Word origins

• fasiqAn evil-doer, sinner; a person who violates Islamic law.
• FathallahA male given name from Arabic.
• fattehAn Arab dish of pieces of fresh, toasted, grilled, or fried flatbread covered with various other ingredients.
• fattouchA traditional Lebanese, Syrian, or Levantine fresh salad with crispy bread (typically, dried, toasted, grilled, or fried pita), usually with mint, parsley, and olive oil.
• FawziaA female given name from Arabic, meaning “victorious, triumphant”, masculine equivalent Fawzi, Fawzy, and Faouzi; variant forms Fauzia, Faouzia, Fouzia
• FayumA city in Egypt near Lake Moeris.
• fedayeeAn Arab guerrilla or commando.
• feddanA Middle Eastern unit of area, divided into 24 kirats, and typically equivalent to 4200.8 square metres.
• ferashA menial domestic servant responsible for spreading carpets, pitching tents, etc.
• fesh-feshFine dust (sand) that looks like solid ground but behaves like soft mud.
• FezzanThe southwestern region of Libya.
• fidyahA religious donation of money or food made to help those in need, as a forfeit by somebody who has missed a fast out of necessity.
• fitnaTemptation.
• fitraThe original innocent state of humans after being created by Allah.
• fondukA North African or Arabian inn or hotel.
• foutaA piece of thin patterned cotton or linen fabric used like a bathrobe in Mediterranean countries, originally Tunisia.
• freekehWheat grains that are harvested while still unripe and then roasted.
• from the river to the seaA slogan expressing support for Palestinian self-determination.
• ful medamesAn originally Egyptian/Sudanese dish of cooked, mashed fava beans served with oil and spices (and sometimes other ingredients such as diced cucumbers and tomatoes), commonly eaten as a breakfast food, now also popular in neighbouring countries.
• FushaModern Standard Arabic and Classical Arabic, taken together: "standard" Arabic, used in religious texts, in writing, and in formal speech, as opposed to the regional "dialects" used for most daily communication.
• FustatSynonym of Cairo, a city in Egypt, as the capital of Egypt under the Rashidun, Umayyad, and Abbasid Caliphates and as the capital of the Fatimid Caliphate.
• gandouraA type of long robe or gown worn in North Africa.
• ganzaA kind of wild goose, by a flock of which a virtuoso was fabled to be carried to the lunar world.
• GaroweThe capital city of Puntland.
• Gazipur DistrictOne of the thirteen districts in the Dhaka Division of Bangladesh.
• ghaffirA guard or member of a historical police force, especially in Egypt and Palestine.
• ghair muqallidnondenominational Muslim; without taqlid
• GhannamA surname from Arabic.
• GharbiaA governorate in north-eastern Egypt.
• ghawa syndromeA phenomenon in some Arabic dialects in which the second consonant in a word forms a cluster with the first consonant.
• ghawazeeA type of female dancer popular in Egypt in the 19th century, who danced in a style similar to the belly dance.
• GhawaziA group of Egyptian dancing girls of the Nawar people, whose suggestive dancing was seen as improper.
• ghayrahProtective jealousy; a person's dislike or displeasure over someone else sharing a right or privilege that belongs to them.
• ghazwaAny of the battles in which the Islamic prophet Muhammad personally participated.
• ghershAn old silver coin of Ethiopia.
• ghorfaA vaulted room used by Berbers for storing grain
• ghuslA full-body wash taken by Muslims to restore the body to a state of purity.
• ghutraA type of headcloth, a keffiyeh.
• GienahThe binary star Gamma Corvi.
• gizzingGrinning and laughing at someone.
• gueltaA pool of water, especially in Africa or Arabia, fed by an oasis (spring) or left behind when a wadi (arroyo, seasonal river) runs dry.
• guembriA kind of lute used by Berber musicians.
• Habiganj DistrictOne of the four districts in the Sylhet Division of Bangladesh.
• haboobA violent duststorm or sandstorm in the deserts of Arabia, North Africa, India, or North America.
• habousAn equivalent of mortmain in Islamic law
• haikalThe central chapel of the three forming the sanctuary of a Coptic church. It contains the high altar, and is often closed off by a screen.
• hajeThe Egyptian cobra, Naja haje
• hajibAn official of a Muslim court, of varied importance, initially controlling access to the caliph, but later very powerful; a chamberlain.
