SAMUEL

Arabic Ishmawīl ( اشمويل‎ ), or Shamwīl ; Heb. ‏שְׁמוּאֵל‎ , referred to in the Qurʾān ( Sūrah ii. 247 ) as “the prophet” to whom the Children of Israel said, “Raise for us a King, and we will fight for him in God’s way.” Ḥusain, the commentator, says it is not quite certain who he was. He was either Yūshaʿ ibn Nūn, or Shamʿūn ibn S̤afīyā, or Ishmawīl. ( Tafsīr-i-Ḥusainī , p. 65.) The Kamālān give his name as Shamwīl , but say it was originally Ismāʾīl , and that the meaning is the same. ṢANʿĀʾ ( صنعاء‎ ). A city in al-Yaman, the Viceroy of which, Abrahatu ʾl-Ashram, an Aby in i an Christian, marched with a large army and some elephants upon Makkah, with the intention of destroying the Temple (see Qurʾān, Sūrah cv .) in the year Muḥammad was born. Hence the year was known as that of the Elephant. SANAD ( سند‎ ). Lit . “That on which one rests, as a pillar or cushion.” An authority; a document; a warrant. A term used in Muslim law. ṢANAM ( صنم‎ ), pl. aṣnām . The word used in the Qurʾān for an idol, e.g . Sūrah xiv. 38 : “Turn me and my sons away from serving idols . ” [ IDOLS .]