The Qur'an's name for Jews and Christians: communities who received scripture before.
The Qur'an tells Muslims to argue with them only “in the best way” and to say “our God and your God is one” (29:46). Jews call themselves “the people of the book” too, in a different sense.
- Pesach (Passover; Seder) Jewish
The spring festival remembering the Exodus from Egypt. The Seder meal retells the story with matzah, bitter herbs and four cups of wine.
At the Seder, drops of wine are removed for each plague, so joy is lessened for the suffering of others. Christians link Easter with Passover, since the Last Supper took place at Passover time.
- Peshitta Christian
The standard Syriac Bible, used by Syriac-speaking churches since late antiquity. It calls God Alāhā.
Syriac is a form of Aramaic, close to the language Jesus spoke.
- Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers) Jewish
“Sayings of the Fathers”: a book of the Mishnah collecting wise sayings of the early rabbis, often studied on summer Shabbat afternoons.
It includes Hillel's “If I am not for myself, who will be for me?” and Rabbi Tarfon's “It is not your duty to finish the work, but you are not free to neglect it.”
- Pongal (Makar Sankranti) Hindu
A Tamil harvest festival in mid-January, thanking the sun and the cattle; rice boiled in milk is allowed to overflow, a sign of plenty.
Across India the same season is Makar Sankranti or Lohri. It belongs with Sukkot and Harvest Festival among the world's thanksgivings.
- Puja (pooja) Hindu
Worship: offering flowers, food, light, incense and prayer to the deity, at home or in a mandir.
Many Hindu homes have a shrine for daily puja.
- Qibla (qiblah) Muslim
The direction Muslims face to pray: towards the Kaʿba in Makkah.
In Britain that is roughly south-east. A niche in the mosque wall, the miḥrāb, shows the qibla. Jews traditionally pray towards Jerusalem, and many old churches face east.
- Qur'an (Quran; Koran; al-Qurʾān) Muslim
Islam's scripture: for Muslims, the word of God revealed to the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ over about 23 years, in Arabic.
The name means “recitation”. It has 114 chapters (suras). Muslims hold that only the Arabic is the Qur'an itself; translations are “interpretations of the meaning”. It names Abraham, Moses, Mary and Jesus and many other figures Jews and Christians know.
- Qurbani (qurbānī; uḍḥiya) Muslim
The animal sacrifice at Eid al-Adha. Traditionally a third of the meat goes to the poor.
In Britain it must be done at a licensed slaughterhouse, so many families pay a charity to carry out qurbani for people in need abroad. Related to the Hebrew korban, an offering that “brings near”.
- ar-Raḥmān (al-Rahman; Rahman; the Entirely Merciful) Muslim
A Name of God: the Entirely Merciful, whose mercy reaches every creature. It opens every sura but one.
From the root r-ḥ-m, which also gives raḥim, “womb”. Muslims say “Bismillāh ar-Raḥmān ar-Raḥīm” before almost everything. The Qur'an treats ar-Raḥmān almost as a second name for God (17:110). Hebrew raḥum, “merciful”, comes from the same root.
- ar-Raḥīm (al-Rahim; Rahim; the Especially Merciful) Muslim
A Name of God: the Especially Merciful, whose mercy is shown again and again to those who turn to Him.
Paired with ar-Raḥmān in the Bismillah. Muslim scholars often describe ar-Raḥmān as mercy that embraces all creation and ar-Raḥīm as mercy given in particular acts, answered prayers and forgiveness.
- Rabbi (Rav; Rebbe) Jewish
A teacher of Torah: a scholar trained in Jewish law and tradition who teaches, guides and often leads a congregation.
The word means “my master” or “my teacher”. Rabbis are not priests and do not stand between people and God. Many denominations now ordain women rabbis.
- Ramadan (Ramaḍān; Ramzan) Muslim
The ninth month of the Islamic calendar: the month of fasting, when the Qur'an began to be revealed.
Because the Islamic calendar is lunar, Ramadan moves about 11 days earlier each year, through every season. Evenings bring iftar, extra night prayers (tarāwīḥ) and generosity. It ends with Eid al-Fitr.
- Rosary Christian
A string of beads Catholic Christians use to count prayers while meditating on the lives of Jesus and Mary.
Prayer beads appear across faiths: the Muslim misbaḥa, the Orthodox prayer rope, the Hindu and Buddhist mala, the Sikh mala.
- Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) Jewish
The Jewish New Year in early autumn: the shofar is blown, and the ten Days of Awe begin, leading to Yom Kippur.
Synagogues read Genesis 22, the binding of Isaac, on the second day. Apples dipped in honey wish for a sweet year.
- Arti (aarti) Hindu
A ritual of waving lamps before the deity with songs of praise, often at the end of puja.