• hajilijThe tree Balanites aegyptiaca, from which zachun is derived.
• hakawatiA public storyteller, in Arab culture.
• HaketiaAn endangered Jewish Romance language spoken in North-Africa.
• HalabSynonym of Aleppo.
• halalaA wedlease (temporary marriage) to a stranger undertaken prior to remarriage to an ex, that is to make the remarriage halal, or the woman halala f to marry.
• halaqaA religious gathering to study Islam and the Qur'an.
• halfa grassA north African and south Asian grass of species Desmostachya bipinnata, with tough stems woven into rope, sandals, mats, etc., and sacred in Hinduism, Buddhism and other religions.
• halzounA buccopharyngeal infection occurring in Lebanon, probably caused by the larvae of Linguatula serrata.
• hamalA porter in Turkey and nearby countries.
• Haram al-SharifThe Temple Mount; the Noble Sanctuary.
• HaratinA member of a group of dark-skinned African people in Maghreb and Western part of Sahara (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya), who often form a distinct social class.
• harbiA person who is not a Muslim and does not live under the condition of the dhimma.
• hardunSynonym of stellion (a kind of lizard)
• HarebA male given name from Arabic.
• hariraA thickened, tomato-based North African soup, popular during Ramadan.
• harkaIn Maghrebi history, a military campaign, often a punitive expedition against insurgents.
• harmalPeganum harmala, a perennial plant of the family Nitrariaceae.
• HarrounA surname from Arabic.
• HasakahA city in Syria.
• hasanatCredit for good deeds, which Allah weighs up against one's bad deeds at the final judgement after death.
• hashiyaA gloss or supplementary note.
• HashshashinA religious group who used hashish to create mystic visions; they later became associated with the assassination of invading Christian leaders during the Crusades; their descendants are the Khojas.
• hatifA mysterious prophetic voice heard at night and in the desert. It figures in Arabian folklore.
• hattahA headscarf, a keffiyeh.
• HauranA volcanic plateau and geographic area of West Asia, located in southwestern Syria and extending into the northwestern corner of Jordan.
• hawaijYemeni spice mixture
• HawaraA member of an Amazigh tribe that settled in Egypt and was known for breeding horses and serving as cavalry.
• HawariA surname.
• hawzaA madrasa where Shi'ite Muslim scholars are educated.
• Hay'at Tahrir al-ShamA political and paramilitary Sunni Islamic organisation involved in the Syrian Civil War.
• hayzOf a heavenly body: satisfying a number of conditions relating to sect. (See Wikipedia article for details.)
• hegiraA journey taken to escape from danger; an exodus.
• hendibehThe common chicory (Cichorium intybus).
• hijamawet cupping
• hikmahWisdom and understanding about the divine.
• HimyarAn ancient kingdom based in modern Yemen.
• hisbahAn Islamic doctrine that requires upholding community morals and law and order.
• HocineA male given name from Arabic.
• Holy SpiritThe person (hypostasis) of the Trinity or Godhead corresponding to divine essence present in the faithful (particularly inspired prophets) and considered to proceed either from (Eastern Orthodoxy) God the Father alone or (Roman Catholicism) from Him together with God the Son.
• HomamA slowly pulsating third-magnitude blue-white main-sequence star in the northern constellation of Pegasus.
• House of AllahThe Kaaba.
• HouthiA member of the Ansar Allah armed revolutionary group in Yemen.
• howadjiA traveller or merchant from the Middle East
• HoweitatA large Judhami tribe inhabiting parts of present-day southern Jordan, the Sinai Peninsula and Sharqia governate in Egypt, the Negev, and northwestern Saudi Arabia.
• HubalA god worshipped in pre-Islamic Arabia.
• hududThe statutory punishments prescribed by the Quran for certain crimes, including theft, fornication, adultery, false accusation of adultery, drunkenness, and apostasy.
• hujraA drawing room where guests are entertained in Pashtun areas of Pakistan.
• hulbahA condiment made from ground fenugreek seeds, traditional in Yemen and nearby countries.
• hummalA porter.
• hummumA Turkish bath.
• husayniyyaA building where Shia Muslims gather to mourn the death of Husayn ibn Ali in the month of Muharram.
• husbullhookumA document issued by officers of state on royal authority, serving as a grant or a decree.