Arabic word for God. Allah is the same God worshiped by adherents of Christian and Jewish faiths. In dialogue, Muslims speaking English and referring to God should say “God,” not “Allah.”

Anthropologist and Sapelo Square founder Su’ad Abdul Khabeer; “…‘Black Islam’ [means] all the different and diverse movements of Black people who engage Islam as a religious and spiritual tradition. So, I’m talking about the Moorish Science Temple, Ahmadiyya Community, The Five Percent Nation of Gods and Earths, Sunni, Shi’a, Nation of Islam, a really broad range.” The Black Muslim community is the largest Muslim community in America. According to a 2017 Pew Research Center survey, this community makes up 20% of the overall Muslim population. For more.

A garment worn by some Muslim women that covers the entire body from head to toe, with a mesh screen over the eyes.

The practice of alternating between two or more languages or varieties of language in conversation. For instance, Latinx Americans who speak a combination of Spanish, Indigenous/Native dialects, and English or Black Americans who speak African American Vernacular English (or Black English) and English. Code-switching is often used at home or among members of the same communities, and people don’t necessarily code-switch to someone who doesn’t speak their same language.

The practice of someone maintaining customs and values of two or more different cultures that make up their identity. In engaging with their separate cultures, someone can create a new hybrid identity that seeks to balance these multiple parts of them. Cultural hybridity is an ongoing, active, and fluid process that is shaped by history and background.

A community of people from the same homeland who have been scattered or have migrated to other lands. While most often associated with the Jewish people expelled from the Kingdom of Israel in the 6th century BCE, the diaspora of many ethnic groups is found around the world today.

1) A diaspora is a group of people who have been forced from or chosen to leave their homeland to settle in other lands;

2) People of a diaspora typically preserve and celebrate the culture and traditions of their homeland;

3) Diaspora may be created by voluntary emigration or by force, as in the cases of wars, enslavement, or natural disasters. For more.

As of 2020, there are about one million adherents to the Druze religion worldwide, mostly in Jordan, Israel, Syria, and Lebanon, with approximately 30,000 in the U.S, with the largest American group in California. Druze is a monotheistic religion formed in the 10th and 11th centuries with ties to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It combines Islamic tenets with Greek and Hindu philosophies, and their prophets are Moses, John the Baptist, Jesus, and Mohammed. The most revered religious figure is Jethro, father-in-law of Moses. Though some Druze consider themselves “Muslim,” Druze is not a branch of Islam or a sect; it’s recognized as a separate religion.

The Druze faith hasn’t accepted converts since 1050, and it prohibits marriage outside the faith (find more here). The adherents believe anyone who wanted to join the religion had a chance to do so in the first generation after it was started, and that everyone who is alive today is reincarnated from a previous generation. Proselytizing is not allowed under Druze law. Find more here.

The process of managing feelings and expressions in order to fulfill the emotional requirements of a job. More specifically, when workers have to regulate emotions to shape the minds of superiors, co-workers, and customers. Emotional labor more often falls on BIPOC people, especially women (e.g., swallowing down feelings about a racist or sexist comment so as not to make things awkward for another individual, having to fake positivity to placate a customer).

The long-term psychological effects of trauma (both personal and communal) that can be passed down through generations of families and cultures. Beyond psychological, these generational effects are also familial, social, cultural, neurobiological, and possibly even genetic.

Hijab is a head covering or headscarf (in some communities called “khimar”) worn in public by some Muslim woman. A Hijabi is a woman who wears a hijab. Muslim women are legally mandated to wear hijabs only in Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the Indonesian province of Aceh.

An intrinsic, embodied part of who someone is (e.g., race, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability), not to be confused with the various experiences, ideologies, and preferences they identify with (e.g., careers, politics, hobbies). Identity shapes our everyday life, psychology, culture, relationships, behavior, and shared history. Identity is deeply personal and language used to describe it is ever-evolving. We must be open to new language as understanding shifts; it’s vital to use the terms, names, and pronouns others use for themselves. Note: Avoid the phrasing “identify as” (e.g. “she is a woman” instead of “she identifies as a woman”; “they are non-binary” vs “they identify as non-binary”).

Those who move to take permanent residence in a new country.

A person from Iran, with Iranian citizenship, and/or self-identifying as from or connected to the nation of Iran. For political, religious, and cultural reasons, some refer to themselves as Iranian and others as Persian. Iranians/Persians are not Arabs.

Extreme fear of and hostility toward Islam and Muslims, often leading to hate speech and hate crimes, social and political discrimination.

Jihad literally means “strive and struggle for God,” which encompasses an internal struggle towards personal betterment. A jihadi is one who strives and struggles for God. Jihad is not an order to murder and doesn’t mean “terrorism.”

Chronically high levels of stress endured by members of stigmatized communities (e.g., BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, disabled, religious minorities, HIV+) caused by the prejudice, discrimination, and systemic oppression they face. This leads to a number of negative mental and physical health disparities among these groups (e.g., internalized racism, transphobia, homophobia; increased risk-taking behavior; anxiety; high blood pressure).

Mohammed was a prophet and messenger of God, not an intercessor of God. Muslims honor Mohammed only by following his teachings (not by praying to him). There are various acceptable spellings of the Prophet’s name (i.e. Muhammed).

The deadly San Bernadino, CA, shooting in December 2015 led to Trump’s Muslim Ban. Between 2017 and 2018, the number of permanent visas given every month to Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen nationals fell by 72%. In June 2018, the Supreme Court upheld an amended version of Trump’s ban. Immigrants and many travelers from Iran, Libya, Somalia, North Korea, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen are still banned. President Biden rescinded the ban in 2021, but its effects still remain.

A Muslim adheres to the religion, Islam, as a Christian adheres to Christianity. Islam means “the submission to the Oneness of God” and a Muslim who practices and a person who is “culturally” Muslim generally adhere to the same belief. Muslims worship and only pray to God; not to the Prophet Mohammed. Note that the “s” in both is a soft “s” as opposed to a “z,” i.e., MUS-luhm and ISS-luhm.

A face veil worn by some Muslim women that leaves the eyes uncovered.