Islam in World Cultures: Comparative Perspectives - Islamic Books ...

Key Te r m s 3 5 1and historically Muslims, although the contents of its ethical teachings drewmore on U.S. traditions of Freemasonry, esotericism, and self-improvementthan on foundational Islamic texts and traditions of Muslim piety.Mufti (2)A Muslim religious scholar whose knowledge of Islamic law justifies his authorityto issue f a t w a s .Muhammadiyya (7)An Indonesian Muslim modernist organization founded at Yogyakarta, CentralJava, in 1912 by Kyai Haji Ahmad Dahlan (d. 1923).Mujahidin (1, 2, 4)A term, literally meaning “those who engage in j i h a d ,” used to refer collectivelyto disparate groups of Islamic militants who fought against the Soviet occupationof Afghanistan in the 1980s.Mujtahid (3)A practitioner of independent jurisprudential reasoning (i j t i h a d) . For I t h-n a ’ a s h a r i S h i ’ a—also referred to as the “Twelvers” or “Imami” S h i ’ i t e s— l a wis established by the marja-e taqlid, who serves as a living m u j t a h i d , d e r i v i n ghis own jurisprudential rulings that are then followed by members of the commu n i t y.Mullah (3)A person learned in Islamic law or other aspects of religious knowledge. Insome cases, particularly in Ithna’ashiri forms of S h i ’ i t e Islam, it is synonymouswith mujtahid. This Persian term comes from Arabic.Murid (3, 4)A disciple of a S u f i master in a number of Muslim societies.Muslim Brotherhood (1, 2, 9)See Ikhwan al-MusliminMu’tazila (1)A medieval Muslim school of theology whose adherents called themselves “thePeople of Unity and of Justice.” Their rationalist interpretation of k a l a m w a sforcefully promulgated by the Abbasid caliphs during the mihna (ninth centu ry). However, since that time it has rarely proved attractive to S u n n i M u s l i mthinkers, who have historically tended to favor more traditionalist approachesto Islamic theological issues.