RESURRECTION
RESURRECTION. See Eschatology; Afterlife.
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REPUBLICAN BROTHERS. In 1945 a small group of Sudanese led by Mahmud Muhammad Taha organized the Republican Party to oppose both the establishment of a Mahdist monarchy in Sudan and the unification of Sudan with the Kingdom of Egypt. The party’s manifesto also called for an Islamic resurgence. Following the 1969 revolution led by Colonel
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REPUBLIC. The political label of “republic” or aljumhuriyah is one without great apparent controversy in the Islamic world. The reason for this is twofold. First, although the term might be assumed to be a Western or an alien one, as is “democracy” (dimuqratiyah), its root meaning in fact exists in Arabic. Lane’s Arabic-English Lexicon (1865)
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REPENTANCE. The Arabic term tawbah literally means “return.” When used with reference to humans it means the individual’s return to God after falling into sin or error; when used with reference to God, it means that divinity has turned to the penitent with compassion. Repentance is an informal act in Islam and does not require
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RELICS. The remains of holy persons may serve as a focus for devotional practices in Islam. These relics include the physical remains of holy persons-the prophet Muhammad, saints, and martyrs-and objects with which they were associated. It is commonly believed that contact with such relics may result in the transference of blessing (barakah). Purported relics
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REGIONAL ISLAMIC DA`WAH COUNCIL OF SOUTHEAST ASIA AND THE PACIFIC The nongovernmental nonprofit organization RISEAP, as its name indicates, operates in Southeast Asia and the Pacific region. Formed in 1980-. RISEAP was established in response to a need to bring together Muslims in the area and to coordinate their Islamic da’wah (missionary) activities. While the
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REFUGEES. In a Muslim context, the term “refugee” is related to formal concepts of migration and flight that are central to the history of Islam. When the prophet Muhammed and his followers fled from hostile Mecca to friendly Medina (622 CE), they undertook what became known as the Hijrah (migration). This event constitutes the genesis
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Reform (Latin: reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill’s Association movement which identified “Parliamentary Reform” as its primary aim. Reform is generally distinguished from revolution. The latter
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REFERENCE BOOKS. Islamic civilization has always attached the greatest importance to the written word, and to books as vital sources of knowledge and guidance. But systematic access to this knowledge requires not just texts for reading, but also works which can be consulted for answers to specific questions and guidance to relevant material elsewhere. Such
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RAWZAH KHAWANI. One of the foremost characteristics of Shi`i Muslims is the veneration they express for the family of the Prophet and his martyred grandson, Imam Husayn. These expressions take various forms the most common of which are public mourning ceremonies such as the rawzah khvani (narrative accounts of the martyrdom of Imam Husayn), ta`ziyah
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