Worshippers pass their hands over the flame and touch their eyes, taking the light's blessing.
- Rūḥ (ruh; spirit) Muslim
The spirit or soul that God breathed into Adam. The Qur'an says: “The spirit is of my Lord's command” (17:85).
Hebrew rūaḥ, breath or spirit, is the same word. The Qur'an presents the spirit as beyond full human knowledge.
- As-salāmu ʿalaykum (salaam; salam) Muslim
“Peace be upon you.” The Muslim greeting; the reply is “wa ʿalaykum as-salām”, “and upon you peace”.
As-Salām, Peace, is one of God's Names. The Hebrew greeting “shalom aleichem” is word for word the same.
- Sabr (ṣabr; patience) Muslim
Patience and steadfastness: holding firm in hardship, in doing good and in resisting wrong.
The Qur'an praises those who say in disaster, “We belong to God, and to Him we return” (2:156). One of God's Names is aṣ-Ṣabūr, the Patient.
- Sadaqa (ṣadaqa; sadaqah) Muslim
Voluntary charity, given any time, in any amount. A smile, a kind word or removing a hazard from a path count too.
Hadith say “every act of kindness is sadaqa” (Muslim). Ongoing charity, such as a well or useful knowledge, is ṣadaqa jāriya, which keeps earning reward after death. The word is related to Hebrew tzedakah.
- Saint Christian
A holy person honoured by the Church, believed to be with God.
Catholic and Orthodox Christians ask the saints to pray for them. The church at Zabad (512) was dedicated to St Sergius, a Roman soldier martyr.
- Salah (ṣalāt; salat; namaz) Muslim
The set prayer Muslims offer five times a day, facing Makkah, with standing, bowing, prostration and recitation of the Qur'an.
The times follow the sun: dawn, midday, afternoon, sunset and night. Each prayer opens with al-Fatiha. Prostration, forehead to the ground, echoes the bowing of Abraham, Moses and Jesus (peace be upon them) in the earlier scriptures. Namaz is the Persian and Urdu word.
- Sawm (ṣawm; siyam; fasting) Muslim
Fasting: no food, drink or marital relations from dawn to sunset, especially throughout Ramadan.
A Pillar of Islam. The Qur'an says fasting was “prescribed for those before you” (2:183), a nod to Jewish and Christian fasting. Children, the sick, travellers, the elderly and pregnant or nursing women may be excused.
- Seva (sewa) Sikh
Selfless service, done without seeking reward: cooking langar, cleaning, helping anyone in need.
A core Sikh duty alongside simran (remembering God) and honest work (kirat karni).
- Ash Wednesday Christian
The first day of Lent, when many Christians receive a cross of ash on the forehead: “Remember that you are dust …”
The words echo Genesis 3:19.
- Shabbat (Sabbath; Shabbos) Jewish
The day of rest from Friday sunset to Saturday nightfall: candles, blessings over wine and bread, prayer, family meals and no work.
It remembers that God rested after creation (Genesis 2:2–3) and freed Israel from slavery (Deuteronomy 5:15). Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel called it “a palace in time”.
- Shahada (shahādah; the testimony) Muslim
The declaration of faith: “There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the messenger of God.”
Saying it sincerely is how a person becomes Muslim. It is the first of the Five Pillars. Shahāda means testimony: to bear witness to what one recognises as true.
- Shema (Shema Yisrael) Jewish
“Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God, the LORD is One” (Deuteronomy 6:4). Judaism's central declaration of faith.
Said morning and night and, by tradition, as one's last words. It continues: “And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thy heart …” Jesus quotes it as the first commandment (Mark 12:29). Saadia Gaon rendered it in Arabic with “Allah”.
- Shirk Muslim
Associating partners with God: worshipping anything or anyone alongside Him. Islam counts it the gravest wrong.
It covers idols, but scholars also warn of “hidden shirk”, such as living for praise or wealth as if they were God. The story of Abraham and the idols is the Qur'an's model of turning from shirk to the One God.
- Shofar Jewish
A ram's horn blown in synagogue at Rosh Hashanah and at the end of Yom Kippur.
The ram recalls the ram caught in the thicket in place of Isaac (Genesis 22:13).
- Shukr (shukr; gratitude) Muslim
Thankfulness to God, shown in the heart, on the tongue and in how blessings are used.
The Qur'an says: “If you are grateful, I will surely give you more” (14:7). One of God's Names is ash-Shakūr, the Appreciative, who rewards small deeds greatly. Alhamdulillah is the everyday word of shukr.
- Simran (Naam japna) Sikh
Remembering God by repeating His Name, especially Waheguru, in the heart or aloud.
Sikhs often use a mala of beads. It is close in spirit to Muslim dhikr and the Christian Jesus Prayer.
