Mosque

A mosque sometimes spelt mosk, is aplace of worship for followers of Islam.

There are strict and detailed requirements in Sunni fiqh for a place of worship to be considered a mosque,
with places that do not meet these requirements regarded asmusallas. There are stringent restrictions on the
uses of the area formally demarcated as the mosque (which is often a small portion of the larger complex),
and, in the Islamic Sharia law, after an area is formally designated as a mosque, it remains so until the Last
Day.
Quba Mosque in Medina, Saudi Arabia is the oldest mosque in the world. Many mosques have
elaborate domes, minarets, and prayer halls, in varying styles of architecture. Mosques originated on
the Arabian Peninsula, but are now found in all inhabited continents. The mosque serves as a place
where Muslims can come together for salat (prayer) as well as a center for information, education, and
dispute settlement. The imam leads the prayer.

Zakt

Zakt, or alms-giving is the practice of charitable giving by Muslims based on accumulated wealth, and is
obligatory for all who are able to do so. It is considered to be a personal responsibility for Muslims to ease
economic hardship for others and eliminate inequality.
In the United Kingdom, Muslims today give more to charity than people of other religions, according to a
British poll. There, Muslims, on average, gave $567, compared to $412 forJews, $308 for Protestants, $272
for Catholics and $177 for atheists Today, conservative estimates of annual zakat is estimated to be 15 times
global humanitarian aid contributions. The zakat, one of the pillars of Islam, is discussed in both
the Qur'an and the hadith literature.

Koran

Koran literally meaning "the recitation," also romanised Quran or Koran) is the central religious
text of Islam, which Muslims believe to be a revelation from God (Arabic: , Allah). It is widely regarded as
the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language. Muslims consider the Quran to be the only book that has
been protected by God from distortion or corruption.
Muslims believe that the Quran was verbally revealed from God to Muhammad through the
angel Gabriel (Jibril), gradually over a period of approximately 23 years, beginning on 22 December
609 CE, when Muhammad was 40, and concluding in 632 CE, the year of his death. Shortly after
Muhammad's death, the Quran was collected by his companions using written Quranic materials and
everything that had been memorized of the Quran.
Muslims regard the Quran as the most important miracle of Muhammad, the proof of his prophethood and
the culmination of a series of divine messages that started with the messages revealed to Adam and ended
with Muhammad. The Quran assumes familiarity with major narratives recounted in the Jewish and Christian
scriptures. It summarizes some, dwells at length on others and, in some cases, presents alternative accounts
and interpretations of events. The Quran describes itself as a book of guidance. It sometimes offers detailed
accounts of specific historical events, and it often emphasizes the moral significance of an event over its
narrative sequence. The Quran is used along with the hadith to interpret sharia law. During prayers, the
Quran is recited only in Arabic. The Duaas of Prophets are given in the Holy Quran.

Mecca

Mecca also transliterated as Makkah, is a city in the Hejaz and the capital of Makkah Province in Saudi
Arabia. The city is located 70 km (43 mi) inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of 277 m (909 ft)
above sea level. Its resident population in 2012 was roughly 2 million, although visitors more than triple this
number every year during Hajj period held in the twelfth Muslim lunar month of Dhu al-Hijjah.
As the birthplace of Muhammad and a site of Muhammad's first revelation of the Quran (the site in
specificity being a cave 3.2 km (2 mi) from Mecca), Mecca is regarded as the holiest city in
the religion of Islamand apilgrimage to it known as the Hajj is obligatory for all able Muslims. Mecca is home
to the Kaaba, by majority description Islam's holiest site, as well as being the center of the Islamic universe.
Mecca was long ruled by Muhammad's descendants, the sharifs, acting either as independent rulers or as
vassals to larger polities. It was absorbed into Saudi Arabia in 1925. In its modern period, Mecca has seen
tremendous expansion in size and infrastructure, home to structures such as the Abraj Al Bait, also known as
the Makkah Royal Clock Tower Hotel, the world's third tallest building and the building with the largest
amount of floor area. Due to this expansion, Mecca has lost some historical structures and archaeological
sites, such as theAjyad Fortress . Today, more than 15 million Muslims visit Mecca annually, including
several million during the few days of the Hajj. As a result, Mecca has become one of the most cosmopolitan
and diverse cities in the Muslim world, despite the fact that non-Muslims are prohibited from entering the
city.

