Categories:

• Earth and the Environment
  • Atmosphere and Weather
  • Biographies
  • Ecology and Environmentalism
  • Geography
  • Geology and Oceanography
  • Minerals, Mining, and Metallurgy
• History
  • Ancient Greece and Rome
  • Asia and Africa
  • Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific
  • Biographies
  • Historians and Chronicles
  • Latin America and the Caribbean
  • Modern Europe
  • United States and Canada
• Literature and the Arts
  • Art and Architecture
  • Biographies
  • Classical Literature, Mythology, and Folklore
  • Fashion, Design, and Crafts
  • Journalism and Publishing
  • Language, Linguistics, and Literary Terms
  • Literature in English
  • Literature in Other Modern Languages
  • Performing Arts
  • Scholars and Historians
• Medicine
  • Anatomy and Physiology
  • Biographies
  • Diseases and Conditions
  • Divisions, Diagnostics, and Procedures
  • Drugs
  • Psychology
• People
  • History
  • Literature and the Arts
  • Medicine
  • Philosophy and Religion
  • Science and Technology
  • Social Sciences and the Law
  • Sports and Games
• Philosophy and Religion
  • Ancient Religions
  • Biographies
  • Christianity
  • Eastern Religions
  • Islam
  • Judaism
  • Other Religious Beliefs and General Terms
  • Philosophy
  • The Bible
• Places
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Australia and Oceania
  • Britain, Ireland, France, and the Low Countries
  • Commonwealth of Independent States and the Baltic Nations
  • Germany, Scandinavia, and Central Europe
  • Latin America and the Caribbean
  • Oceans, Continents, and Polar Regions
  • Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, and the Balkans
  • United States and Canada
• Plants and Animals
  • Agriculture and Horticulture
  • Animals
  • Biographies
  • Botany
  • Microbes, Algae, and Fungi
  • Plants
  • Zoology and Veterinary Medicine
• Science and Technology
  • Astronomy and Space Exploration
  • Biochemistry
  • Biographies
  • Biology and Genetics
  • Chemistry
  • Computers and Electrical Engineering
  • Mathematics
  • Physics
  • Technology
• Social Sciences and the Law
  • Anthropology and Archaeology
  • Biographies
  • Economics, Business, and Labor
  • Education
  • Law
  • Political Science and Government
  • Sociology and Social Reform
• Sports and Everyday Life
  • Biographies
  • Crafts and Household Items
  • Days and Holidays
  • Fashion and Clothing
  • Food and Drink
  • Games
  • Manners and Customs
  • Social Organizations
  • Sports

Documents for "Islam: Biographies":

• Abu Hanifa 699-767, Muslim jurist. He founded the Hanafite system of Islamic jurisprudence, which gives the judge considerable discretion when the Qur'an and the Sunna (traditions) are inapplicable (see Islam...

• Aga Khan the title of the religious leader and imam of the Ismaili Nizari sect of Islam, originally bestowed by the Persian shah Fath Ali on Hasan Ali Shah, 1800-1881, the 46th Ismaili imam, in 1818. The first Aga Khan was also appointed as the governor of the province of Kirman, a position he lost as a result of political intrigues...

• Aishah c.614-678, third and favorite of the nine wives of Muhammad the Prophet. Her father was Abu Bakr, who became first caliph after the Prophet's death. She was married to the Prophet soon after the Hegira, his only wife that was neither a widow nor a divorcee...

• Ayesha see Aishah.

• Bukhari, Muhammad ibn Ismail, al- (c.810-70), Arabic scholar, b. Bukhara. He traveled widely over Muslim regions and made an authoritative collection of the hadith , the traditional sayings of the Prophet. The al-Bukhari collection is regarded by many Sunni Muslims as the most reliable commentary and a law book second only to the Qur'an. The tomb of...

• Chishti, Muin ad-Din Hasan 1142-1236, Indian Muslim saint, b. Sistan, Persia. He founded a Sufi mystic order responsible for spreading Islamic teachings in India. After traveling extensively in the Middle East and central...

• Farrakhan, Louis 1933-, African-American religious leader, b. New York City, as Louis Eugene Walcott. A former calypso singer known as "The Charmer," he joined the Nation of Islam ( Black Muslims ) in 1955, eventually becoming minister of the Harlem Temple after Malcolm X broke with the religious group. After Elijah Muhammad died and his son steered the Black Muslims toward Sunni Islamic practice, Farrakhan founded (1977) a reorganized Nation of Islam that adhered to the elder Muhammad's teachings. Often denounced as anti-Semitic and antiwhite, Farrakhan has stridently...

• Fatima 616?-633?, daughter of Muhammad by his first wife, Khadija. Fatima was the wife of Ali , the mother of Hasan and Husayn, and reputedly the ancestress of the Fatimids. She is revered by all branches...

