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glossary of terms and concepts 553TERMINARABICالعبد والعبيدوالعبوديةالعبد الرق‏(المملوك)‏الميثاق وميثاقالإسلامالشهيدوالشهادةالحضورية والشاهدوالشاهدةالمعرفيةالوالد والأبوالوالدة والأمTRANS-LITERATIONal-#abdwa’l-#abÊdwa’l-#ubådÊyaal-#abd al-riqq( al-mamlåk)al-mÊth§qwa-mÊth§qal-isl§mal-shahÊdwa’l-shah§daal-Èu·årÊya +al-sh§hidwa’l-sh§hidaal-ma#rifÊyaal-w§lid wa’l-abwa’l-w§lidawa’l-ummENGLISH TRANSLATIONA worshipper of God / slaves / slaveryThe Book states that worshippers have a choicebetween obedience and disobedience, while slavesdo not enjoy such a choice. To forbid free choice isa human invention—it would never have beenallowed by God. Slavish obedience towards God isnot requested in this world, only on the Day ofJudgement when people indeed become slaves ofGod.SlaveA slave is owned as private property by someoneelse; he has no free choice as he must always sayyes to whatever his owner demands from him.Covenant and the covenant of IslamA covenant is a voluntary bond based on trust andacceptance between two partners; it is of a lesserand historically earlier level than a law or aconstitution; a covenant of God contains an oath ofallegiance to God, this means that the fulfilment orbreach of that oath in respect to God is thefulfilment or breach of the covenant; the covenantof al-isl§m is the ultimate model for a human society(and what we would call ‘moral law’ ( al-q§nånal-akhl§qÊ), i.e., the general human law, based onfollowing the straight path (the worship of God).ShahÊd-witness and sh§hid-witnessA shahÊd-witness directly observes things and eventsas an eyewitness, while a sh§hid-witness observes(nonsensually) these things from a distance; the firstterm relates to witness in its strictly empirical sense(i.e., perception through the senses), while thesecond term refers to a theoretical observation (e.g.,in the case of an epistemological recognition); themeaning of ‘martyr in a battle’ is an invention andcannot be found in the Book; the one who is aneyewitness to a financial contract is, of course, ashahÊd-witness.The biological father (i.e., the birth-giver) and the caregiverfather(who may not be the biological father); the biologicalmother (the birth-giver) and the caregiver-mother (who maynot be the biological mother)الوالدانوالأبوانal-w§lid§nwa’l-abaw§nThe biological parents (i.e., the birth-givers) and thecaregiver-parents (who may not be the biological parents)If the caregiver-parents are also the biologicalparents they would never be called caregiver-parents( al-abaw§n) but always birth-givers ( al-w§lid§n).