Word origins

• mulukhiyahCorchorus species, particularly jute mallow (Corchorus olitorius), used as a vegetable in Middle Eastern and North African cuisine, which can be boiled into a mucilaginous broth.
• mu'minA believer in Islam.
• MuminA surname from Arabic.
• munafiqA religious hypocrite, a person who professes to believe in something (especially Islam) but actually does not.
• MunkarOne of two angels (the other being Nakir) said to test the faith of the dead in their graves.
• MuntaserA male given name from Arabic.
• muqaddamAny of various Arabic or Islamic officials.
• muqallidOne who follows taqlid.
• murabahaA financing arrangement where a bank or other party buys an item and sells it on at an agreed price including profit, typically in instalments.
• murabbaA kind of sweet fruit preserve.
• muridOf or belonging to the family Muridae.
• murtabakA kind of stuffed pancake or pan-fried bread found in parts of the Middle East and Asia.
• murunaThe making of allowances, or deviation from certain religious norms, for the greater overall advancement of Islam.
• musahharatiA person who beats a drum to wake Muslims for suhur.
• musahhirSynonym of musahharati.
• musallaA place for praying (e.g. outside a mosque); a praying room.
• mushafA written copy of the Qur'an.
• musharakahA shari'a-compliant financial structure where investors in an enterprise share profits according to a mutually agreed percentage and bear losses strictly in proportion to their capital stake.
• mustahabbOf an action, in religious terms: recommended, favourable, virtuous.
• mutabbalA Middle Eastern dish of mashed roasted eggplant, tahini, salt, garlic, lemon and often yogurt, similar to baba ganoush but more spicy.
• mut'ahTemporary marriage (wedlease) practised by certain Muslim sects, particularly Shias.
• MutaharA male given name from Arabic.
• MutawaliLebanese Twelver Shiite
• mutawatirA large chain of narrations in the hadiths
• Mu'tazilaThe followers of this branch of Islam.
• Mu'taziliOf or relating to the Mu'tazila.
• muwahhidWho is focused on tawhid, the unity of God.
• muwashshahAn Arabic ode, a multi-lined strophic verse poem, generally of five stanzas alternating with a refrain.
• MuzawwaraThe city of Baghdad, the capital city of Iraq.
• NabatiehA city in Nabatieh Governorate, Lebanon.
• Nabi SalehA town in the city of Ramallah, Cisjordan, Palestine.
• nabkEither of two thorny shrublike trees, of the genus Ziziphus, from North Africa and the Middle East; Ziziphus spina-christi is supposed to be the plant from which Christ's crown of thorns was made.
• nabkhaA kind of sand dune which forms around vegetation created from wind.
• NabulsiOf or pertaining to Nablus in Palestine.
• NahalinA village in the West Bank, Palestine, Israel
• nahiyahA local administrative division consisting of a number of small towns or villages in some Muslim countries, including (historical) parts of Europe under the Ottoman Empire.
• najaasahritual impurity
• najisRitually unclean, such that contact with it puts a Muslim in a state of impurity.
• namusA concept of virtue and honor within a family, typically relating to chastity of female family members.
• naqarehA Middle Eastern drum with a rounded back and a head made of hide, usually played in pairs.
• naqibOne of the leading missionaries of the Hashimiyya movement who prepared the Abbasid Revolution in Khurasan.
• nasabAn Arab patronymic or matronymic.
• nasibAn Arabic literary form, 'usually defined as an erotic or amatory prelude to the type of long poem called a qaṣīdah.'
• NaskhThe cursive style of calligraphy most commonly used to write Arabic.
• nasnasA monstrous creature related to the jinn, said to resemble the left or right half of a human being (with half a head, half a body, one arm and one leg).
• NasraniA Christian.
• NehmeA surname from Arabic.
• niqabA veil which covers the face (except for the eyes), worn by some Muslim women as a part of sartorial hijab.
• nisabA minimum amount of wealth beyond which one must pay zakat (alms).
• nisbaAn Arabic derivational adjective formed with the suffix ـِيّ m (-iyy) / ـِيَّة f (-iyya), or the equivalent construction in another Semitic (or other Afroasiatic) language.
