Z̤ANN (ظن), pl. z̤unūn. “Opinion; suspicion.” In Muḥammadan law, a presumption that a charge is well-founded, although the evidence is inconclusive. Az̤-Z̤annu ʾl-G͟halīb, expresses a strong presumption of truth in a charge, although the evidence does not amount to conviction. The “Not proven” of Scotch law. The word z̤ann, in the sense of “suspicion,” occurs in the Qurʾān, [Sūrah xlix. 12]: “O Believers! avoid frequent suspicions, for some suspicions are a crime.”
ZAQQŪM (زقوم). An infernal tree described in the Qurʾān.
[Sūrah xxxvii. 60–64]: “Is this the better repast or the tree az-Zaqqūm? Verily We have made it for a subject of discord to the wicked: Lo, it is a tree which cometh up from the bottom of hell; its fruit is as it were the heads of Satans; and, lo! the damned shall surely eat of it and fill their bellies with it.”
[Sūrah xliv. 43, 44]: “Verily the tree of az-Zaqqūm shall be the sinner’s food.”
[Sūrah lvi. 51–53]: “Then verily ye, O ye the erring, the imputers of falsehood, shall surely eat of the tree of Zaqqūm, and fill your bellies with it.”
It is a name now given to a thorny tree, whose fruit is sweet and styptic, and from the stone of which oil is extracted. (Richardson’s Dictionary.)
ZARĀMĪYAH (زرامية). A sect of Shīʿah Muḥammadans, who say that the next Imāms after ʿAlī were Muḥammad ibn Ḥanfīyah, ʿAbdullāh, ʿAlī ibn ʿAbdillāh ibn ʿAbbās, and afterwards his progeny, as far as Manṣūr, until at last the Divine power entered into Abū Muslim, who, they assert, was not really slain. (Kashfu ʾl-Iṣt̤ilāḥāt, in loco.)
ZARĀRĪYAH (زرارية). A sect of Muslims founded by one of the Companions, named Zarārah, who say the attributes of God are not eternal. (Kitābu ʾt-Taʿrīfāt, in loco.)
ẒARB (ضرب). Lit. “Striking.” In arithmetic, “Multiplication.” The concluding foot of a line in poetry. A term used by Ṣūfī mystics for the ceremony of ẕikr.
AẔ-ẔĀRĪYĀT (الذاريات). “The Scatterers.” The title of the LIst Sūrah of the Qurʾān which begins with the words “By the Scatterers who scatter.” By which is understood the winds of heaven.