RashidunThe Rashidun caliphs (الخلفاء الراشدون, rightly guided caliphs), often simply called the Rashidun, are the first four caliphs (lit.: 'successors') who led the Muslim community following the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad: Abu Bakr (632-634), Umar (634-644), Uthman (644-656), and Ali (656-661). The reign of these caliphs, called the Rashidun Caliphate (632–661), is considered in Sunni Islam to have been 'rightly guided' (Arabic: ), meaning that it constitutes a model () to be followed and emulated from a religious point of view.
ZakatZakat ( زكاة; zaˈkaːt, "that which purifies", also Zakat al-mal zaˈkaːt alˈmaːl زكاة المال, "zakat on wealth", or Zakah) is a form of almsgiving, often collected by the Muslim Ummah. It is considered in Islam as a religious obligation, and by Quranic ranking, is next after prayer (salat) in importance. Eight heads of Zakat are mentioned in the Quran. As one of the Five Pillars of Islam, zakat is a religious duty for all Muslims who meet the necessary criteria of wealth to help the needy.
MawlaMawlā (مَوْلَى, plural mawālī مَوَالِي), is a polysemous Arabic word, whose meaning varied in different periods and contexts. Before the Islamic prophet Muhammad, the term originally applied to any form of tribal association. In the Quran and hadiths it is used in a number of senses, including 'Lord', 'guardian', 'trustee', and 'helper'. After Muhammad's death, this institution was adapted by the Umayyad dynasty to incorporate new converts to Islam into Arab-Muslim society and the word mawali gained currency as an appellation for converted non-Arab Muslims in the early Islamic caliphates.
DirhamThe dirham, dirhem or dirhm (درهم) is a silver unit of currency historically and currently used by several Arab and Arab influenced states. The term has also been used as a related unit of mass. The dirham was a unit of weight used across North Africa, the Middle East, Persia and Ifat; later known as Adal, with varying values. The value of Islamic dirham was 14 qirat, 10 dirham = 7 mithqal, in Islamic law (2.975 gm of silver). In the late Ottoman Empire (درهم), the standard dirham was 3.207 g; 400 dirhem equal one oka.
