WHAT THE RED STARS MEAN
ISLAMIC TERMINOLOGY 'UNVEILED'
Hey there!
The little * scattered around my blog are next to Islamic/ Arabic terms, & this is the section where I help explain what they mean to you! =D
- Eid- An Islamic celebration. It happens 2 times a year (Eid-ul-Fitr is after the Islamic month of 'Ramadhan', & Eid-ul-Adha is on the 10th day of 'Dul Hijjah'- after the Hajj pilgrimage)
- Eid-ul-Adha- See 'Eid' (or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eid_al-Adha)
- Eid-ul-Fitr- See 'Eid' (or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eid_ul-Fitr)
- Hajj- Holy pilgrimage to Mecca (Saudi Arabia), which includes circling around the 'Holy Ka'aba'- it has to be done by every Muslim at least once in a lifetime)
- Halaal- Permissible (in Islam)- can refer to actions, behaviours etc (but the most common use of this word is when referring to which foods are halaal (like 'kosher')
- Haraam- Forbidden (in Islam)- again, can refer to someone's actions & behaviours etc being forbidden (for example, gambling is a 'haraam' (forbidden) action in Islam)
- Hijab- means 'modesty' in Islam, & should be applied to the way you talk, dress, behave etc- but usually when people say it, they are referring to the dress criteria of Islamic modesty (specifically about the 'headscarf' part of it)
- Hijabi- someone (a woman) who wears the hijab (headscarf) *but men have to maintain their hijab, too!
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| The headscarf that I'm wearing is part of my hijab (modest clothing) -but in order to be a full hijabi, I need behave modestly, as well as dress modestly! |
- InshAllah- means 'God Willing'. We usually use this word when we plan on doing something or going somewhere, but we want to acknowledge that we can never be 100% sure if that thing will definitely happen (only God knows for certain!)
- Noor/ Nur- a religious light (people say that if someone is very religious & follows Islam correctly, you can see 'noor' from their face- but this is a very, very holy status to reach!)
WHAT THE BLUE STARS MEAN
DESI TERMINOLOGY 'UNVEILED'
Ok so, chances are you've already found out what the red stars(*) scattered all over my blog actually mean (I hope!) But now you want to know what the blue stars* mean, right?
Words with blue asterisks are South Asian (Desi) terms- South Asia (in this context) refers to India, Pakistan & Bangladesh. I myself am Pakistani though, so the South Asian words I use are from the Urdu language.
Let me just make a point about the word 'desi' first though, before I start defining anything else:
- Desi- This word usually refers to South Asians (India/ Pakistan/ Bangladesh & some surrounding countries) However, I wouldn't actually recommend calling a South Asian person this word (it's not offensive, but it's not polite either; think of it as kinda neutral- like Switzerland, haha =P)
Right, now that we've clarified that point, let's move on! =D
- Aunty-ji- this one is quite straightforward, really; Aunty means Aunty (duh) but 'ji' is the prefix that younger people will add to the end of an older person's name, in order to show them respect
- (Another point about the word aunty when used in Asian culture- 'aunty' is a name of respect that people use to refer to a woman older than them (usually a close family friend). If you call someone your aunty, they may not always be related to you- it's similar to calling your parent's mother 'Mrs So & So')
- Biryani- a really delicious, traditional Asian dish made with basmati rice (the curry served with it can include lots of different things like meat, fish, vegetables- & even eggs! =D)
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| Source: www.zurmat.com (Even the plate/ dish that this is being served in is traditional! =D) |
Ok so, I hope that clarifies things! But if there's still words you aren't sure about (or you think I've left some out), then feel free to hit me up & let me know! =]
That's all for now!
-Ignorant Awareness
