Word origins

• ribatA border or frontier guardpost.
• riddahApostasy.
• riqRadio-intermediate quasar.
• riq'aA simple style of Arabic calligraphy, common in everyday handwriting.
• rotalOf or relating to wheels.
• rottolA former Middle Eastern and North African unit of dry weight, usually between 1–5 pounds (0.5–2.5 kg).
• rubaiA quatrain in classical Arabic, Persian, Turkic or Urdu poetry.
• ruku'The act of bowing as part of Islamic prayer.
• ruqyahAn Islamic spiritual healing practice involving the recitation of Qur'anic verses, specifically Surah Al-Fatiha and the last three Surahs along with a du'a' to seek refuge in Allah.
• SaadehA surname from Arabic.
• sabkhaAn area of coastal salt flats, especially in North Africa and Arabia.
• sadaqaAlms, charity.
• sadenThe custodian of a shrine.
• SadounA male given name from Arabic.
• SaffarA surname from Arabic.
• Saguia el-HamraOne of the two territories (the other being Río de Oro) that formed the Spanish province of Spanish Sahara after 1969.
• sahabiA (usually male) companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.
• ṢaʽīdiA person or inhabitant of Upper Egypt.
• SakhirA region of Southern Governorate, Bahrain.
• sakiaA water wheel, traditionally drawn by a draft animal, but now with a motor. It is about 2-5 meters in diameter.
• salaam alaikumA greeting said on meeting someone.
• sambuqA type of dhow (“small Arabian boat”).
• SanaaniOf, from or relating to Sanaa.
• SanhajaOne of the largest Berber tribal confederations, along with the Zenata and Masmuda.
• SaniyahA female given name from Arabic.
• sarakaA sweet, flat, and soft cake resembling mochi made with rice and a sweetener such as sugar and honey, originating from African American culture.
• SariyahA female given name from Arabic.
• saroojA traditional water-resistant mortar made of clay and limestone, used in Iranian architecture.
• SchedarA red giant, visible as a second-magnitude orange star marking the breast of the figure in the northern constellation of Cassiopeia, a part of the constellation's prominent W asterism, used for celestial navigation.
• seepweedAny of various plants in the genus Suaeda; sea blite.
• SelmaniA surname from Arabic or Albanian.
• SemaanA surname from Arabic.
• semsemiaA six- or seven-stringed Egyptian harp.
• serdabA sealed chamber in an Ancient Egyptian tomb that held the ka statue of a deceased person, having a small slit or hole to allow the soul of the deceased to move about freely.
• sfenjA Moroccan doughnut or fritter made from fried dough and served plain or with sugar.
• Sha'banThe eighth month of the Islamic calendar.
• shabiyahA top-level administrative division in Libya.
• shaddaA diacritic (◌ّ) used in the Arabic script to indicate gemination of a consonant.
• shakshukaA Maghrebi dish of eggs simmered in a mixture of chopped tomatoes, chilies, cumin, peppers, and onions.
• ShammarA tribal Arab Qahtan confederation, descended from the Yemeni tribe of Tayy as they originated in Yemen before migrating into present-day Saudi Arabia.
• shammasA surname from Arabic.
• Shar'iOf or relating to the Shar or Shari'a.
• shari'aA body of religious law forming a part of the Islamic tradition based on the scriptures of Islam, particularly the Qur'an and hadith.
• sharifaThe wife of a sharif.
• ShariyahA poetess of the Abbasid era
• shashiyaA Maghrebi brimless cap with a tassel and straight sides.
• shatranjA board game, an ancestor of modern chess.
• shaykh al-IslamAn outstanding scholar of Islamic interpretation, jurisprudence, theology, etc.
• shebkaA plateau cut up by a network of ravines.
• Sheikh JarrahA neighbourhood of East Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel, Palestine.
• shemaghA headcloth designed for a desert environment to protect the wearer from sand and heat.
