Definition
The phrase means "O ". Literally, the word Yā means O (a vocative, signifying a direct address to a person). It is a common prefix used by Arabs to call each other. Someone named Zaid will be addressed in Arabic as Yā Zaid.
The word "Ya" with Muhammad, Ali, Hussain etc., is used by the Shia and Sunni Muslims who seek intercession. The only Muslim group who do not use it are the Salafi Group who are sometimes also referred as Khawarij group.
Read more about this topic: Ya Muhammad
Famous quotes containing the word definition:
“... if, as women, we accept a philosophy of history that asserts that women are by definition assimilated into the male universal, that we can understand our past through a male lens—if we are unaware that women even have a history—we live our lives similarly unanchored, drifting in response to a veering wind of myth and bias.”
—Adrienne Rich (b. 1929)
“No man, not even a doctor, ever gives any other definition of what a nurse should be than this—”devoted and obedient.” This definition would do just as well for a porter. It might even do for a horse. It would not do for a policeman.”
—Florence Nightingale (1820–1910)
“Scientific method is the way to truth, but it affords, even in
principle, no unique definition of truth. Any so-called pragmatic
definition of truth is doomed to failure equally.”
—Willard Van Orman Quine (b. 1908)