ṢĀD (صاد). The fourteenth letter of the Arabic alphabet. The title of the XXXVIIIth Sūrah of the Qurʾān, which begins with the letter.
ṢADAQAH (صدقة), pl. ṣadaqāt. From ṣadq, “to be righteous, truthful”; Hebrew צֶדֶק tsedek. A term used in the Qurʾān for “Almsgiving,” e.g. [Sūrah ii. 265]: “Kind speech and pardon are better than almsgiving (ṣadaqah) followed by annoyance, for God is rich and clement.”
Ṣadaqatu ʾl-Fit̤r is the alms given on the lesser Festival, called the ʿĪdu ʾl-Fit̤r, which consists of half a ṣāʿ of wheat, flour, or fruits, or one ṣāʿ of barley. This should be distributed to the poor before the prayers of the festival are said. (Hidāyah, vol. i. p. 62.) [[ʿĪDU ʾL-FITR].]
SAʿD IBN ABĪ WAQQĀṢ (سعد بن ابى وقاص). Called also Saʿd ibn Malik ibn Wahb az-Zuhrī. He was the seventh person who embraced Islām, and was present with Muḥammad in all his battles. He died at ʿAtīq A.H. 55, at the age of 79, and was buried at al-Madīnah.
SAʿD IBN MUʿĀẔ (سعد بن معاذ). The chief of the Banū Aus. He embraced Islām at al-Madīnah after the first pledge at ʿAqabah. He died of wounds received at the battle of the Ditch, A.H. 5. (See Muir’s Life of Mahomet, vol. iii. 282.)
SAʿD IBN ʿUBĀDAH (سعد بن عبادة). One of the Companions, and an Anṣārī of great reputation. He carried the standard at the conquest of Makkah. Died A.H. 15.
ṢADR (صدر), or Ṣadru ʾṣ-Ṣudūr. The chief judge. Under Muḥammadan rule, he was especially charged with the settlement of religious grants and the appointment of law officers.
SADŪM (سدوم). [[SODOM].]
AṢ-ṢAFĀ (الصفا). A hill near Makkah. One of the sacred places visited by the pilgrims during the Ḥajj. [[PILGRIMAGE].]
ṢAFAR (صفر). Lit. “The void month.” The second month of the Muḥammadan year. So called because in it the ancient Arabs went forth on their predatory expeditions and left their houses ṣifr, or empty; or, according to some, because when it was first named it occurred in the autumn, when the leaves of the trees were ṣufr, or “yellow.” (G͟hiyās̤u ʾl-Lug͟hah, in loco.) [[MONTHS].]