A Dictionary of Islam Being a cyclopedia of the...

From its frequent occurrence in the Qurʾān, it would seem to occupy the place of the Hebrew יְהֹוָה Jehovah, the Κύριος of the LXX., the Dominus of the Vulgate, and the Lord of the English Bible; but all Muslim writers say that whilst Allāh is the Ismu ʾẕ-Ẕāt, or “Essential name of God,” ar-Rabb, “the Lord,” is but an Ismu Ṣifah, or attribute, of the Almighty.

Al-Baiẓāwī, the commentator (p. 6, line 10, of Flügel’s edition), says, “rabb, in its literal meaning, is ‘to bring up,’ that is, to bring or educate anything up to its perfect standard, by slow degrees, and inasmuch as the Almighty is He who can bring everything to perfection, the word الرب ar-Rabb, is especially applied to God.”

RABBU ʾN-NAUʿ (رب النوع). The “Lord of the Species.” An angel who is said to preside over the animate and inanimate creation, viz.: nabātāt, “vegetable”; ḥaiwānāt, “animal”; jamādāt, “inanimate” (stones, earth, &c.), called al-ʿālamu ʾs-suflī, “the lower creation,” as distinguished from al-ʿālamu ʾl-ʿulwī, “the heavenly world.” (See G͟hiyās̤u ʾl-Lug͟hah.)

The English form Rachel is a strange error on the part of our translators, who almost invariably represent the Hebrew ח by the letter h. The correct form, Rahel, which is the form familiar to Muslim writers, occurs once in the English Bible, Jer. xxxi. 15.

AR-RADD (الرد). Rejection, repulsion, refutation, reply; repeal, abrogation, making null and void; sometimes, erasure. In Muḥammadan law it applies especially to the return or surplus of an inheritance which remains after the legal portions have been distributed among the sharers, and which, in default of a residuary heir, returns, or is to be divided amongst the original sharers.

RĀFIʿ IBN K͟HADĪJ (رافع بن خديج). One of the Ṣaḥābah. He was too young to be present at Badr, but he accompanied Muḥammad at Uḥud and was wounded with an arrow, on which occasion the Prophet said to him, “I will answer for you in the Day of Judgment.” He died at al-Madīnah, A.H. 73, aged 86.

RĀFIẒĪ (رافضى). Lit. “A forsaker.” Synonymous with Rāfiẓah (pl. Rawāfiẓ). A term used for a body of soldiers who have deserted their commander and turned back again, applied to a sect of Shīʿahs who joined Zaid the son of ʿAlī, the son of al-Ḥusain, the second son of the K͟halīfah ʿAlī, who, when they had submitted to Zaid, demanded that he should abuse Abū Bakr and ʿUmar, the first two K͟halīfahs of the Sunnīs; but Zaid refused to do so, for he said, “They were both Wazīrs of my forefather Muḥammad.” Upon this they forsook the party of Zaid, and were called Rāfiẓah. Zaid had then only fourteen faithful companions left, and he was soon surrounded by al-Ḥajjāj ibn Yūsuf, the general of the Imām Jaʿfar’s army, and fell at the head of his brave companions, not one of them surviving him.

RĀHIB (راهب), pl. Ruhbān. A Christian monk. Mentioned in the Qurʾān, Sūrah v. 85: “Thou wilt find the nearest in love to those who believe to be those who say, ‘We are Christians’; that is, because there are amongst them priests (qissīsūn) and monks (ruhbān), and because they are not proud.” [MONASTICISM.]

RAḤĪL (رحيل). Lit. “That which is fit for travelling.” A small book-stand made so as to fold up for convenience in travelling, but now generally used as a book-stand in mosques and Muslim schools to support the Qurʾān and other books as the student reads his lesson from them. They are also used in private dwellings.