• Hallaj, Hussein ibn Mansur al- 857-922, Arabic-speaking Persian Muslim mystic and poet popularly known among Muslims as "the martyr of mystical love." Born a Sunni, he traveled in Persia, India, and Turkistan, and experimented with a number of religious philosophies, including Sufism, Manichaeism, and Buddhism. An ecstatic mystic, his notorious...

• Husein or Husayn , c.626-680, Muslim saint of the Shiites; second son of Ali and Fatima (daughter of Muhammad). With the assassination of his father in 661 and the acquiescence of his brother Hasan , the caliphate passed out of the Alid family, although many continued to support the claims of the sons of Ali. On the death of Hasan, Husein tried to make good his own claim, but he proved...

• Ibn al-Arabi, Muhyi ad-Din Muhammad bin Ali al-Hatimi at-Tai 1165-1240, a Muslim Sufi mystic b. in Murcia, Spain. As a child in Seville, Ibn al-Arabi had a formative religious experience in the aftermath of a vision. His pilgrimage to Mecca evolved into a...

• Ibn Hanbal, Ahmad 780-855, Muslim jurist and theologian. His disciples founded the fourth of the four major Sunni schools of jurisprudence, the Hanbali. Ibn Hanbal's conception of law was principally influenced by hadith which led him to reject the officially sanctioned theology that promoted the dogma of the creation of the Qur'an. He held the view, for which he was imprisoned, that the Qur'an was uncreated and...

• Ibn Taymiyya, Taqiyy ad-Din Ahmad 1263-1328, Muslim theologian and jurist. He lived in Damascus after the collapse of the central caliphate to the Mongol invasion from the East, and during the continuous threat of Christendom from...

• Ibn Tumart c.1080-1130, Berber Muslim religious leader, founder of the Almohads. He went to the East in his youth and returned convinced that he was the Mahdi and that he was destined to reform Islam. He was a rigorist and purist in doctrine and morality. Believing in a mystical concept of the oneness of God, Ibn Tumart fought violently the...

• Mahdi [Arab.,=he who is divinely guided], in Sunni Islam , the restorer of the faith. He will appear at the end of time to restore justice on earth and establish universal Islam. The Mahdi will be preceded by al-Dajjal, a Muslim antichrist, who will be...

• Mahomet see Muhammad.

• Malcolm X 1925-65, militant black leader in the United States, also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, b. Malcolm Little in Omaha, Neb. He was introduced to the Black Muslims while serving a prison term and became a Muslim minister upon his release in 1952. He quickly became very prominent in the movement with a following perhaps equaling that of its leader, Elijah...

• Muhammad [Arab.,=praised], 570?-632, the name of the Prophet of Islam , one of the great figures of history, b. Mecca.

• Muhammad Abduh 1849-1905, Egyptian Muslim religious reformer. His encounter in 1872 with Jamal ad-Din al-Afghani, in the Cairo mosque-university of al-Azhar, led to his transition from asceticism to an activism...

• Muhammad, Elijah 1897-1975, American black-nationalist and religious leader, b. near Sandersville, Ga. Originally named Elijah Poole, he left home at 16 and worked at various jobs. In 1923 he settled in Detroit and...

• Othman see Uthman.

• Qutb, Sayyid 1906-66, Egyptian Islamist whose critique of modern civilization and Islam provides the theoretical underpinnings for many contemporary Islamic militants. Educated in both traditional Muslim...

• Salih Qur'anic non-biblical prophet, sent to the people of Thamud in Arabia. His call for monotheism is said to have been met with scorn and rejection. Having killed a camel sent as a sign by God, the...

• Shafi'i, al- (Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafi'i), 767-820, Islamic jurist. Raised and educated in Mecca and Medina, he taught in Egypt and Baghdad. His teachings laid the groundwork for the Shafi'i...

• Shuayb Qur'anic non-biblical prophet, appeared later than Hud and Salih among "the people of the thicket." His preaching is said to have consisted of a call to monotheism and social honesty. The Qur'anic allusions to Shuayb as an inhabitant of Midyan led to later traditions associating him with the...

• Sistani, Ali Husaini or Ali Hussein al-Sistani , 1930-, Shiite grand ayatollah in Iraq, b. Mashhad, Iran. Educated in religious schools in his native Iran, he went to Shiite holy city of Najaf, Iraq, in 1952 to further his religious studies and...

• Uthman or Othman , c.574-656, 3d caliph (644-56), also known as Uthman ibn al-Affan; son-in-law of Muhammad. He belonged to the great Umayyad family and was selected as caliph after the murder of Umar...

• X, Malcolm see Malcolm X.