RAQABAH (رقبة). Lit. “The Neck”; pl. riqāb. A term used in the Qurʾān for a captive slave. [Sūrah iv. 94]: “Whosoever kills a believer by mistake, then let him free a believing neck.”
The word is used in India for an enclosed area of land. (See Wilson’s Glossary of Indian Terms.)
AR-RAQĪB (الــرقـيـب). “The Watcher over.” One of the ninety-nine names or attributes of the Almighty. The word occurs in the Qurʾān, e.g. [Sūrah iv. 1]: “Verily God doth watch over you.”
AR-RAQĪM (الرقيم). A word which occurs in the Qurʾān, [Sūrah xviii. 8]: “Hast thou reckoned that the Fellows of the cave and the Raqīm were a wonder amongst our signs?” The commentators are not agreed as to the meaning of this word. The Jalālān say, it was a brass plate or stone-table, on which the names of the Fellows of the Cave were written. The Kamālān say it was either the name of the dog which belonged to the young men, or of the valley in which the cave was situated.
AR-RASHĪD (الرشـيـد). “The Rightly Directing.” One of the ninety-nine names or attributes of God. The word occurs once in the Qurʾān, but it is not there used for the Almighty. See [Sūrah xi. 80]: “Is there not among you one who can rightly direct?”
RASM (رسم), pl. Rusūm. Lit. “That which is stamped or sealed.” According to the Qāmūs, it is a very ancient word used in Arabia before the days of the Prophet for custom and law, the ancient records of the people being entitled Rawāsīm (رواسيم). It is a word which is very common in Hindustan for the customs and usages of the people.
AR-RASS (الرس). A word which occurs twice in the Qurʾān, the meaning of which is uncertain.
[Sūrah xxv. 40]: “The people of ʿĀd, and S̤amūd, the people of the Rass.”
[Sūrah l. 12]: “Before them the people of Noah and the fellows of the Rass and S̤amūd and ʿĀd and Pharaoh, called the Apostles liars.”
According to the commentators al-Jalālān, it is the name of a well near Midian. Some take it to be the name of a town in Yamāmah.