The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (1074 page)

BOOK: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions
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IHS
.
Abbreviation of the name Jesus by means of the first three letters in Greek (
H
being the uncial form of the letter
eta
). Later, however, attempts were made to understand the three letters as initials of words in Latin. Most popular was the interpretation In
Hoc Signo [vinces]
, ‘in this sign [thou shalt conquer]’, the inscription on the cross seen in a vision by the emperor
Constantine
; or Iesus Hominum Salvator (Jesus, saviour of men).
I-Hsuan
(Chinese master)
:
I‘j
z
(Arab.). Inimitability or uniqueness of the
Qur’
n
; literally ‘incapacity’, i.e. of others to imitate its style and content.
Ijm

.
Principle of development in Islamic law. The root verb means ‘to cause to gather’, or ‘converge’, and yields the noun for a
mosque
as a gatherer (
j
mi‘a
) of the faithful. It is by consensus of the community that the
shar
‘a
in
Sunni
Islam can be enlarged to respond to new situations. Ijm
‘ is always subject to being consistent with the prior sources
u
l
al-d
n: the
Qur’
n
,
ad
th
, and
qiy
s
, or applied analogy.

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