- SubḥānAllāh (Subhanallah) Muslim
“Glory be to God.” Said in wonder, at something beautiful or astonishing, and in dhikr.
It declares God far above any fault or likeness. Many say it on seeing a sunset, a newborn or a mountain.
- Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles; Feast of Booths) Jewish
An autumn harvest festival when Jews eat, and some sleep, in a sukkah, a hut with a leafy roof, for seven days.
It remembers Israel's years in the wilderness and gives thanks for harvest. Sukkot is called “the time of our rejoicing”. Many compare it with Harvest Festival and Thanksgiving.
- Sura (surah; sūra) Muslim
A chapter of the Qur'an. There are 114, from the long al-Baqara to the three-verse al-Kawthar.
Each sura has a name taken from a word or theme in it, such as al-Naml (The Ants) or Maryam (Mary). Suras are traditionally described as Makkan or Madinan, by where they were revealed. All but one (sura 9) begin with the Bismillah.
- Synagogue (shul; beit knesset) Jewish
A Jewish house of prayer, study and gathering. It holds the Torah scrolls in an ark, usually on the wall facing Jerusalem.
After Jews were readmitted to England in 1656, London's Sephardi community opened a synagogue in Creechurch Lane. Bevis Marks (1701) is Britain's oldest synagogue still in use.
- Tafsir (tafsīr) Muslim
Commentary explaining the meaning of the Qur'an. Saadia Gaon also called his Arabic Torah translation a Tafsīr.
Classical tafsirs by al-Tabari (d. 923), al-Qurtubi and Ibn Kathir explain words, context and earlier opinions. The word means “explanation”, which is why translators often call their work an interpretation of meaning rather than the Qur'an itself.
- Talmud (Babylonian Talmud; Bavli; Jerusalem Talmud) Jewish
The great collection of rabbinic discussion of Jewish law, ethics and story: the Mishnah plus the Gemara commentary.
The Babylonian Talmud was compiled around 500–600 CE and runs to about 2,700 double pages. It records arguments, including minority views, which is why it is studied in pairs and debated, not just read.
- Tanakh (TaNaKh; the Hebrew Bible) Jewish
The Jewish Bible: Torah (Teaching), Neviʾim (Prophets) and Ketuvim (Writings). The name is made from their initials.
It has the same books as the Protestant Old Testament, ordered differently and counted as 24. This site calls it the Hebrew Bible, the term Jews and scholars prefer to “Old Testament”.
- Tawhid (tawḥīd) Muslim
The oneness of God: God is One, with no partner, equal or likeness. The heart of Islamic belief.
Surah al-Ikhlas sums it up: “Say: He is God, One … And there is none comparable to Him” (112). Tawhid also shapes life: if God is one, worship, trust and thanks are owed to Him alone. Its opposite is shirk.
- Teshuvah Jewish
Repentance: literally “return”, turning back to God and to right living.
The Arabic tawba, from which God's Name at-Tawwāb comes, shares the meaning of turning back.
- The 99 Names (al-asmāʾ al-ḥusnā; the Most Beautiful Names) Muslim
The Names by which Muslims know God, such as the Merciful, the Creator and the Truth. “Allah's are the fairest names” (Qur'an 7:180).
A hadith says God has ninety-nine Names (Bukhari, Muslim). Lists differ slightly; the best-known comes from al-Tirmidhi's collection. Muslims learn, recite and reflect on them, and many say they point beyond themselves: God is known through His Names, never pictured.
- The Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama; Shakyamuni) Buddhist
“The Awakened One”: the teacher whose awakening at Bodh Gaya founded Buddhism. Most historians now place his death around 400 BCE.
Born at Lumbini in today's Nepal. Older reference books give 563–483 BCE. Buddhists honour him as a teacher, not as God; most Buddhist traditions do not speak of a Creator.
- The four-letter Name (the Tetragrammaton) Jewish
God's personal name in the Hebrew Bible, written with four Hebrew letters. Jewish tradition does not pronounce it.
Since ancient times it has been read as Adonai. This site follows that custom and never spells out a pronunciation. Moses asks God's name at the burning bush and is told “Ehyeh asher ehyeh”, “I am that I am” (Exodus 3:14).
- Atheist (atheism) General
Someone who does not believe in God or gods.
Atheists may be sure there is no God, or simply lack belief. Many British non-religious people describe themselves this way.
- Theodicy (the problem of evil) General
Attempts to explain why a good and powerful God allows suffering and evil.
The word was coined by the philosopher Leibniz in 1710. Every faith wrestles with the question in its own way.
- Tikkun olam Jewish
“Repairing the world”: the idea that people are God's partners in making the world better.
It began as a phrase in prayer and law and is now widely used for social action.
- Torah (Torah; the Five Books of Moses; Pentateuch) Jewish
The Five Books of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. Also, in a wider sense, all Jewish teaching.