• nisnasErythrocebus patas pyrrhonotus, the eastern subspecies of patas monkey.
• NizamiyyaAny one of educational institutions founded in the 11th century by Nizam al-Mulk, vizier of the Saljuq Empire
• NizariA member of the largest branch of the Ismaili Shi'i Muslims. Their teachings emphasize ijtihad, pluralism, and social justice.
• nuggarAn Arab sailing boat used for trading and transporting supplies.
• nuggerAn Egyptian sailing boat with a square sail that is tilted at an angle to the mast.
• nunnationA stammering speech disorder, in which the /n/ sound is given to other consonants.
• ockyBrother, a close male friend or associate alternative form of ock
• oshacThe perennial herb Dorema ammoniacum, whose stem yields ammoniacum.
• PerimA volcanic island in the Strait of Mandeb at the south entrance into the Red Sea, off the south-west coast of Yemen.
• Pherkadγ Ursae Minoris, a star in the constellation Ursa Minor, formerly a dual North Star with Kochab from about 1000 BC to about AD 300.
• qadadA waterproof surface of lime plaster treated with slaked lime, oils and fats, used in the ancient Arab world.
• QadiriyyaA member of a particular fundamentalist Sufi order.
• qafizA traditional Arab unit of volume, varying over time, place, and substance measured.
• QalandiaA village in Jerusalem Govenorate, West Bank, Palestine.
• QalyubiyyaA governorate in north-eastern Egypt.
• qareenA jinn who acts as a person's spiritual double and may influence them to do evil.
• QatabanAn ancient South Semitic-speaking kingdom in ancient Yemen that existed from the early 1st millennium BCE until the late 1st or 2nd centuries CE.
• qatayefSweet dumplings filled with cream or nuts, traditionally served in Arab communities during Ramadan.
• qawwalA person who performs qawwali music or song.
• qazfFalse accusation of adultery (zina).
• QenaA city, the capital city of Qena governorate, Egypt
• qibliIn the direction of qibla.
• qiratA unit of weight, one twentieth of a mithqal.
• qisasUnder sharia law, the principle of retaliation in kind, or retributive justice.
• qishtaA coagulated milk product prepared from heated fresh milk, found in southern Mediterranean cuisines.
• qubbaA tomb structure in the Arab world, particularly an Islamic domed shrine.
• QuneitraA city in the Quneitra governorate, Syria
• Qur'anA specific version, edition, translation, or copy of one of the above-mentioned book.
• QuraniyoonA denomination in Islam that generally rejects the authoritative role of hadiths, and considers the Qur'an to be the only dependable religious text.
• qurshA monetary unit in Saudi Arabia equivalent to a twentieth of a rial.
• rababAn Arabian stringed instrument, played by plucking or with a bow.
• rabadiA creamy dessert made from sweetened yoghurt.
• rak'aA sequence of movements (including recitation, bowing, and prostration) that constitutes one of two to four cycles of Islamic prayer (salat).
• Ramadan mubarakAn expression used during Ramadan to wish someone a happy time during the holiday.
• raqiAn authorized practitioner who performs ruqyah on someone who is sick or affected by spiritual ailments.
• RaqqaA city in Syria located on the northeast bank of the Euphrates river, about 99 miles east of Aleppo.
• Ras al-KhaimahAn emirate of the United Arab Emirates.
• ras el hanoutA variable mixture of spices, found in Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco.
• RashidunOf, relating to, or belonging to these caliphs.
• rasmThe base shape of an Arabic-script letter, without dots that distinguish it from other letters.
• Ras ShamraA place in northern Syria, the site of the ancient Ugarit.
• ra'yIn early fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), a personal opinion in adapting Shari'a law.
• RayaneA male given name from Arabic, variant of Rayan.
• rebabA stringed musical instrument, related to the lute, used especially in Islamic countries
• rechtaA dish of pasta cut into thin strips, typical of Algeria.
• RedhaA male given name from Arabic.
• Res et-TeibSynonym of Cape Bon.
• rhaitaA shawm used as a traditional musical instrument in Morocco.
• RhedaA male given name from Arabic.
• Rhumel RiverA river in Constantine, Algeria.