Ribat

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A fortified monastery or military garrison established in Islamic frontier regions to serve defensive and religious purposes
2. A religious and military stronghold built in the early Islamic period to provide protection and support for border defense
3. A structured establishment combining both spiritual and martial functions, often located at frontiers to safeguard communities

Etymology: The most surprising thing about "ribat" is that its Arabic root means "to tie" or "to bind," and the sense of a fortified post grew out of that idea of binding oneself to a place. The verb "rābaṭa" meant to bind or fasten together, to station oneself, and from this came "ribāṭ," a frontier outpost where men were stationed to guard the border against raids. Those who served there were bound to a duty that was both military and devotional, and the same word came to mean a lodging or hospice for travelers and for pious men. English borrowed the word directly from Arabic, so it reached the language without passing through Latin or French. It is a technical term for the fortified frontier posts of the early Islamic world, used mainly by historians writing about the Umayyad and Abbasid periods and about the frontiers of North Africa, Spain, and Central Asia.