Imam

An imam is an Islamic leadership position. It is most commonly in the context of a worship leader of
a mosque and Muslim community by Sunni Muslims only. In this context, Imams may lead Islamic worship
services, serve as community leaders, and provide religious guidance. It may also be used in the form of a
prefix title with scholars of renown. The Sunni branch of Islam does not have imams in the same sense as
the Shi'a, an important distinction often overlooked by those outside of the Islamic faith. In every day terms,
the imam for Sunni Muslims is the one who leads Islamic formal (Fard) prayers, even in locations besides the
mosque, whenever prayers are done in a group of two or more with one person leading (imam) and the others
following by copying his ritual actions of worship. Friday sermon is most often given by an appointed imam.
All mosques have an imam to lead the (congregational) prayers, even though it may sometimes just be a
member from the gathered congregation rather than an officially appointed salaried person. Women cannot
lead prayers, except amongst female-only congregations; these are often the wives of imams . The person that
should be chosen according to Hadith is one who has most knowledge of the Qu'ran and is of good character,
the age is immaterial.
The term is also used for a recognized religious scholar or authority in Islam, often for the founding scholars
of the four Sunni madhhabs, or schools of jurisprudence (fiqh). It may also refer to the Muslim scholars who
created the analytical sciences related to Hadith or it may refer to the heads of the Prophet Muhammad's
family in their generational times.

Ramadan

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar; Muslims worldwide observe this as a month of fasting.
This annual observance is regarded as one of the Five Pillars of Islam. The month lasts 2930 days based on
the visual sightings of the crescent moon, according to numerous biographical accounts compiled in
the hadiths. The word Ramadan comes from the Arabic root ramida or ar-ramad, which means scorching heat
or dryness. Fasting isfard "obligatory" for adult Muslims, except those who are ill, traveling,
pregnant,breastfeeding, diabetic or going through menstrual bleeding.
While fasting from dawn until sunset, Muslims refrain from consuming food, drinking liquids, smoking,
and engaging in sexual relations; in some interpretations they also refrain from swearing. Food and drink is
served daily, before sunrise and after sunset. According to Islam, the thawab (rewards) of fasting are many,
but in this month they are believed to be multiplied. Fasting for Muslims during Ramadan typically includes
the increased offering of salat (prayers) and recitation of theQuran.

Madrasah

The word madrasah is derived from the triconsonantal Semitic root -- D-R-S 'to learn, study', through
the wazn (form/stem) ( ;)mafal(ah), meaning 'a place where something is done'.
Therefore, madrasah literally means 'a place where learning and studying are done'. The word is also present
as a loanword with the same innocuous meaning in many Arabic-influenced languages, such
as: Urdu, Bengali, Hindi, Persian, Turkish, Azeri, Kurdish, Indonesian, Malayand Bosnian / Croatian.[2] In the
Arabic language, the word madrasah simply means the same as school does in the English language,
whether that is private, public or parochial school, as well as for any primary or secondary school
whether Muslim, non-Muslim, or secular.[3]Unlike the understanding of the word school in British English,
the word madrasah is like the term school in American English, in that it can refer to a university-level or
post-graduate school as well. For example, in the Ottoman Empire during the Early Modern Period, madrasas
had lower schools and specialized schools where the students became known as danimends.[4]The usual
Arabic word for a university, however, is simply ( jmiah). The Hebrew cognatemidrasha also connotes
the meaning of a place of learning; the related term midrash literally refers to study or learning, but has
acquired mystical and religious connotations.

Abu Darda

Abu Darda was a trader in Medina and belonged to the al-Hrith clan of the Banu Khazraj tribe. He
converted to Islam after the Battle of Badr.[1] He was declared the brother of Salman the Persian[2] and
served as a Governor in Syria during the caliph Uthman's reign.
He died in 652 AD (AH 32) in Alexandria, before the assassination of the third Rashudin Calip Uthman.
An hadith transmitted by him states that Muhammad enjoined to him three things: to fast three days every
month, to offer the Witr salatbefore sleep, and to offer two rakat sunnah of Fajr. From Tabarani and Majma
uz-Zuwaid
Abu Darda's own preaching focused on the insignificance of worldly wealth and the minor details of life.
According to him, this life was comparable to a loan.
It is said of Abu Darda that once a friend went to visit him at his home. On reaching there, the friend noticed,
with grave concern, the appalling condition of Abu Darda's house. According to the friend, Abu Darda's house
was shorter than the full height of a standing man. It was also as narrow as it was short, and the household
utilities were less than basic. When the friend inquired from Abu Darda why he lived in such dire conditions,
Darda's response was: "Do not worry my friend, this is just my temporary shade. I am building a proper house
somewhere, slowly putting good things deserving thereof." When, on another occasion, the friend went back
and found the same deprived shade, he demanded to know why Abu Darda had not moved to his better house.
It was then that Abu Darda revealed to him that the house he referred to was the Kabr (the grave).
He also strongly advocated the acquisition of knowledge, saying, None of you can be pious unless he is
knowledgeable, and he cannot enjoy knowledge unless he applies it practically. Abu Darda praised scholars
of Islam greatly for their knowledge and application of it. He lauded both student and the teacher, saying they
would receive equal reward.

