Jalālu ʾd-dīn says T̤āg͟hūt was an idol of the Quraish, whom certain renegade Jews honoured in order to please the tribe.
Mr. Lane observes that in the Arabian Nights the name is used to express the devil as well as an idol.
T̤Ā HĀ (طه). The title of the XXth Sūrah of the Qurʾān, which begins with these Arabic letters. Their meaning is uncertain. Some fancy the first letter stands for t̤ūbā, “beatitude,” and the second for Hāwiyah, the name of the lowest pit of hell. T̤ah is also, like ṣah, and the English “hush,” an interjection commanding silence, and might be here employed to enjoin a silent and reverential listening to the revelation to follow.
TAḤĀLUF (تحالف). The swearing of both plaintiff and defendant. In a civil suit of both seller and purchaser. In a disagreement, if both should take an oath, the Qāẓī must dissolve the sale, or contract. (Hamilton’s Hidāyah, vol. iii. p. 85.)
TAḤANNUS̤ (تحنث). Avoiding and abstaining from sin. Worshipping God for a certain period in seclusion. The word is used in the latter sense for the seclusion of Muḥammad on Mount Ḥirāʾ, when he is supposed to have received his first revelation. (Mishkāt, book xxiv. c. v.) [[INSPIRATION], [QURʾAN]].
T̤AHĀRAH (طهارة). “Purification,” including waẓūʾ, tayammum, masaḥ, g͟husl, and miswāk, accounts of which are given under their respective articles. [[PURIFICATION].]
T̤ĀHIR (طاهر). A woman in a state of purity. [[PURIFICATION].]
TAHLĪL (تهليل). The ejaculation, “Lā ilāha illā ʾllāh!” (لا اله الا الله), “There is no deity but God!” (Mishkāt, book x. ch. ii.)
Abū Hurairah relates that the Prophet said, “That person who recites ‘There is no deity but God,’ one hundred times, shall receive rewards equal to the emancipating of ten slaves, and shall have one hundred good deeds recorded to his account, and one hundred of his sins shall be blotted out, and the words shall be a protection from the devil.” [[ZIKR].]
TAḤMĪD (تحميد). The ejaculation, “al-Ḥamdu li-ʾllāh!” (الحمد لله), “God be praised!” (Mishkāt, book x. ch. ii.)