Written by hand on a parchment scroll (Sefer Torah) and read in the synagogue through the year. Torah means “teaching” or “instruction”, not just “law”. Jewish tradition also speaks of an Oral Torah, later written as the Mishnah and Talmud. The Qur'an calls it the Tawrāt.
- Trinity (the Holy Trinity) Christian
The Christian belief that the one God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit: three persons, one God, not three gods.
Set out in the creeds of Nicaea (325) and Constantinople (381). Christians understand it as how the One God has made Himself known. Jews and Muslims understand God's oneness as admitting no such distinction; we state that difference plainly.
- Tzedakah (tzedaka) Jewish
Giving to those in need, understood as justice and duty, not only charity. Tzedek means righteousness.
Maimonides ranked eight levels of giving, the highest being to help someone become self-supporting. Many Jewish homes keep a tzedakah box. The word is related to the Arabic ṣadaqa.
- Umrah (ʿumra; the lesser pilgrimage) Muslim
A shorter pilgrimage to Makkah that can be made at any time of year. It is recommended, not required.
It includes circling the Kaʿba and walking between Safa and Marwa, but not the standing at ʿArafat. Many British Muslims go in Ramadan or school holidays.
- Upanishads Hindu
Philosophical texts at the end of the Vedas that explore Brahman and ātman. The oldest date from about the 8th–6th centuries BCE.
Their prayer “Lead me from the unreal to the real, from darkness to light, from death to immortality” is widely loved.
- Vaisakhi (Baisakhi) Sikh
The spring harvest festival in Punjab and the anniversary of the Khalsa's founding in 1699, marked with processions (nagar kirtan).
Big Vaisakhi celebrations take place in Southall, Birmingham and Trafalgar Square.
- Vedas (Rig Veda) Hindu
The oldest Hindu scriptures, in Sanskrit, preserved orally for centuries. The Rig Veda is the oldest, about 1500–1200 BCE.
Rig Veda 10.129, the Hymn of Creation, asks who knows how the world began: “He, the first origin of this creation … he verily knows it, or perhaps he knows not” (Griffith, 1896).
- Waheguru (Vahiguru) Sikh
“Wonderful Lord”: the Sikh name most used for God, repeated in simran.
It also forms part of the Sikh greeting, “Waheguru ji ka Khalsa, Waheguru ji ki Fateh.”
- Wudu (wuḍūʾ; ablution) Muslim
Washing before prayer: hands, mouth, nose, face, arms, head, ears and feet, in a set order.
Washing before worship is also found in Judaism (netilat yadayim, handwashing) and in the basins at many church doors. Mosques have wash areas for it.
- Ayah (āya; ayat (plural āyāt)) Muslim
A verse of the Qur'an. The same word means “sign”: a verse and a feature of nature are both signs pointing to God.
There are just over 6,200 verses. The double meaning matters on this site: the Qur'an calls rain, night and day, and the variety of languages “signs for people who reflect” (30:22). References are written sura:verse, so 112:1 is the first verse of sura 112.
- Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) Jewish
The Day of Atonement: the holiest day of the Jewish year, a 25-hour fast spent in prayer, confession and forgiveness.
It closes the Days of Awe. Jews also seek forgiveness from people they have wronged before the day. Ramadan and Lent share the pattern: fasting with repentance.
- Zakat (zakāh) Muslim
Obligatory annual giving: normally 2.5% of savings above a threshold, held for a year, given to the poor and others named in the Qur'an (9:60).
A Pillar of Islam. The word suggests purification and growth: giving purifies wealth. It sits alongside the Jewish tzedakah and the Christian tithe as a duty, not just a kindness.
- Allāhu akbar (Allahu akbar; takbīr) Muslim
“God is greater”: greater than anything we can name or fear. Said in every prayer, at births and in joy.
The phrase opens the call to prayer and each movement of salah. Its plain meaning is humble: whatever looms large, God is greater.
- Alāhā (Alaha; Elaha) Christian
The Syriac and Aramaic word for God, still used in the prayers of Syriac and Assyrian Christians.
Jesus' cry from the cross, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” (Mark 15:34), uses an Aramaic form of the same word.
- Ātman (atman; the self) Hindu
The true self or soul in each living being. In Advaita Vedanta, ātman is ultimately one with Brahman.
Other Hindu schools understand the self as eternally distinct from, and devoted to, God.
- ʿĪsā (Isa; Jesus) Muslim
Jesus (peace be upon him) in the Qur'an: a great prophet and the Messiah, born of the Virgin Mary, who brought the Injīl (Gospel).
Muslims love and honour him but do not believe he is the Son of God; the Qur'an says he was not crucified but raised to God (4:157–158), and many expect his return.