Karim ul-Makhdum

In the fourteenth century (About 1380), Karim ul-Makhdum built what is now the Philippines oldest mosque
which still exists in Tubig Indangan, Simunul Island in Tawi-Tawi.
The earliest period that Islam must have been introduced in the southern islands is often associated with this
religious landmark, if not attributed to Karim ul-Makhdum, whose proper name was Aminullah and was
entitled Sayyid un-Nikab. (The same oldest Masjid in Simunul, Tawi-Tawi has undergone reconstruction in
various times).
Dr. Cesar Adib Majul, an eminent Muslim scholar, hinted of earlier Muslim settlement in Sulu, first with the
information about the coming of a certain Tuan Mashaika to Sulu. According to the Sulu Genealogy, Tuan
Mashaika (probably from South Arabia) married a daughter of the younger Rajah Sipad (Sripada or
Sripaduka), this ruler being a descendant of an earlier Sipad.
The Sulu Genealogy does not specifically mention that Mashaika was a Muslim. But by the names of his
children (Tuan Hakim and Aisha) and of his grandchildren, Mashaika must have been a Muslim. Of Karim ulMakhdum, the Sulu Genealogy narrates:
Sometime after that there came Karimul Makhdum (to Sulu). He crossed the sea in a vase or pot of iron and
was called sarip. He settled at Bwansa, the place where the nobles of Tagimaha (from Basilan) lived. There
the people flocked to him from all directions, and he built a house for religious worship.
Makhdum did some conversion of the natives. That he was later called Tuan Shariff Aulia suggests that he
was a missionary and preacher, since the term aulia sometimes carried this connotation in Malaysia.
However, Majul credits Shariful Hashim, the first sultan of Sulu, for the development of Islam's "foothold in
Sulu," more than Makhdum's efforts in building mosques and his conversion of the natives both in Sulu and
in Tawi-Tawi. This is because Hashim had established madaris (schools) as the center of learning the
teachings of the Qur'an.
Indeed, people in different parts of Sulu (and even in Maguindanao and Lanao) genealogically trace descent
from Shariff Aulia, another title known of the Makhdum in the Salsila (Tarsilan in Maguindanaon).
The Karimul Makhdum Sayyid un-Nikab Aminullah had been buried in Bud Agad in Sulu. However, more
problematical to historians, Majul writes, is the fact that different places claim the honor of having his grave.
It is also known that a certain Abdu ur-Rahman, who was sometimes called Makhdum, has been buried in
Tapul Island, Sulu.
In Tandu Banak (Tawi-Tawi), there is the tomb of another Makhdum and thus, the tendency to associate this
burial place with Karim ul-Makhdum. If traditions are to be relied upon, there were at least two makhdumin.

Sharif Muhammad Kabungsuan

Sharif Muhammad Kabungsuan was a Muslim missionary who arrived from Johore, Malaysia who
introduced Islam to Mindanao. He arrived in Mindanao and settled in Malabang, in the present-day Lanao del
Sur during the early 16th century. He married into the local noble families of Mindanao and founded the first
sultanate of Mindanao, the sultanate of Maguindanao and Buayan around 1515. According to
the Maguindanaotarsilas, he is a prince of Hashemite descent born to Sharif Ali Zein ul-Abidin from Arabia
and a royal princess of Johore.

Sultan Bolkiah
Sultan Bolkiah was the fifth Sultan of Brunei. He ascended the throne of Brunei upon
the abdication of his father, Sultan Sulaiman, and ruled Brunei from 1485 to 1524.
His reign marked the Golden Age of Brunei and saw the Sultanate become the
superpower of the Malay archipelago. Bolkiah frequently travelled abroad to
gain new ideas for the development of the country, as well as seeking
suggestions from his various chiefs.

The tomb of Sultan Bolkiah, near Kota Batu, Brunei. (not to be confused with Cotabato in the Philippines).
Sultan Bolkiah's victory over Sulu and Seludong (modern day Manila), as well as his marriages to Laila
Mecanai the daughter of Sulu Sultan Amir Ul-Ombra (an uncle of Sharifa Mahandun married to Nakhoda
Angging or Maharaja Anddin of Sulu) and the daughter of Datu Kemin, widened Brunei's influence in
the Philippines. This increased Brunei's wealth as well as extending Islamic teachings in the region, resulting
in the influence and power of Brunei reached its climax during this period. Known as the "Singing Captain"
(Nakhoda Ragam) his dominion reached faraway Selurong, now known as the city of Manila. Due
to overpopulationhe allowed his people to venture out of Brunei, migrating into North Borneo and to the Sulu
(Solook). When visiting the islands, he would plant a speck of pepper into their beaches upon arrival and
name some of them, including Sitangkay,Siganggang, and Simunol. His rule also reached from Bulungan
(North Borneo) toJohore (Singapore ) that Brunei, its ancient name was Bulungan Johore[vague]. After it's loss,
Bolkiah's father-in-law, Sulu Sultan Amir Ul-Ombra (Amir Ul-Umara, also known as the Sultan Bolkiah of
Sulu) recovered Bulungan-North Borneo during a Kalimantan revolt in Southern Borneo.
After his death, Sultan Bolkiah (Bulkieau) was succeeded by his son, Abdul Kahar. He was buried in Kota
Batu with his wife, Princess Lela Mechanai.