• shereefA member of an Arab princely family descended from Muhammad through his son-in-law Ali and daughter Fatima, the "Grand Shereef" being the governor of Mecca.
• Shi'aSynonym of Shiite.
• Shi'iSynonym of Shiite.
• shintiyanA kind of wide loose drawers or trousers worn by women in Muslim countries.
• ShuaibA prophet of Islam who prophesied to the Midianites, sometimes identified with the Biblical Jethro.
• Sidi Bel AbbèsA city and commercial centre in Algeria.
• sikbajA dish of meat cooked or marinated in vinegar and often also honey, eaten since at least the sixth century and historically popular among Arabs and Persians.
• silsilaLineage or genealogy, in Arab contexts.
• simsimSynonym of sesame.
• sintirA three-stringed, skin-covered bass plucked lute used by the Gnawa people of Morocco.
• SiwarhaThe companion protostar in orbit around Betelgeuse.
• SmouhaA surname from Arabic.
• Souk AhrasA city, the capital of Souk Ahras province, north-east Algeria.
• SrourA surname from Arabic.
• SuakinA port city in northeastern Sudan, on the west coast of the Red Sea.
• SubhiA male given name from Arabic.
• suddA floating mass of plant matter, such as reeds, which obstructs the passage of boats.
• suhurA pre-dawn breakfast during the Ramadan fasting.
• sujudprostration
• sukunA diacritic (ـْ) used in the Arabic abjad to mark the absence of a vowel.
• sumudSteadfastness, as a Palestinian value; steadfast Palestinianness and resistance.
• SuwaydaA city in southern Syria.
• SyedaAn honorific title borne by female descendants of the prophet Muhammad.
• taalimThe study of the Qur'an.
• tabiyaA position in the opening of a game that occurs after a sequence of moves that is heavily standardized, and from which the players have many possible moves again.
• tadelaktA type of waterproof plaster, commonly used in Moroccan architecture.
• taharahA state of ritual purity.
• taharrushSexual harassment of women by men in Arab cultures.
• tahrifthe belief that alterations were made to the previous revelations of God
• tahtibAn Egyptian stickfighting martial art.
• tajwidThe rules governing pronunciation during recitation of the Qur'an.
• takfirExcommunication.
• takiyyaIn Arabic-speaking parts of the Ottoman Empire, a Sufi convent.
• takwinThe creation of synthetic life, a goal of certain Muslim alchemists.
• Tal al-Rabi'A settlement in Palestine, which Palestinians claim was forcefully renamed and converted into the city of Tel Aviv by Israeli settlers.
• talqinThe recitation of the shahada and other creedal information or instructions to someone who is about to die, or who has recently died and been buried.
• TanezrouftAn arid natural region located along the borders of Algeria and Mali, west of the Hoggar Mountains.
• tanwinIn Arabic, nunation.
• taqiyahA short, rounded skullcap worn by Muslims during prayer.
• taqsimAn improvisation or a solo recital based on a maqam.
• tarawihAn extra prayer performed by Sunni Muslims at night in the month of Ramadan.
• tarbooshA red felt or cloth cap with a tassel, worn in the Arab world; a fez.
• tariqaA religious order of Sufism, formed around a murshid.
• TartusA city on the Mediterranean coast of Syria.
• TasbehaA worship service in the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, consisting of praises glorifying God taken from the Psalms and other Biblical sources and often chanted with a simple musical accompaniment of cymbals and triangle.
• tasbihA form of dhikr that involves the repetitive utterances of short sentences in glorification of Allah in Islam by saying "Subḥānallāh" (glorified is Allah).
• tashdidProvision of a shadda symbol for Arabic words (sometimes also for Persian, Urdu, etc.), which shows gemination of consonants.
• tashkilvowelization, vocalization or diacritization—the various diacritics, taken collectively, that are attached to Arabic letters in certain styles of writing and that indicate such features as vowels and gemination (consonant doubling) and absence of any vowels.
• tassawufSufism